International Trade committee  In practice, let's say that what ends up happening is that these displacements are establishing a new configuration in terms of land ownership, concentrating the land in very few hands, and that has not been corrected by the national government. Now, when it comes to victims of

International Trade committee  First, let's say that the popularity of Mr. Uribe, in my view, can be explained by his political savvy. I don't want to mention names, but you will know that there have been heads of state in the history of humanity that have committed horrible things, and at the time they did ha

International Trade committee  It's very clear that the Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress and in the government do not wish to grant a free trade agreement to the Government of Colombia, specifically to President Alvaro Uribe, for reasons of human rights, and they have said so. They've said this in many

International Trade committee  There's no doubt then that economic activity and business activities in general are good for at least one of the parties involved in that business, right? But what happens in many cases is that business is not necessarily good for both parties. Maybe the business is good for one

International Trade committee  Thank you. I would say the first thing we have to do is fight against poverty, and to do that we have to get economies operating. How do we get economies operating? You need to develop the production apparatus. You need small and medium-sized businesses and large corporations, a

International Trade committee  Certainly. I'd be glad to. There are two points I'd like to highlight. First, I would say that in addition to the problem of union violence, there's a problem with Colombian legislation, which is very bad with respect to union rights. They have imposed what is known as “associa

International Trade committee  Let's try this out. Can you hear the English?

International Trade committee  I would like to repeat my thanks to this committee of the Canadian Parliament for the hospitality you have extended to us, the chance to share with you our points of view on a topic as important as the possibility of a free trade agreement between Canada and Colombia. Firstly,

International Trade committee  I would like to begin by extending my special thanks to all of you from this important committee of the Canadian Parliament for the hospitality you are showing me this morning.