COLOMBIA HOPES FOR CLOSER U.S. TIES THROUGH FREE TRADE

The United States has no greater friend in South America than
Colombia. And at a time when it has so few supporters south of the
border, Washington has the opportunity to strengthen ties with this
country. The two governments concluded negotiations for a bilateral
free-trade agreement earlier this year, but there are serious doubts
the U.S. will ratify it now that the Democrats are taking control of
Congress in January. Failure to do so would be a real setback for
Colombia, and for the United States.

Two things impressed me during my recent visit to this republic of 46
million people, the second largest in South America after Brazil. The
first is how much better off Colombia is today than it was when I was
there 10 years ago. Most of the progress has been made under President
Alvaro Uribe, who was inaugurated for his second four-year term in
August. On my last visit, was a scary place, on the verge of
succumbing to the violence perpetrated by drug-traffickers and armed
guerrillas. At that time a former student related that he and his wife
went to work every morning not knowing if they would return home to
their children in the evening.

During his first term, Uribe mounted a serious military campaign
against the guerrilla threat to re-establish a government presence in
all areas of the country.

The guerrillas are still there -- and less progress has been made in
reducing drug trafficking -- but Colombia has made impressive strides.

The incidence of homicide and kidnapping has declined dramatically.
This trip, my former student took great pride in showing off the
restored government buildings and plazas of downtown Bogota, where
visitors did not venture on my earlier visits.

The capital city now offers its residents bike paths and streets
closed to traffic on weekends so families can enjoy its considerable
charms.

My program also took me through the heart of the rich coffee country,
and it was evident that rural Colombia is also more secure.

With violence down and confidence restored, the Colombian economy has
experienced four years of healthy growth.

The second thing that strikes the visitor is the fear of Colombians
that the United States will reject the recently negotiated free-trade
treaty. Even those who have reservations about opening their market to
U.S. imports -- especially agricultural products -- would see failure
to ratify the agreement as a rejection of Colombia's special ties to
the United States. One of my hosts reminded me that Colombia was the
only Latin American country to dispatch troops to fight and die on the
side of the United States in the Korean War. More recently, Colombia
has endorsed the U.S. war on terror and invasions of Iraq.

The United States has a lot at stake in maintaining the friendship of
Colombia as evidenced by the embassy in Bogota is the second largest
in the world, after Baghdad. Washington has invested huge sums of
money over the years to fight drug trafficking, which is centered in
Colombia. Through Plan Colombia, we are currently providing Colombia
$600 million a year to combat drugs and guerrillas.

The irony of congressional opposition to the free-trade treaty with
Colombia (a similar agreement with Peru also awaits ratification) is
that the agreement is quite favorable to U.S. economic interests.
Colombia, along with Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, is currently granted
preferential access to the U.S. market under the Andean Trade
Preference and Drug Eradication Act in the name of encouraging local
farmers to switch from cultivating coca and poppies to legitimate
crops like flowers and asparagus for export to the United States. The
free-trade agreement would provide U.S. exporters reciprocal access
to Colombian markets.

It would also open Colombia to more U.S. investment and strengthen
protection of intellectual property rights, a major goal of U.S. companies.

The failure of the incoming Congress to ratify the free-trade
agreement would be a slap in the face of President Uribe -- who was in
Washington last week lobbying members of Congress to approve the agreement.

It could also derail Colombia's road to recovery.

Last but not least, it would deny U.S. firms the opportunity to expand
business in an important market, one closely linked to Florida.

Terry L. McCoy is director of the Latin American Business Environment
Program at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He was in
Colombia in October. He wrote this commentary for the Orlando Sentinel.