L'Accord de libre-échange des Andes (ALEA) et les conditions de travail en Colombie: de l'intensification des politiques néo-libérales aux violations croissantes des droits humains

Between 2004 and 2006, two Andean countries, Colombia and Peru, signed bilateral trade agreements with the United States to make up the Andean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA). This article examines the impact of the AFTA on labour conditions in Colombia in the context of deepening market-oriented policies and increasing human rights violations. The article begins with an analysis of neoliberal policies and their impact on labour conditions in both the international and regional contexts. It then assesses the possible impact of AFTA on labour conditions in Colombia with consideration to the current political situation of the country. Introduction On November 22, 2006, the government of Colombia signed the CTPA (Colombian Trade Promotion Agreement) with the United States, amidst strong opposition and controversy from various sectors, including social and political organizations, trade unions and scholars. This agreement materialized out of the AFTA (Andean Free Trade Agreement) after a process of negotiation initiated in May 2004 between the US and three Andean countries, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. The Andean trade negotiation was the result of the failure of the FTAA (Free Trade Agreement of the Americas) in October 2003, when Brazil and other countries opposed the American project. The AFTA negotiations finally concluded with Peru in 2005 and Colombia a few months later, whereas Ecuador abandoned the negotiations. After the Ecuadorian presidential election, the new government of Rafael Correa decided not to negotiate such a trade agreement with the US. Although labour conditions were not explicitly discussed in the CTPA negotiations, several provisions, especially those 224 related to conditions of trade and investment, as well as those related to the agricultural sector, directly affect the conditions of workers in Colombia. This article begins with an examination of the impact of AFTA on labour conditions in Colombia, in the context of the deepening of market-oriented policies and increasing human rights violations. It analyzes neoliberal principles regarding labour conditions at both the national and international level. It then assesses the possible impact of AFTA on labour conditions in Colombia by examining the various previsions of the agreement, followed by a discussion of the political situation of the country and its impact on working conditions. The International and Regional Context The Theoretical Discussion The New World Order that has emerged from the end of the Cold War has been determined by the generalization of market-oriented policies and financial globalization throughout the world. During the past three decades, governments from diverse political orientations have adopted neoliberal policies, which in the countries of the South have centred on the reduction of public expenditures, the elimination of social subsidies, the withdrawal of social safety nets, the privatization of state-owned companies, and the creation of appropriate conditions for foreign investment. The most powerful economies of the world and the international financial institutions, namely the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank (WB), have directed their policies towards developing countries on the fulfillment of such priorities. These policies have had an enormous impact on the social and working conditions of labour throughout the world, but especially in the countries of the South. The generalization of socalled free-market policies and the privatization of state-owned companies have been accompanied by a process of deindustrialization in many countries, as well as by the ‘flexibilization’ and deterioration of working conditions. Policies stemming from the WTO and from bilateral and regional trade agreements, implemented by the United States and the European Union, have been aimed at deepening neoliberal restructuring in order to increase the income of the multinational corporations and benefit the national economies of the most powerful countries. The flexibilization of working conditions has been ex-