WOLA, TransAfrica Forum, and AFRODES USA sumbitted comments on behalf of the Network for Advocacy in Solidarity with Grassroots Afro-Colombian Communities (NASGACC) and partner organizations in Colombia concerning the Free Trade Agreemeent with Colombia to the Office of the United States Representative on September 15, 2009.
The comments regarding the FTA centered around two key themes: a) the existence of structural racism in Colombia, combined with the ongoing armed conflict and the deep-seated inequalities it perpetuates, disproportionately affect African descendants in the country and continue a process of historical and contemporary exclusion that the Colombian government fails to adequately address; and b) despite the existence of international and national legal mechanisms determining that communities must be consulted and integrated into decision-making processes whenever political or administrative measures could potentially affect their cultural integrity, traditional authorities were never consulted in the process of crafting the FTA.
Please click here to read the NASGACC's full comments.
