Six months since he took office, Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos’ high approval rating and backing in Congress could help usher through a law that would provide reparations to victims of his country’s conflict.
"[T]he facts in this case are pretty straightforward: In markets opened up by previous free trade agreements, the overwhelming majority of states have seen exports grow—in some cases exponentially," writes AS/COA's Christopher Sabatini in The Houston Chronicle.
In the 2011 State of the Union, President Barack Obama signaled his support for pending trade deals with Colombia and Panama. But it remains to be seen how hard he will push for their passage. Will the two Latin American countries look elsewhere for trade partners?
The merger of the Colombian, Chilean, and Peruvian stock exchanges is a milestone for hemisphere finance—and a sign of renewed economic confidence.
In a statement submitted to the House Ways and Means Committee, Council of the Americas urged ratification of pending free-trade pacts with Colombia and Panama to achieve the administration's goal of doubling U.S. exports while prioritizing hemispheric relations.
In an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal, AS/COA Board Member Thomas McLarty III says a strongly concerted effort to ratify pending trade agreements will remind voters that President Obama "sees America as confident and innovative enough to remain the global economy's True North."
Bernard Aronson, former assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, argues in The Washington Post that delaying the ratification of free-trade agreements with Colombia and Panama sends Latin America a message: "Friends of the United States get thrown under the political bus."
