U.S. House majority leader Steny Hoyer will head a delegation of Congressmen to Colombia, in an effort to kick start the stalemate in negotiations of a Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and the U.S.
Hoyer said he hoped U.S President Barack Obama’s government would send the bill to Congress and get the Free Trade Agreement in motion.
The U.S has expressed reluctance to ratify the agreement in the past because of Colombia’s human rights and labor laws record.
Supporters of a Free Trade Agreement, which the Democrats have kept blocked in Congress since April 2008, hope that Hoyer’s visit will generate more political support for the eventual ratification of the agreement.
Meanwhile, the U.S representative for commerce Ron Kirk expressed interest in developing a working relationship with Colombian Minister for Trade, Industry and Tourism Luis Guillermo Plata, with the view to consolidating bilateral relations in the market.
The two representatives will meet to evaluate their plan of action in the U.S in a few weeks time. Plata said he hoped that developing a working relationship with Kirk will help to hasten the ratification fo the Free Trade Agreement bewteen the two nations.