Almost a year ago, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez told President Obama, “I want to be your friend.” Today the much-photographed handshake at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad has become a cold shoulder. Sadly like much of the Obama Administration’s foreign policy, relations with arch-anti-American Hugo Chavez have fallen well short of expectations. Good intentions, positive gestures, and, a little naïveté has not stopped Hugo Chavez from pursuing his mission to consolidate authoritarian rule in Venezuela and undermine U.S. leadership and influence in the Americas. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir …
No greater dilemma faced the Colombian political system in recent months than the issue of presidential re-election. Should a constitutional referendum be held to allow a popular, extremely effective leader to run, and likely win, a third term as president? For many Colombians, President Alvaro Uribe had become the indispensable leader. Yet, across the political spectrum, many friends of Colombia worried about the impact of such concentrated power on the congress and judiciary. A third term for Uribe would damage democratic belief in the alterability of executive power and resemble …
Last week, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke delivered a speech at the National Press Club titled “Back to Basics: A Blueprint for Exports-Driven Job Growth,” and remarked that “[President Obama’s National Export Initiative] will correct an economic blind spot that has allowed other countries to chip away at America’s international competitiveness.” The secretary also stated that “The United States is the most open major economy in the world…And that’s not going to change!” Well, unfortunately, “empirical reality” tells us a different story. According to the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom, …
This past Sunday marked an important anniversary for the American economy. On November 22, 2006, the United States and Colombia signed the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. This agreement would immediately eliminate tariffs on U.S. exports to this important trading partner – creating billions in revenue for U.S. businesses and new jobs here in America. Unfortunately, it is an anniversary marked by missed opportunities. Instead of implementing this agreement when it was sent to Congress more than 18 months ago, Speaker Pelosi opted to block its consideration indefinitely. Passage of this …
Answer: they both want to punish Colombia. Venezuela’s authoritarian, anti-American President Chavez claims Colombia threatens his national security, runs around too much with the “Empire,” [the U.S.], and will one day provoke a war with Venezuela. For these reasons, he aims to punish Colombia by cutting off trade and undermining economic security in Colombia and Venezuela. Being the economic kingpin of Venezuela, he can make it happen. Chavez’s latest attack on Colombia and President Uribe comes just as the U.S. and Colombia move toward agreement on how to operate regular …
Throughout last year’s campaign, President Barack Obama expressed skepticism about the value of free trade, sending signals that America’s commitment to free markets would die with his administration. These fears were only worsened when the Obama administration passed an Omnibus spending bill that has already caused a job killing trade war with Mexico. But now there is a glimmer of hope. Politico reports: During the [Summit of the Americas], President Barack Obama directed U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to lead a review of the ultracontroversial Colombia deal to “identify and …
Last week while we were all getting ready to feast on turkey, Colombia inked another free trade deal with a country that is not us. Following up on trade liberalization pacts with Canada and China, Colombian trade minister, Luis Guillermo Plata signed a deal with the four members of the European Free Trade Association: Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway. Colombia’s goods already enter the U.S. duty free. But this summer, at the behest of organized labor, Speaker Nancy Pelosi single handily destroyed over three decades of U.S. credibility on trade …
Throughout the presidential campaign Barak Obama apologists like Fareed Zakaria hoped that Obama was just lying to the American people about his protectionist stances on trade, and that if elected Obama would prove to be every bit the free trader that Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush have been. We still hold out hope that Zakaria is right on that count. The same cannot be said of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This summer Pelosi single handily destroyed over three decades of U.S. credibility on trade by gutting the “fast track” guarantee …
The Club For Growth interviewed U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab for its new podcast. Among the topics discussed were the Columbia Free Trade Agreement, trade relations with China, the G20 meetings that took place over the weekend, and President Bush’s free trade legacy. Schwab had this to say about the Colombia Free Trade Agreement: If you want a stimulus package that you can move right away at virtually no cost to the U.S. taxpayer, this is it. The Colombia [Free Trade Agreement] is it.
President-elect Barack Obama made it pretty clear during his campaign that he did not support free trade, but The Washington Post endorsed him anyway. Still, The Post does hold out hope that Obama will change his mind and support the Colombia Free Trade Agreement. WaPo editorializes today: Democrats in Congress, regrettably echoed by Mr. Obama on the campaign trail, frame their objections not in economic but political terms, arguing that Colombia has a dismal record on human rights. This characterization defies all reality. Since President Alvaro Uribe’s first election in …
