To some, the injunction of the FTA with Panama should be viewed mainly as an opportunity for big business to further expand its reach abroad without upholding basic labor and environmental concerns. Consequently, if the status quo were left alone, the corruption scene would darken in Panama at the very time that self-serving members of the Obama administration would be chanting its wonders. Essentially, it would be left up to Panama to properly implement and uphold these terms of the TPA, which seems highly unlikely due to the country’s documented history of corruption and the neglect of labor and human rights, while at the same time disregarding its environmental shortcomings in the face of a potential economic windfall.
Truth-Out has published an expansive expose of Panama's inability to comply with what we are being told are the standards necessary to strike trade deals with the United States. "Panama’s governing class," Truth-Out writes in The U.S. Whitewashes Panama's Fatal Flaws to Champion Their Free Trade Agreement, "has shown time and again that it is not prepared to take on the institutional reform that it so desperately requires."
The article highlights the downfall of accountability, fairness and transparency connected to new President Ricardo Martinelli. Martinelli enacted Law 30, known simply as the "Chorizo Law," taking aim at labor among other societal protections:
This law essentially undermined labor unions and environmental protections, as well as amended the penal code in favor of the police, further removing accountability and justice from an already deficient system. Panamanian civil society reacted strongly to the Chorizo Law, leading to a fierce labor protest in which three people died and hundreds more were injured.
Eventually, the law was revoked, after which another enact-a-law/spark-a-protest/revoke-a-law sequence took place with respect to mining:
...after the new law was enacted on February 10, 2011, it sparked protests across the country, with the strongest opposition coming from indigenous groups and environmental activists. Following a sharp backlash and a particularly acute plunge in his approval rating, which “drop[ped] to an unprecedented 41% (down from its usual 60%-70%),” Martinelli was persuaded to repeal the new law in early March.
The Panamanian judicial system is as corrupt as ever, according to the article:
The Panamanian courts are particularly corrupt and politically partisan, chronically interpreting the laws to favor a select few, namely those in positions of wealth and power. Several high-profile public corruption cases have exposed a tangled web of bribery, deceit, and chicanery.
The entire article provides a detailed and scary backdrop for pending trade between the U.S. and Panama.
Truth-Out's expose comes on the heels of last week's report that Colombia may have used U.S. aid to target labor leaders. Colombia, of course, is under constant fire for its awful and frequently murderous treatment of labor officials. From the Communication Workers of America news desk:
Following revelations that Colombia may have misused U.S. government aid to probe and undermine the activities of labor leaders and union activists, CWA President Larry Cohen and United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard are calling on the House Select Intelligence Committee to investigate the matter.
"Press reports allege that the United States provided aid, equipment and training that Colombian officials wrongly exploited in ways that endangered labor leaders and activists," Cohen said. He and Gerard are demanding that the House intelligence panel "take these allegations seriously and aggressively investigate abuse of U.S. government support and assistance by Colombia."
CWA, the USW, and other labor and human rights groups continue to oppose a pending U.S.-Colombia trade deal because of that country's failure to protect labor leaders or investigate the murders of thousands of union activists. "Colombia has the worst record of any country in the world when it comes to violence against union leaders and activists," Cohen said.
Gerard said, "If U.S. assistance fueled Colombia's actions in this area, it not only highlights the unacceptable track record of the Colombian government but undermines any conceivable legitimacy of an FTA with Colombia."
It seems the longer the pending Free Trade trifecta sits on the House floor (the third deal, KORUS, is with South Korea and has sparked more contentious debate than Colombia and Panama combined), the more we discover these deals are ill-advised. In holding up the passage of the bills over assistance to displaced workers, Republican leaders have done the nation a great service: they've let us all come to find out just how poorly conceived and poorly timed these off-shoring, wage-crushing deals might be.