McCain in Colombia to push free trade

CARTAGENA, Colombia -- Sen. John McCain arrived Tuesday night in Colombia to promote a free trade agreement he says would bolster a key ally in the war on drugs but has stalled in Congress.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee is visiting this South American country to showcase his foreign policy and pro-business credentials.

The U.S.-Colombian trade deal has gained prominence as an issue in the presidential race, generating opposition from labor unions and others who worry that lower tariffs on Colombian goods could lead to a loss of American manufacturing jobs.

Here in Colombia, the issue is as much about drugs as it is about trade.

Colombia's government says the deal would provide an economic incentive for farmers who grow coca — the raw material used to produce cocaine — to produce other goods.

Colombia produces 90% of the cocaine consumed in the USA. Conservative President Alvaro Uribe, one of Washington's closest allies in a region that has several left-leaning leaders, has made reducing coca cultivation one of his main priorities, although results have been mixed.

"We feel mistreated by the U.S. Congress," said Alejandro Velez, vice president of the Farmers' Society of Colombia. "There's a national sense of incredulity."

Crop-dusters roar across Colombia's hills and valleys almost daily, dumping white plumes of herbicide to kill coca plants and curb the cocaine industry.

"We want to make sure our farmers can always count on having a market, because if they don't have options, they will turn to coca," Velez said.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted in April to postpone a decision on the trade deal. Uribe said after the vote that it would be "incomprehensible, inexplicable to deny a country like Colombia a free trade treaty."

Colombia does $18 billion in trade with the U.S. Gold, emeralds, coffee and oil lead the South American country's exports.

Colombia also is the United States' biggest foreign supplier of cut flowers such as roses and carnations.