What change in Colombia could possibly have led a Democratic president to implement a trade agreement over the objections of Democrats in Congress with the country infamous around the world for its violence against unionists?

It would seem reasonable for a government to take a step back from aid pledges to other governments when an international incident involves American deaths. However, discontinuing aid might not make pragmatic sense when considering all of our interests.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's state visit to the United States today comes on the heels of congressional approval for a long-pending Free Trade Agreement between the countries. The pact is another achievement in a strong alliance that experts say has "never been better."

The New World is fully at home in the New World. With hard work, smart leaders and a continuing supply of good luck, Bolivians and Ecuadorans will live as comfortably and well as Chileans do now.

Today's announcement by the Obama administration of an "Action Plan" ostensibly aimed at addressing Colombia's horrific labor rights conditions is a remarkably cynical maneuver.

Since 1986, over 2800 unionists have been assassinated in Colombia. The clear and ever-present danger to organized labor in Colombia is the most salient and undeniable fact about the U.S.' favorite nation in the region.

The United States risks becoming an afterthought in much that is unfolding commercially in Latin America.

Turning a blind eye to Colombia's problems only helped to solidify the perception in Latin America that the United States applied a double standard when it came to democracy and human rights.