The mirrors to deflect true government dealings and the "press" story are common. I'm not one to go digging, but the Mark Penn gaff just hasn't sat right with me. Come on, he is one of the most astute political tacticians and lobbyists in the country. He would not just "head down to Colombia" for a nice chit chat with his clients. Could it just be a basic business conflict of interest that he is caught in? Or is it a much longer relationship from Bill Clinton's presidency and his FTA with Colombia that rolled over into the Bush administration.
If Hillary Clinton is truly against the Free Trade Agreement with Colombia, how will she seek to desist her own husband and her Chief Campaign Strategist in moving forward with this long established relationship? I just don't see how this is possible!!
It is quite interesting that the story that the Colombian government has fired Mark Penn is the lead ticker ...quite an attempt perhaps to cut the legs of the history that binds them.
I would love to get more thoughts on this from Daily Kos historians, as I believe this story cuts to the heart of contradictions in our foreign policy.
In poking around for past articles regarding President Clinton's FTA initiatives, I found these three articles. One is not necessarily tied with FTA, but relates to a pardon that has ties to Colombia money laundering.
The first is a review of the ongoing FTA argument with Colombia. Please see argument for FT from Clinton administration.
U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement:
Strengthening Democracy and Progress in Latin America, dated 2/7/08.
by Daniel Griswold and Juan Carlos Hidalgo
"Blinded by narrow parochial concerns, the Democratic leadership in Congress also fails to understand the importance of Colombia in a region where left-leaning anti-American leaders are coming to power under populist agendas, like Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. As the Wall Street Journal’s Mary O’Grady has written, "Either the Democrats have very poor foreign policy judgment or they have sympathy for the devil."28 However, not all Democrats share the same miscalculations. An open letter by prominent Clinton administration officials and former Democratic members of Congress states that "it would be the height of irony were we to talk of ‘losing’ Latin America while refusing to take actions that would directly support fundamental relationships and interests in the region."29 (29= Leon Panetta et al., "Open Letter to Congressional Democrats," Latin Business Chronicle, September 24, 2007, Latin Business Chronicle.
This article I found from March, discussing Clinton initiatives in Colombia...
from Jake Tapper, ABC News Correspondence article..."Bill Clinton and Frank Giustra -- Together Again" March 01, 2008 1:17 PM Link to full article
The Wall Street Journal has also reported that Bill Clinton arranged for Giustra to meet Alvaro Uribe, the president of Colombia. And, lo and behold, a company Giustra's investment firm was advising acquired Colombian oil fields.
"And per Bloomberg News: "On June 21, 2005, Bill Clinton flew to Mexico City aboard a private jet that belonged to a Canadian investment banker he was meeting for the first time. The introduction paid off for both men. Clinton was borrowing the jetliner to begin a four-day speaking tour of Latin America that would pay him $800,000. Frank Giustra of Vancouver was forming a friendship that would make him part of the former president's inner circle and gain him introductions to presidents of Kazakhstan and Colombia, where he bought mineral rights. Giustra, 50, has since put his plane at Clinton's disposal at least a dozen times to raise money for charity, his wife's presidential campaign or himself, according to U.S. flight records and spokesmen for Clinton and Giustra..."
In looking for research, I found an interesting article discussing President Clinton's questionable pardons upon leaving the White House. This excerpt describes one such person who was an attorney dealing with the Cali Cartel by Dr. William Pierce from 2001. To read...Full Article
"One of the other felons whose sentence was commuted by Mr. Clinton last month was New York... (edited) lawyer Harvey Weinig. When he was practicing law in New York Mr. Weinig's most important clients were the Colombian bosses of the Cali cocaine cartel. In 1995, as part of a plea bargain, he admitted laundering $19 million in drug money for the cartel, and for that he was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Last month Mr. Clinton turned him loose. But actually, Weinig was involved in much more than laundering drug money. His clients customarily play rough; they don't just smuggle drugs; they kidnap people, they torture people, and they murder people. Weinig was involved in a kidnapping. The ransom money actually was delivered to his New York law office. The prosecutors actually had wire-tap recordings of Weinig discussing the kidnapping with some of his associates, and they were prepared to prosecute him for kidnapping and extortion and a number of other very serious felonies, which he wiggled out of with a plea bargain. And now Mr. Clinton has turned him loose. What was the quid pro quo there?"
What this all means, I am unsure, but if one looks for this long standing relationship building enterprise with the Colombian government and the efforts to forge a relationship, it is quite understandable, that Mark Penn is continuing the Bill Clinton FTA legacy. Although the pardon is intriguing, I have yet to find the connection, though it seems to be indicative of the all too classic movie line from "All the President's men"..."Follow the money".