Colombian Senator Alexander López Maya, represents the Department of Valle del Cauca and one of Colombia's most important port cities, Buenaventura. Senator López has closely monitored the recent expansion of the port in preparation for the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and cites grave labor and human rights abuses against Afro-Colombian port workers. Senator López is an outspoken advocate for labor rights in Colombia and in June of 2008, in his capacity as member of the Senate Human Rights Committee, sponsored a hearing of labor rights violations faced by sugar cane workers. In 2007, he sponsored a hearing on human rights violations faced by Afro-Colombians in Buenaventura municipality.
