Blog: December 2007

Lying is More Dangerous in Colombia: False Allegations Put Human Rights Defenders at Risk

December 20, 2007

Such an outrageous story, in addition to being slanderous and clearly rejected by Colombian courts, brings considerable danger to the groups that were mentioned, as well as to the Colombian trade union movement as a whole.  Alleging connections between Colombian workers and the guerrilla movement is a common strategy of the Uribe administration.  It discredits unions and makes them a clear target for both paramilitary groups and Colombia’s own armed forces. 

Free Trade Agreement Equals More Trade, Right?

December 10, 2007

This does not mean that free trade agreements don’t equal
increased U.S. exports,  but that increased trade can happen with or without them, and they may
not be as significant of a determining factor as one may think.

Ultimately, this realization may not mean much to the free
trade debate. While it challenges an
underlying assumption about the trade system and exposes a major flaw in the
Bush administration rhetoric about the agreements, this is not the first or
most important flaw that has been exposed.

Time to cotton on

December 7, 2007

Agriculture, which is accountable, incredibly, for some 170 million child
laborers, is classed by the International Labor Organization as one of the
three most dangerous sectors in the world in which to work. In almost every
continent - across swathes of Asia, extending into Europe, and in pockets of
Latin America and Africa - children, many of them under 10, are out of school
in all-weather conditions, exposed to dangerous pesticides and other health
risks. Because agriculture tends to be less regulated than other industries,
child laborers have little access to legal mechanisms.

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