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We cannot use Colombia as a bargaining chip for something else here, in Washington, D.C.

GOP senators, Hispanic business leaders push Colombia trade pact

Flanked by a group of Republican senators, Hispanic business leaders Wednesday announced a grass-roots effort to convince the House to pass the Colombia free trade agreement.

The Hispanic business groups plan to launch a series of public service advertisements and urge their members and related Hispanic organizations such as faith-based groups, to call, write and e-mail their members of Congress — with copies to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — demanding a vote on the trade agreement, said Jose Nino, co-chairman of the Hispanic Alliance for Prosperity Institute.

The House voted 224 to 195 last month to put off consideration of the trade pact until Pelosi decides the time is right to bring it to the floor. Pelosi has said she wants the Bush administration to address U.S. economic issues first.

But Hispanic leaders called that a slap at the Hispanic community and at Latin America.

“We resent the idea that we’re going to use a Latin American ally as some kind of bargaining chip to make a deal for something else,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez said at a Capitol news conference with the senators and business leaders.

Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., said he agreed with Gutierrez that the trade agreement’s fate “is a Hispanic-American issue.

“I think you’ve heard from the Hispanic leaders on how they feel about it. It’s a moral imperative, but beyond that it is an issue with the Hispanic community of America.

“We understand, instinctively, the need for this trade agreement to improve the lives of people in Latin America — in Colombia. We know that Colombia, by being at a disadvantage if it doesn’t have a free trade agreement, will backslide economically. It will be a detriment to Colombia.”

Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., the ranking Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said the trade agreement is “very important to our national security,” because the democratically elected government of President Alvaro Uribe is threatened by the Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez.

“If we turn down this free trade agreement, we are saying ‘we support Hugo Chavez and not President Uribe,’ ” Bond said.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the trade agreement “just makes good economic sense here at home, particularly at a time when our economy has grown soft.

“But this is also about how America treats its friends,” Cornyn said. “President Uribe has been one of our best friends. He has joined us in our fight against narco-traffickers, and it’s important to the United States’ national security that we have friendly, democratic governments in Latin America.

“This is not something we can neglect,” Cornyn said. “We cannot use Colombia as a bargaining chip for something else here, in Washington, D.C.”