In order to change Colombia's and his own image, Uribe has enlisted the help of several public relations firms to respond to the latest news on Colombia and distort the country's human rights record in order to assuage the serious concerns about US support for Uribe's government. One of those firms is Burson-Marsteller and is headed by Mark Penn (former clients include the Argentine military junta, Union Carbide and Royal Dutch Shell). Penn was an adviser to former President Clinton and is currently a top adviser to Hillary Clinton. Clinton just received letters from the presidents of the Teamsters and UNITE-HERE unions protesting her relationship with Penn since, in addition to defending the country with the highest number of trade union murders in the world, he also led union-busting campaigns for companies like Cintas.
A business coalition including one of labor's best friends, Wal-Mart, is also actively lobbying for the US-Colombia FTA and even plans to launch an advertising campaign to support the deal. (By the way, Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer of cut flower exports from Colombia to the US.)
To complete the circle, Uribe is also hosting a big party in New York City on Friday night where he will present former President Clinton with an award. The award will be given to Clinton for "believing in [Colombia] and encouraging others to do the same." Oscar de la Renta and Shakira are also expected to attend the event.
In response to all this big-money pressure, Congress needs a big dose of people power! It is up to us to take action to let our representatives know that we will not stand for more US support for human rights violations in Colombia.
Today, the American Friends Service Committee launched a new website and campaign supporting human rights and peace in Colombia. Check it out right now and take action! Also, keep sending letters to your members of Congress to tell them to vote no on an FTA with Colombia. We also join with the Colombia Human Rights Committee in encouraging people to write letters to President Clinton urging him to reconsider his participation in the party on Friday and to speak out in support of human rights in Colombia. You can fax your letter to Bill at the William J. Clinton Foundation at 212-348-5147.
While you are taking action to support fair trade, check out the latest action from Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch opposing the secret deal some Democrats made with Republicans to ease the passage of various NAFTA-style Free Trade Agreements.
Further Reading:
Check out this sign-on statement supported by ILRF about Uribe's latest trip to DC
Check out this must-read article on Uribe's public relations plan:
Colombia Goes Full Tilt to Return to Grace