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District's Ethnic Rivalries Produce Free-Trade Twist [very, very bad Pelosi]

District's Ethnic Rivalries Produce Free-Trade Twist [very, very bad Pelosi]

Source: The Wall Street Journal
URL Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100 ... 3496104575560492597268992.html
Published: Oct 18, 2010
Author: Peter Wallsten

Nationally, anxiety is rising over free trade. But the idea has become central in the race to represent a majority-Hispanic congressional district in South Florida, where the candidates are looking for a cultural connection to voters with family ties in Latin America.

The fight, waged largely over Spanish-language airwaves, is taking place in a Miami-area district that is home to one of the country's largest populations of Colombian-Americans. Support for the proposed U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement is considered as much a point of ethnic pride as a boon for business.

Republican David Rivera recently aired a radio ad calling it "shameful" that Democrat Joe Garcia had raised money with the help of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had "scorned us" by blocking the trade agreement's passage in 2008.

[...]

The free trade pact, signed in 2006, was sought by President George W. Bush but stalled when Democrats took control of Congress in 2007 amid concerns over violence in Colombia against labor organizers.

In 2008, Ms. Pelosi blocked passage indefinitely. President Barack Obama has echoed concerns for labor officials.

[...]

Mr. Rivera said he had received assurances from GOP House leaders that, if they took the majority, they would make him a point person in securing passage of the deal.

[...]

He accused Mr. Garcia of hypocrisy in speaking out for the free trade deal while embracing Ms. Pelosi, whom Mr. Rivera called the "single biggest obstacle to passage" of the agreement.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303496104575560492597...