The
U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement went into affect yesterday, and quite dramatically, with protests and a deadly terrorist bombing in north Bogotá.
The agreement's economic impacts will be slower, but perhaps almost as dramatic.
Among the
winners will likely be:
Colombian flower growers and producers, altho they already benefit from temporary free trade rules.
Colombian
coffee producers.
Also, Colombian producers of
ethanol, exotic fruits, dairy and meat.
Car buyers will also save, as cheaper vehicles flood the country...
...which will
compound traffic jams across Bogotá, and
worsen air pollution, unless the government takes strong measures fast. So, most likely,
most of us will suffer from increased car ownership.
And 70% of Colombian peasants will lose income as subsidized, mass-produced U.S. grains come flowing in, according to a recent study by Oxfam and other NGOs. Many of those peasants, undoubtedly, will turn to planting illegal drug crops.
Cheaper grains will hopefully mean cheaper bread and arepas - but also cheaper hamburgers, hot-dogs and corn sweeteners, which are already doing so much harm to Colombians' health.
By Mike Ceaser, of
Bogotá Bike Tours
Posts
1 comment:
This is so pathetic, seriously, so f..ing pathetic. The so call FTA is a trick in wish the only winners are the Americans and some fat cats in Colombia, this is nothing but a rosy way of presenting the ugliness of neoliberalism. Dear Miguel, if just the masses were more aware and, more in touch with reality.
Mauricio Forero.
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