The proposed international trade deal between the United States and Colombia faces a strong opposition from the biggest labor group in the US. According to the organization, the US Congress should not approve the international trade pact between the two countries despite the reforms made in the labor policies under the free trade deal. In an official letter sent to the US Senate and House of Representatives this last week, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) said that no renegotiation regarding the US-Colombia free trade agreement would adequately resolve violence against members of trade unions in the Latin American nation.

Pointing to Colombia's record of violence against trade unionists, the labor organization said that President Alvaro Uribe, who is a close ally of the US in the Latin American region, has not shown sufficient efforts to stop the on-going violence that resulted in the deaths of around 200 trade unionists since 2004. The US State Department recently reported that over 4,000 union leaders in Colombia have been killed since 1986. It must be noted that Colombia holds the highest rate of such kind of violence in the world. In the official letter, the AFL-CIO said that the high record of Colombia sets the nation apart from Panama and Peru. It must be noted that the three countries signed separate free trade deals with the US that are currently being reviewed by the Congress.

The letter was sent by the AFL-CIO a few days after President George W. Bush met with Mr. Uribe during the former's visit to Colombia. It must be noted that Mr. Bush recently went for a five-nation tour in Latin America in a move to boost the presence of the US in the region in terms of international trade. The ALF-CIO has strongly criticized and opposed the US' pending trade deals with Colombia, Peru, and Panama. Meanwhile, pro-union Democrats in the US Congress have called for Washington to include tougher labor policies in the trade pacts. Some of them have threatened to oppose the international trade agreements if the Bush administration failed to make the necessary reforms. It must be noted that the Bush administration has been negotiating with top Democrat officials regarding the issue. At the same time, Washington is also negotiating for the extension of Mr. Bush's trade promotion authority, which plays a vital role in on-going trade negotiations such as the Doha Development Round. The TPA is due to end in July this year.