Hillary Clinton Pushes Colombia Free Trade Agreement In Latest Email Dump

[Depaysement]

On the eve of South Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary, the U.S. State Department released 1,500 pages of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails from her tenure as secretary of state. Included in the 881 emails published Friday night are messages highlighting Clinton lobbying for a controversial Colombian trade deal she previously pledged to oppose.

During her 2008 presidential run, Clinton said she opposed the deal because “I am very concerned about the history of violence against trade unionists in Colombia.” She later declared, “I oppose the deal. I have spoken out against the deal, I will vote against the deal, and I will do everything I can to urge the Congress to reject the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.”

But newly released emails show that as secretary of state, Clinton was personally lobbying Democratic members of Congress to support the deal, even promising one senior lawmaker that the deal would extend labor protections to Colombian workers that would be as good or better than those enjoyed by many workers in the United States.


http://www.ibtimes.com/hillary-clinton-pushes-colombia-free-trade-agreement-latest-email-dump-2326068

[Mufaddal]

1. So much for those dead union organizers.

the deal would extend labor protections to Colombian workers that would be as good or better than those enjoyed by many workers in the United States.

[Depaysement]

3. Well put

Froman — a former Citigroup executive who as trade representative was lobbying for passage of the deal — responded by thanking Clinton for her "help and support.” Hormats, a former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs who subsequently was hired by Clinton at the State Department, later chimed in, telling her “terrific job” and “GREAT line on Columbian [sic] workers!!!!!”

[Mufaddal]

5. While we're at it, maybe we could talk about Plan Colombia

Which everyone seems to have forgotten.

This week Hillary Clinton again revealed a blind spot for the drug war and a deafness of tone towards Latino issues. She decided to brag about Plan Colombia, her husband's signature international drug policy initiative, which has been a total disaster in one of the most emblematic theaters of the failed war on drugs.

At a campaign stop in New Hampshire, Clinton was asked about immigration. After citing her record of voting to militarize the border and referring to immigrants as "illegal", she invoked Plan Colombia to show off her hawkish bona fides

Under Plan Colombia, US taxpayer dollars have financed gross and widespread violations of human rights. It has paid for thousands of people murdered, disappeared, tortured, raped. It has forced millions of people to flee their homes - fueling a conflict that has resulted in more internally displaced people than nearly any other. It has funneled monies to paramilitary death squads guilty of some of the conflict's most heinous atrocities. It has funded Colombian military units guilty of assassinating dissidents, labor leaders, and students in order to silence political opposition and crush social movements. It has paid security forces that murder thousands of civilians and dress them up as guerillas in the so-called "false positive" scandal - which Colombia's top brass knew about as it happened. It has funded aerial fumigation using toxic chemicals that poison people and environment but fail to make a dent in the drug trade. And it has enriched U.S. military contractors and other drug war profiteers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-robelo/hillary-clinton-plan-colombia_b_8557396.html

[Perogie]

2. Just more proof

Hillary tells the voters what they want to hear and then does the opposite. Too bad people are blind to it.

[tazkcmo]

4. Which Hillary?

I'm keeping a score card. I didn't realize the Democratic Party had so many candidates running!

[Barack_America]

7. #TheRealHillary. The Republican version.

[AzDar]

6. She's a LIAR. How *anyone*, let alone Progressives could support her, is beyond me...