Trade deals and drug deals
Re “Bush tries to get trade deals off the ground” and “Mexico’s immigrant ‘sanctuary,’ ” Jan. 31
These articles about migration and controversial trade agreements are related, but somehow our politicians fail to grasp this fact.
When U.S.-subsidized corn exported to Mexico puts Mexican farmers out of business, those displaced farmers have to go somewhere. Passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement was followed by increased Mexican migration to the United States.
Now the same model has been imposed on farmers in Central America and Peru. Farmers in Colombia are threatened with a similar trade arrangement. If Congress approves the U.S. Colombia Trade Agreement, Colombian farmers -- who have fed their country for centuries -- will have to look for an alternative.
For a poor farmer in Colombia, travel northward may be too expensive. But coca for cocaine is easy to grow. And it can usually find a market.
Patrick Bonner
South Gate
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