Bush vs. Congress over Colombia free trade

U.S. President George W. Bush and the Democrat-controlled congress will head for a showdown over a free trade pact with Colombia. Despite not having the full support of Democratic leaders, President Bush sent the agreement to the legislature earlier today.

Aside from possible economic benefits, Bush alleged that the agreement is “urgent for our national security reasons.” Opponents of the bill (who have raised the ire of Colombia’s president) have argued otherwise:

Critics have argued the measure does not do enough to protect workers in Colombia and would threaten U.S. jobs at a time of economic uncertainty.

Both Democratic presidential candidates, Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York, have already pledged to re-negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico and have expressed their opposition to extending trade accords to Colombia. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, supports the Colombian pact.

In the meantime, controversy has developed over Mark Penn’s previous work for public relations firm Burson-Marsteller. His lobbying work and relations with pro-free trade Colombian diplomats has led to him quitting from working for Hillary Clinton's campaign.

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Sources- Bloomberg, TIME, New York Times, miamiherald.com, Associated Press, The Latin Americanist