The New York Times
No U.S. - Colombia pact if violence goes on - Rights Group
Feb 3--Colombia must act to halt rising violence, including against trade unionists, if it is to secure U.S. congressional approval for a long-delayed trade agreement with Washington, a U.S. human rights group said on Wednesday.
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Murder rates have climbed in Colombia over the last year as authorities say thousands of criminals, led by former right-wing militia chiefs, reorganize their cocaine-smuggling and extortion organizations.
Human Rights Watch said in a report that the emergence of these successor groups was predictable due to Colombia's failure to dismantle paramilitary networks when the groups were demobilized between 2003 and 2006.
Colombia is lobbying hard for a U.S. trade deal, but Tom Malinowski, head of Human Rights Watch's Washington office, said Democratic lawmakers would block it until President Alvaro Uribe did more to stop violence.
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