Bush pushes Colombia trade pact

Facing what are widely seen as long odds, President Bush on Monday began the contentious process of trying to win congressional approval of a free trade agreement with Colombia that critics, including many in the Democratic majority on Capitol Hill, say does not do enough to protect workers here or in the South American nation.

The Bush administration argues that the measure would benefit Americans by opening a large market to U.S. goods and would reward a Latin American ally striving to overcome political instability and shut down its narcotics trade.

Critics say that although there has been progress since President Alvaro Uribe took office in 2002, Colombia has not done enough to stem attacks on labor leaders or protect human rights.

No administration has lost a vote on a major free trade pact in Congress, although few have found the task easy.

But Bush is facing a powerful challenge in seeking House and Senate approval as lawmakers prepare to go before voters concerned about foreign competition for jobs.

The outcome is made more difficult by Bush’s sagging popularity, opposition to the pact by the Democratic presidential contenders and concerns about the U.S. economy.

All of which brings up this question: Why is he taking the step now, risking angering or embarrassing Colombia with a defeat and dooming the 16-month-old pact’s approval?

Because, Latin America experts and administration officials say, waiting would accomplish nothing, and the clock is running out on his opportunities.

Likening the challenge to another gamble, Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based policy research organization focused on the Western Hemisphere, said: “You take a shot with the lottery. You probably won’t win, but if you don’t take the shot, you know you can’t win.”

Under the protocol for considering the agreement, negotiated under provisions that give Congress a yes-or-no vote and no way to amend the pact, the House has 60 legislative working days -- the days in which it is in session -- to vote. The Senate then has 30 working days.

Bush signed a letter Monday sending the measure to Congress. By the administration’s estimate, if the measure is delivered today, the 90-day calendar would expire in September, when Congress is expected to adjourn for the election campaign.

“Waiting any longer to send up the legislation would run the risk of Congress adjourning without the agreement ever getting voted on,” Bush said.

Colombia, with 44 million people, is the second-most-populous nation in South America, after Brazil. “That’s a great potential market for U.S. exports,” said Susan C. Schwab, the U.S. trade representative.

Whereas most Colombian products enter the U.S. duty-free under a previous agreement, the new pact would allow 80% of U.S. goods sold in Colombia to enter the country without tariffs that, Schwab said, can reach 35% on industrial and consumer goods and 80% on agricultural products.

In a joint statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said that Bush was disregarding Americans’ “economic insecurity” and that they could not support the pact.

The administration has indicated that it is prepared to talk about Democrats’ proposals for revising a job retraining program. The program is for workers who have lost jobs because of competition with foreign labor boosted by lowered U.S. trade barriers.

Rep. Michael H. Michaud (D-Maine), a founder of the House Trade Working Group, said Bush was “turning a blind eye toward the egregious human rights violations in Colombia.” According to Human Rights Watch, 17 trade unionists were killed in the first three months of 2008.

But White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Uribe had “committed huge resources” to reducing violence against labor leaders and improving the legal system.

Peter DeShazo, a former deputy assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs, said Congress’ failure to approve the measure would “be seen by Colombians as the U.S. turning its back on a good friend in the region.”

Bush has been campaigning to win public support for the measure. In a recent stop in Jacksonville, Fla., he sought to make the point that dockworkers’ jobs depended, to an extent, on trade with Colombia.

But in addition to emphasizing economic benefits, he has promoted Uribe’s efforts to fight the Colombian narcotics trade and the guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization.

“If this isn’t enough to earn America’s support, what is?” Bush said Monday. “President Uribe has done everything asked of him.”

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james.gerstenzang@latimes.com