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John McCain's dollar diplomacy
John McCain supposedly knows a thing or two about foreign policy.
By all accounts, it is the Republican presidential candidate's familiarity with the world that will form his primary argument to voters, who his supporters plan to pry away from Democrat Barack Obama by playing on global fears rather than domestic hopes.
So why -- as America was celebrating the anniversary of its declaration of independence from colonialism and the economic oppressions that have always gone with it -- was McCain making common cause with a government that disregards historic American values with regard to democracy, human rights and economic fairness?
The unfortunate answer is that, while McCain may love his country, he does not understand much about the aspirations of the founders of this republic -- or the determination of those who challenge today's economic colonialism.
Nor does McCain understand how the United States can and must operate in the new world of the 21st century.
The decision of the Arizona senator to travel to Colombia, a country with an atrocious record when it comes to holding free elections and an even more atrocious record of respect for the rights of workers, is not simply unsettling. It raises real questions about whether McCain pays even rudimentary attention to the signals he sends when playing on the world stage.
With his high-profile trip to the South American nation, the presumptive nominee of the American president's party told the world that the United States was uncritically aligned with a regime that sanctions the killing of labor and peasant organizers who would seek modest betterment of their circumstances. Worse yet, McCain renewed his commitment to realign the U.S. economy not to improve conditions for workers and farmers in the U.S. but to strengthen Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and the multinational corporations that he seems so determined to enrich and be enriched by.
Illinois Congressman Phil Hare, the co-chair of the House International Workers Rights Caucus who has emerged as a leading voice in Congress on human rights, suggested before the Republican contender made his trek: "Senator McCain should use his trip to Colombia to learn the facts on the ground -- not to mimic the Bush administration's support for an unfair trade agreement with that nation."
Hare has worked closely with Colombia trade union and farm groups, as well as honest political leaders in the country, to block the so-called Colombia Free Trade Agreement, a scheme by the Bush White House to strengthen the hand of Uribe and the violent forces that seek to suppress democratic and economic progress in Colombia.
McCain is an over-the-top supporter of the Colombia FTA. Like Obama, Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold and other advocates for responsible and engaged foreign policies, Hare strongly opposes the deal, which was crafted by the Uribe government and lobbyists for multinational corporations that seek to take advantage of Colombia's willingness to crush organizing to obtain fair wages for workers and fair prices for farmers.
"The American people are rightly skeptical about NAFTA-style trade agreements which have led to the outsourcing of millions of high-paying American jobs. They are also fierce proponents of human rights and human dignity," warned Hare. "Given the uptick in anti-union violence in Colombia and our own economic insecurity, I hope Senator McCain will use his trip to think twice about the merits of this deeply flawed agreement."
A veteran labor activist who has long embraced the principles of international solidarity, Hare is properly concerned about the violence that Colombia's paramilitary death squads -- which human rights monitors and Colombian journalists link to the country's military -- use to block union organizing and the development of agricultural cooperatives.
"More trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia than the rest of the world's nations combined -- a clear assault on fundamental human rights. The assailants are rarely, if ever, prosecuted for their crimes," explains Hare. "This year alone, 28 unionists have been murdered in Colombia and not one of the perpetrators of these heinous crimes has been brought to justice."
The Illinois congressman urged McCain to "meet with all sides, including labor leaders and average workers who have been terrorized in Colombia for the last two decades." And Hare suggested that "Senator McCain must ask President Uribe the tough questions about what the Colombian government is doing to reduce this violence."
McCain could have done that. He could have been a serious and useful player on the world stage. He could have used his considerable prominence to save the lives of workers and farmers who risk their lives when they organize unions and cooperatives. He was urged to do just that by one of the few members of Congress who has bothered to get to know something about Colombia and its people.
Instead, the Republican candidate for president posed for grip-and-grin campaign photos with Colombian officials.
The message from the candidate's Colombian sojourn is clear: If John McCain is elected this fall, the United States will continue to choose "dollar diplomacy" over human rights. And U.S. presidents will continue to stand, smiling and seemingly oblivious, at the side of foreign leaders who govern at gunpoint.
Associated Press
Republican presidential nominee John McCain
