Indigenous Colombians vote 'no' to U.S. free trade agreement

Published: 2005-03-11

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) -- Some 50,000 Colombians in six rural towns rejected the Colombian government's intentions to sign a free trade agreement with the United States. In a referendum organized by indigenous and farmer movements in the southern Cauca department, residents 14 years or older voted against the free trade pact being negotiated between the United States and Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. Just 693 people voted in favor of the agreement, according to the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca. Organizers planned the Cauca referendum to give indigenous communities a chance to be heard due to the impact the agreement could have on their communities, said Msgr. Hector Fabio Henao, one of 17 national and international observers who monitored the vote. Msgr. Henao heads Caritas Colombia, the church's charity agency.

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .