Colombia's trade deal

President Alvaro Uribe makes his latest visit to Washington on June 7 to lobby US legislators to ratify a bilateral trade deal. Democrats are reluctant to approve such an agreement because of human rights concerns, particularly relating to right-wing paramilitary attacks on trade unionists. A continuing scandal involving alleged links between senior figures close to the government, and paramilitaries has done little to allay these fears.

Guerrilla deadline

Uribe's trip coincides with a self-imposed deadline unilaterally to free up to 300 imprisoned guerrillas from the country's largest leftist group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), provided that they demobilise and leave the group. The government hopes this will be a precursor to talks on an exchange of imprisoned guerrillas for hostages. The FARC has expressed interest in talks on this issue, calling for assistance from new French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The guerillas will urge Sarkozy to negotiate with the Colombian government for the demilitarization of two southwestern regions in exchange for the release of French-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt.

However, rhetoric from both the FARC and government remains extremely hostile and it is still far from clear how many, if any, insurgents will leave prison next week.

Uribe desperate

Meanwhile, Uribe will have little success persuading US Democrats to approve the trade deal, and calls may intensify within the United States for military aid flows to dry up. Uribe and his Vice-President Francisco Santos have been increasingly desperate, bordering on hostile, in their rhetoric towards US legislators in recent weeks. A recent deal between President George Bush's administration and the US Congress to proceed with bilateral trade deals with Peru and Panama, while leaving Colombia on hold, has further distempered Uribe.

The hostile rhetoric is likely to continue, which could undermine what was the closest US relationship in Latin America.