Category — Human Rights

In the worst tradition of Republican policy in Central and South America, George Bush is again pushing hard for passage of a Colombia free trade pact, ignoring the ongoing violence against trade unionists and innocent peasants in that country. He called the matter urgent in remarks made as he was about to leave for a visit to the Ukraine yesterday.

Peter Roskam’s friends at the National Association of Manufacturers meanwhile are also pushing hard, urging citizens to contact their legislators in support of the proposed pact:

Roskam, you will recall, has voted the NAM position consistently during his term in office, and he, too, has been pushing for the pact. He journeyed to Colombia early last month to meet with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and came back proclaiming that everything in Colombia was just fine and that we should go ahead with the free trade agreement with all due speed.

Bush, Roskam and NAM are not telling you the truth. Things are not OK in Colombia.

As documented in a recent story in the LA Times, extrajudicial killings by the Colombian military are on the rise. As a bizarre consequence of pressure by the Bush administration to show progress in it’s fight against leftist guerrillas, poor innocent civilians are being killed and then dressed as guerrillas, to be used as evidence. And this killing is being funded by the U.S. Government in its role as a leading state sponsor of terrorism.

Violence also continues against trade unionists and human rights activists, even being spurred on by advisers close to Uribe. 4 unionists were murdered early in March, just after Roskam’s return from the country. In years past, American corporations such as Drummond Co., Coca-Cola, and Chiquita have been linked to such anti-union violence. And it is on behalf of corporations such as these that Roskam and Bush are pushing the free trade pact.

Illinois unionists, especially, should be horrified to know that their tax dollars are funding violence against their brothers and sisters in Colombia. I urge all my readers to contact Peter Roskam and demand an end to U.S. funding to the Colombian military and the rejection of the proposed trade agreement while violence continues. You may reach his office in Bloomingdale at (630) 893-9670 or in Washington at (202) 225-4561.

I would be very interested to hear from Jill Morgenthaler her thoughts on this grave issue.

This is a video about the March 6th protest against paramilitary violence:

This evening, the House of Representatives tried and failed to override Bush’s veto on Saturday of the intelligence funding bill which would have outlawed the use of waterboarding and other forms of torture by the CIA. The vote was 225 to 188, 51 votes short of the 2/3 majority needed for an override.

Peter Roskam, of course, voted no, opting to allow such practices to continue.

Other members of the Illinois pro-torture caucus include Kirk, Weller, Biggert, Manzullo, LaHood, and Shimkus - the usual fascists - all choosing to vote with their party rather than to do the right thing.

I don’t know why Peter Roskam has such a tin ear to issues involving human rights and human suffering. It may be that because of his privileged upbringing and situation he just doesn’t understand. Or it may be that he just doesn’t care. Sadly, the more I observe him, the more I think the latter is true.

The civilized have created the wretched, quite coldly and deliberately, and do not intend to change the status quo; are responsible for their slaughter and enslavement; rain down bombs on defenseless children whenever and wherever they decide that their ‘vital interests’ are menaced, and think nothing of torturing a man to death: these people are not to be taken seriously when they speak of the ’sanctity’ of human life, or the ‘conscience’ of the civilized world.
- James Baldwin

Yesterday, George Bush vetoed legislation that would have banned the CIA from using waterboarding and other forms of torture in the interrogation of prisoners. Peter Roskam, a supporter of the President’s insistence on the use of torture, had voted against the bill when it came before the House last year. Republican presidential candidate and Roskam ally John McCain had also voted against the bill in the Senate, although he has claimed to be opposed to such practices.

By their insistence on the continued use of torture, Bush and Roskam have demonstrated their utter contempt for basic human rights and the civilized treatment of prisoners.

Nancy Pelosi is stating that an attempt will be made to override the President’s veto.

Breaking News: The source of Peter Roskam’s rosy assesment of the present situation in Colombia has now been revealed. RubberStampRoskam has learned that, during his recent visit to the country, Roskam and his delegation held high-level trade talks with fictional Colombian coffee grower Juan Valdez and his mule Conchita. Apparently Valdez and Conchita reassured Roskam that the situation for trade unionists in Colombia was hunky dory. On his returm from meeting with Valdez, Roskam complained that the issue of free trade with Colombia is being “simplistically caricatured in the Democratic debate“.

You can read the story from El Colombiano of Roskam’s meeting with Valdez and Conchita here:

Seguimos en la lucha por el TLC: Carlos Gutiérrez

The picture of Roskam and his delegation with Valdez and Conchita is priceless but, sadly, very tiny.

President Bush has previously held talks with Valdez and Conchita.

Illinois labor leaders and union workers should take a long, hard look at Peter Roskam.

At the behest of the Bush Administration, Roskam recently traveled to Colombia and came back singing the praises of President Alvaro Uribe and his Colombian “success story”. Roskam has chosen to totally ignore the persistent violence that is occurring against union organizers, human rights activists, journalists and indigenous people by paramilitaries with ties to Uribe’s administration and to American and other foreign corporations. Bush is agressively pushing for a free trade agreement and Roskam is staying on message.

In promoting the free trade agreement for Bush, Roskam is wholeheartedly embracing the immoral Latin American policies of the two George Bushes, Henry Hyde, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon and their predecessors going back many years, men who have embraced terrorism and brutal right wing regimes to advance the interests of American corporations at the expense of the lives of countless voiceless people.

Roskam looks at Columbia and doesn’t see the plight of its people. He sees only profits for American corporations, some of whom have been actively funding paramilitary violence.

Unionists in this country should be infuriated that Roskam cares so little about the oppression and murder of their brethren and they should understand that Roskam has no more support for their cause here. And if men like Roskam are allowed to continue turning the reigns of our own government over to corporate elites, the kinds of abuses that happen in Colombia can happen here as well.

BTW: If Roskam is interested in promoting trade, perhaps he should push for normalizing relations with Cuba. My sense is that the people of Cuba would actually benefit from such an opening and Americans could benefit as well.

This weekend finds our Congressman, Peter Roskam, on a junket to Colombia. There he has been meeting with the Colombian President, Alvaro Uribe, in an effort to smooth the way for a free-trade agreement with Columbia by downplaying the persisent violence against trade unionists, human rights activists and journalists by rightwing para-military groups with connections to both the Uribe administration and the Colombian military. 40 union leaders were killed in the past year alone. And there has been violence directed also at poor people who pose inconveniences to projects by large multunational corporations, a trend that may increase if Roskam and his allies are able to push a free-trade agreement through.

Like his predecessor, Henry Hyde, Roskam has little problem with this kind of terrorism if it supports the rightwing government’s hold on power and thus U.S. corporate interests.

Roskam’s comment from Columbia on the situation there:

“This is a market of 44 million people,” he said. “There are great export opportunities. This is a country that buys a tremendous amount of agricultural equipment.” The best argument for approving the agreement, he said, is geo-political: “We have a lot at stake to see this place flourish and do well.”

So much for human rights.