Peru FTA
Peru was the first country to close FTA negotiations, on December 7, 2005. The text of that agreement was published within a month. The FTA with the U.S. and Peru is the closest of the Andean agreements to becoming law. In spite of its tremendous unpopularity there, Peru is the only Andean country which has ratified the treaty in their legislature to date. Several Presidential candidates in the recent elections ran with their campaigns centered on opposing an FTA with the United States.
Ollanta Humala the opposition candidate who ran against Alan Garcia in the June runoff elections came from virtually nowhere to seriously compete for the presidency based entirely on a platform of opposing the neo-liberal agenda. Garcia promised in his campaign to re-negotiate the agreement line by line if he were elected. Once elected, he has apparently forgotten his promise, and has pushed to assure ratification of the agreement both in Peru and in the U.S.
The FTA was ratified in Peru in late June, in a middle of the night lame duck legislative session, concurrent with protests which were being carried out all around the country. Opposition to the agreement continues to be high, but the Peruvian government is now pushing for a vote in the U.S. Congress. Prior to the U.S. elections, this has been an issue which the Bush Administration has wanted to introduce, but apparently they have viewed it as politically too costly. It now appears that the Administration may also introduce the bill in the lame duck session, especially if the Republican losses in Congress are as widespread as are being predicted. We are currently working to oppose the passage of this hopelessly flawed agreement.