In a Christian Science Monitor op-ed, AS/COA's Susan Segal and the Center for Global Development's Nancy Birdsall discuss how the pending U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement could lower incidents of human rights abuses in Colombia.

In an op-ed for El Diario, Christopher Sabatini argues that congressional delay of a vote on the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement could have negative political and economic effects on the entire hemisphere and also threatens security and free trade in Colombia. (en español)

In an op-ed, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urges congressional approval of a bilateral trade agreement with Colombia, emphasizing the Andean country's commitment to democracy and and the opportunity provided by the trade deal to strengthen U.S. competitiveness.

Philippe Legrain, a journalism fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States, writes that: "The Democratic rivals have bought into most of the myths that have been peddled about the agreement and have placed their opposition to NAFTA at the center of their campaigns. Here's some information that could help them update their stump speeches."

In a new article for Poder, COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth examines economic reform in Peru. As the country achieves investment grade, President Alan Garcia seeks to build on the recently approved free-trade agreement with the United States, "ensuring the benefits reach as many people as quickly as possible."

The isolated killings of union members in Colombia do not justify holding up a U.S.-Colombia trade agreement, writes Edward Schumacher-Matos, a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times and a visiting professor of Latin American studies at Harvard University.