A plea for Colombia
| Carlos Osorio, Toronto Star Photo |
| Colombian activists in Toronto Monday |
A delegation of Colombian activists is in Ottawa this week, asking the government, as well as opposition MPs, to review the Canada-Colombia Free Trade deal, signed last November and expected to be introduced in the House soon. They'd like to see parliamentarians vote against it, at least until the human rights review promised last year in an all-party committee report is carried out. (It appears that idea has been deep-sixed.) Remember, this is the deal that asks companies to pay a token fine when a trade unionist is assassinated (450 have been killed since 2002), leaving NDP trade critic Peter Julian to last year term it the "decriminalization of murder." Canadian supporters of the deal argue trade is the best thing for a country like Colombia where human rights abuse is so egregious. In the lead-up to Valentine's Day, this delegation talked about "slave labour" conditions in the greenhouses where women and children work for Colombia's important cut flower business. They urged a boycott by Canadian buyers. But, say free trade boosters, better to improve conditions in the greenhouses than rob Colombians of work. Bettering conditions would be great. Terrific. Human rights activists - nuns, priests, indigenous and union leaders, teachers and organizers for women's groups - have long fought for these very improvements themselves, often at the expense of their lives. Advocates of the deal suggest this lightbulb idea of bettering conditions as if it had never dawned on Colombians. It seems like they are supposed to work quietly for change at home but never alert the world to what's going on. Sadly, there's a great deal of naivete about how things really work. It's as if people think it's as easy as starting a petition, working for a union or talking to management about a list of conditions. In Colombia, you get killed for doing that. There is overwhelming evidence of death squads linked to the military targeting anybody from civil society fighting for democratic values and fair working conditions. That trend is made sickenly worse by evidence of co-operation between the death squads and multi-national companies who already exploit the best land, produce and natural resources - and then stand to profit even more from free trade. Human rights groups document the collusion, but it is exceedingly difficult to prove. However, amidst reports of involvement by several big-name companies, the U.S. Justice Department fined Chiquita Brands International $25 million in 2007, after the company admitted to having paid $1.7 million to the terrorist organization, the United Self Defence Forces of Colombia. to stop union organising. The Spanish initials of the group is AUC, which Colombians translate with dark humour as "Friends of Uribe for Colombia." (Alvaro Uribe is president.) If you try to organize, if you complain, if you lead a democratic organization, you don't get a reprimand, you have your life taken away from you. There is, too, the view the justice system is similar to Canada's, meaning that, although not perfect, one doesn't take one's life in one's hands by appealing to police or the courts. It's different in Colombia. There are many cases of extraordinary bravery among Colombian judicial officials who try to expose human rights violations, from kidnapping and torture to extrajudicial murder. But, too often, police, judges and the military don't want to know. Too often, they already know because the military is involved. Events are reported - including the massacre a few years ago of civilians in a northern town while army army helicopters circled overhead - and eye-witness reports are ignored. I know. I've done some of the investigating myself, not just in Colombia but countries like Mexico where counter-terrorism usually means campaigns against the poor and weak, and not rebels. It's totally respectable to have a different opinion about Canada-Colombia free trade than these four activists currently in Canada. But those who support trade should educate themselves about what really happens to workers. It makes no sense for a parliamentary committee to recommend a comprehensive human rights review and then for the government to ignore it. Even George Bush backed away from free trade with Colombia last year. * * * I offer a small smile with this video in a week where the world is literally burning:
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