Post by RPankn on Feb 22, 2005 17:53:43 GMT -5
Posted on Tue, Feb. 22, 2005
Gov. Jeb Bush arrived in Colombia with Florida business leaders who see potential to expand their share of the market in the Andean nation.
BY SIBYLLA BRODZINSKY
Special to The Herald
BOGOTA, Colombia - Florida Gov. Jeb Bush arrived in Colombia Monday heading a trade mission anxious to do business with Colombia despite a recent spate of rebel attacks after nearly two years of relative calm in this war-wracked nation.
''The fact that there are 190 members of the delegation is proof of the confidence that Florida business leaders have in the stability and security in Colombia,'' Bush told a joint news conference with President Alvaro Uribe. ''The efforts of President Uribe's administration have shown the results needed'' to lure investments here, he added.
ATTACKS CAST DOUBT
But rebel attacks across Colombia over the weekend cast doubt on the effectiveness of Uribe's crackdown on leftist rebels whose 40-year fight against the government had kept many foreign investors from the country.
One rebel leader promised more to come. ''This is only the beginning,'' Raúl Reyes, a senior leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, told the TV program Noticias Uno in a statement broadcast Saturday night.
Florida business leaders who accompanied Bush nevertheless see potential to expand their share of the market in Colombia, which is negotiating a bilateral free trade agreement with Washington.
''People, companies do not invest if there are no [assurances]. . . . In Colombia there are,'' Bush said.
TRADING PARTNER
Trade between Florida and Colombia totaled $3.6 billion last year, and Colombia is the state's sixth largest foreign trading partner. Colombia's top imports from Florida are cellphones, while Florida mostly buys ["]fresh cut flowers["] [*cough* cocaine *cough*] from the Andean nation.
Uribe said Colombia would continue to support Panama City over Miami as the headquarters for an eventual Free Trade Area of the Americas being negotiated among 34 nations of the Western Hemisphere. ''Miami is our second choice,'' he said. [Panama City? That's scary considering the only thing around there is a military base.]
www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10958483.htm?1c
Gov. Jeb Bush arrived in Colombia with Florida business leaders who see potential to expand their share of the market in the Andean nation.
BY SIBYLLA BRODZINSKY
Special to The Herald
BOGOTA, Colombia - Florida Gov. Jeb Bush arrived in Colombia Monday heading a trade mission anxious to do business with Colombia despite a recent spate of rebel attacks after nearly two years of relative calm in this war-wracked nation.
''The fact that there are 190 members of the delegation is proof of the confidence that Florida business leaders have in the stability and security in Colombia,'' Bush told a joint news conference with President Alvaro Uribe. ''The efforts of President Uribe's administration have shown the results needed'' to lure investments here, he added.
ATTACKS CAST DOUBT
But rebel attacks across Colombia over the weekend cast doubt on the effectiveness of Uribe's crackdown on leftist rebels whose 40-year fight against the government had kept many foreign investors from the country.
One rebel leader promised more to come. ''This is only the beginning,'' Raúl Reyes, a senior leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, told the TV program Noticias Uno in a statement broadcast Saturday night.
Florida business leaders who accompanied Bush nevertheless see potential to expand their share of the market in Colombia, which is negotiating a bilateral free trade agreement with Washington.
''People, companies do not invest if there are no [assurances]. . . . In Colombia there are,'' Bush said.
TRADING PARTNER
Trade between Florida and Colombia totaled $3.6 billion last year, and Colombia is the state's sixth largest foreign trading partner. Colombia's top imports from Florida are cellphones, while Florida mostly buys ["]fresh cut flowers["] [*cough* cocaine *cough*] from the Andean nation.
Uribe said Colombia would continue to support Panama City over Miami as the headquarters for an eventual Free Trade Area of the Americas being negotiated among 34 nations of the Western Hemisphere. ''Miami is our second choice,'' he said. [Panama City? That's scary considering the only thing around there is a military base.]
www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/10958483.htm?1c
