Senator John McCain is in Colombia this week plotting with government leaders to shove another so-called "free-trade agreement" down the throats of the American public.

McCain doesn't seem to have any issue with dealing with a government that has turned a blind eye to the continued murder and violence against trade unionists.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe will likely tell McCain that all is well in his country, while in truth the killings have continued at an unprecedented rate. At the current pace, the total murders of Colombian trade unionists in 2008 will rise by 50 percent over 2007.

During Mr. Uribe's presidency more union leaders have been killed in Colombia than in the rest of the world combined!

McCain is as out of touch with the violence in Colombia as he is with the impact that these poorly conceived trade agreements have on American jobs and our economy.

NAFTA turned a trade surplus with Mexico into a $75 billion deficit. Millions of jobs have left the country, never to return.

This proposed trade agreement with Colombia is just another bad deal for the American worker. We need to end these phony "free trade agreements" and begin to craft trade policies that increase jobs, exports and living standards.

It's time to start making agreements that rid us of the more than $700 billion trade deficit that NAFTA and similar trade agreements have gotten us into.

Even if you take the detrimental economic effects of this agreement out of the equation, there is one simple truth that cannot be debated. The United States should never deal with regimes that torture and kill its citizens – John McCain should know that better than anyone.

Call Senator McCain today at 202-224-2235 or email him now to tell him no trade deals with murderers.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I recently heard that you took a trip to Colombia to discuss trade with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. I hope it was to tell Uribe that the United States will not trade with murderous regimes.

So far this year 26 labor activists have been assassinated in Colombia. During the Uribe presidency, more union leaders have been killed in Colombia than in the rest of the world combined!

Is this kind of trading partner a McCain administration would do business with? Are you so naïve as to think that shipping American jobs to a country where workers do not have the basic human right to form unions would magically turn our $700 billion trade deficit into a surplus?

Trade agreements with little or no labor or environmental protections -- like NAFTA, CAFTA and others -- have devastated the American middle class. And it appears you want to steal more jobs from American workers over the dead bodies of Colombian labor activists.

I will not vote for someone who would trade with murderers.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
July 01, 2008