Former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria Trujillo is angry over the U.S. failure to ratify the free trade agreement (FTA) with his country, W Radio reported Tuesday.
After more than three hours of discussion in a meeting of the External Relations Advisory Committee, Gaviria stated, “Frankly, the situation at which Colombia is arriving is a situation of discrimination; they [the U.S. government] are discriminating against Colombia,” wrote Radio La FM. Gaviria said that if the agreement is not passed it would “constitute a great punishment against Colombia and would greatly hurt the economy of our country.”
Members of the Republican Party have increased pressure on President Obama to present the FTA before Congress. Last week, President Santos expressed optimism that an FTA with the US could be reached by the end of this year.
Gaviria said that the Colombian government is working hard to fulfil U.S. expectations, and there is no reason that the agreement should not be approved.