United States Commerce Secretary Gary Locke Wednesday urged Colombia to
start “making progress” in order to ensure the approval of a free trade
pact with its north American ally.
Locke made his statement during the Council of the Americas meeting in Washington, where he reiterated that “the Colombian government must make progress” on issues like violence against union leaders to convince the Democratic majority in Congress to ratify the free trade agreement.
U.S. Senator Robert Mendendez (D-NJ) told press agency AP that, as far as he is concerned, the Colombia pact can be approved this same year if pending matters are resolved, but “these issues must be resolved before the package of the free trade agreement can be presented for debate and a vote in Congress.”