The Blog @ Spolitics

Obama: U.S. Exporters Should Pay for the Crimes of Past Colombian Regimes

According to the Wall Street Journal (via Hot Air), Obama’s stance on the Colombian Free Trade Agreement is based on a falsehood clinging to old information.

It is true that Colombia has a history of violence. But since President Álvaro Uribe took office in 2002, that violence has been substantially reduced. The homicide rate through the end of 2007 was down by 40.4% and the rate among union members was down almost 87%. There is nothing “consistent” about a drop to 26 union member murders in 2007 from 155 in 2000.

As for prosecutions: In union-member killings, there were zero convictions from 1991-2000 and one in 2001. But from 2002-2007, there were 80. According to the Colombian attorney general’s office, 29% of those murders were “found to have been results of theft, petty crime and random violence unrelated to union activity.” Mr. Uribe has nonetheless created a special investigative unit for crimes against union members, and he expanded a special government protection program for unions.

But even if Obama’s stance was well-founded, consider what he’s saying. He’s opposed to a trade agreement that eliminates tariffs on American exports into Colombia — tariffs that go into the Colombian government’s coffers — because that government is allegedly targeting labor leaders. So his position is to continue to ensure payments to the government he maligns while punishing U.S. companies and rewarding Colombian ones who don’t have to pay tariffs to import their goods into the U.S.

This is even more nonsensical than his desire to raise the capital gains tax even if he knows it’ll lead to lower revenues because he wants to be “fair.”