In the USA Colombians are switching to Republican, over Hillary and TLC

DodgerDogs says on Apr 9, 2008, 22:30:

At a clothing boutique across the way from Mr. Tobon's agency called Made In Colombia, 18-year-old Mariana Puerto said she saw the free trade deal as way to open up opportunities at home so young people like herself wouldn't have to leave.

Although she can't vote, Ms. Puerto said almost everyone she knows has abandoned Mrs. Clinton over the trade deal.

"I've changed my mind about her," she said. "I think other people are changing, too."

T.L.C. is good for Colombia !!!!

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.Martin Luther King:

b bruce says on Apr 9, 2008, 22:38:

Most Colombian's I know in South Florida as the Cubans are conservative. The Democrate woman who is running against pro FTA Republican Eliana Ross Latenen is Colombian. She is also pro-union and anti-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. She will get crushed running against the Free Trade Agreement and Ross Latenen in South Florida.
Viva Colombia!

poco says on Apr 9, 2008, 22:54:

Quote: At a clothing boutique across the way from Mr. Tobon's agency called Made In Colombia, 18-year-old Mariana Puerto said she saw the free trade deal as way to open up opportunities at home so young people like herself wouldn't have to leave.
=======

This post isn't about making me feel good is it?

"Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent" - Isaac Asimov

goin_south says on Apr 9, 2008, 22:55:

poco, tell us: how your feelin?

why can't the freakin Chung King Chinese just LEAVE THE FREAKN DOLLY LLAMA and Tibet ... ALONE!

DodgerDogs says on Apr 9, 2008, 23:01:

He would be feeling better in Santa Marta .

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.Martin Luther King:

goin_south says on Apr 9, 2008, 23:04:

Wouldn't we all be feeling (her) better in Santa Marta?
.. better post her on the LONGEST THREAD EVA in PBH history.

why can't the freakin Chung King Chinese just LEAVE THE FREAKN DOLLY LLAMA and Tibet ... ALONE!

DodgerDogs says on Apr 9, 2008, 23:10:

This would be longest thread in US history , and the worst thread in the world.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.Martin Luther King:

b bruce says on Apr 9, 2008, 23:12:

Yeah! I haerd about this movie. Three men and a dike!

DodgerDogs says on Apr 9, 2008, 23:15:

I think that movie bombed at the box office.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.Martin Luther King:

goin_south says on Apr 9, 2008, 23:16:

Klondike

why can't the freakin Chung King Chinese just LEAVE THE FREAKN DOLLY LLAMA and Tibet ... ALONE!

DodgerDogs says on Apr 9, 2008, 23:23:

She is 100% rajun cajun , and she is all yours.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.Martin Luther King:

poco says on Apr 10, 2008, 00:13:

Quote: poco, tell us: how your feelin?

I'd like to say I was feel'n up but,, facts are,, I need a fingernail trim.

"Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent" - Isaac Asimov

nine inch nails says on Apr 10, 2008, 06:51:

Goooooood on em. Good good peoples those Colombians are!

McCain/Condi 08

"Bank owned" (www.foreclosurebyowner.com)

Rikito says on Apr 10, 2008, 06:59:

Hillary has about as much chance as becoming the U.S. President as ...wait, she has no chance at all so why bother?

It is not life that matters, but the journey.

Simon says on Apr 10, 2008, 11:58:

City Colombians Lean Republican Over Trade Issue

BY SARAH GARLAND - Staff Reporter of the Sun
April 10, 2008
URL: http://www2.nysun.com/article/74448

Some immigrants in New York City's Little Colombia may be changing their vote to Republican this year as a result of the Democratic candidates' opposition to a free trade agreement with Colombia.

Although only a small slice of the electorate, Colombian immigrants in Queens are backing away in particular from Senator Clinton, a candidate who only a few months ago they ardently, and almost unanimously, supported. Even those who are against the deal are switching their allegiance — to Senator Obama, whom they view as a stronger opponent of free trade.

A Democratic Party committeeman for the 39th District in Queens, Orlando Tobon, who is also often called the mayor of Little Colombia, said he had always been a loyal Clinton supporter until this week, after one of her top campaign aides, who had been lobbying for the free trade deal on behalf of the Colombian government, abruptly quit.

In the past few weeks, Mrs. Clinton has sought to distance herself from the proposal to open trade with Colombia as she woos blue-collar voters ahead of the Pennsylvania primary, and in general during the campaign she has become increasingly opposed to free trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In response, Mr. Tobon, a supporter of the Colombia trade plan, said he and his fellow countrymen have been given no choice but to hold their noses and vote Republican in the November election.

"I tell all of our paisanos, free trade with America is like opening a store we can sell to with 300 million customers. We think it's very important," Mr. Tobon said.

"We've supported Hillary Clinton, and we can't understand why she's not supporting us," he added.

He said the issue had been the main topic of discussion for days at his tax preparation agency, which also acts as an informal town meeting hall for the Colombians and other Hispanic immigrants who congregate along Roosevelt Avenue in Queens.

In New York's primary, Mrs. Clinton trounced Senator Obama in these heavily Hispanic neighborhoods in western Queens. That support hadn't waned even as she lost her position as the campaign's front-runner. About a month ago, a day-long informal survey of voters in Jackson Heights and Corona, many of them Colombians, didn't turn up any Hispanic voters who said they wouldn't have voted for Mrs. Clinton again if given the chance.

Yesterday, however, not a single Clinton supporter — or at least any willing to admit it — was to be found among a dozen Colombians interviewed.

There were nearly half a million Colombians residing in America in 2000, according to Census data, with more than 77,000 and as many as 115,000 living in New York City.

Mr. Tobon's reasoning in favor of the trade deal has caught on with Mauricio Palacios, 28, who works at a funeral preparation business next door to Mr. Tobon's office. After repeating Mr. Tobon's example of the store with 300 million customers, Mr. Palacios said he had decided that Mrs. Clinton had "never been a friend of Colombia." He now supports Senator McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.

Lucy Martinez, who works with Mr. Palacios at the funeral business, said she is keeping her voting plans a secret, but nodded as her co-worker listed reasons why Mr. McCain would be better for their home country.

Other Colombians argue that the trade deal could be disastrous. They point to some of their newest neighbors in Jackson Heights and Corona: immigrants from Mexico who say they left home after free trade made it harder for farmers to compete with cheap American products.

Despite Mrs. Clinton's opposition to the deal, several former Clinton administration officials have been directly involved in advocating on behalf of the Colombian government, including Mrs. Clinton's former campaign adviser, Mark Penn, who stepped down after his involvement became public.

"It was bad for the Mexicans. The big supermarkets are going to come and the little stores will close," Marino Carmona, 50, said. Two older women standing nearby clucked their approval of his assessment. Then, 30-year-old German Villara jumped into the conversation.

"I was going to vote for Hillary, but now I'm going to vote for Obama," he said.

At a clothing boutique across the way from Mr. Tobon's agency called Made In Colombia, 18-year-old Mariana Puerto said she saw the free trade deal as way to open up opportunities at home so young people like herself wouldn't have to leave.

Although she can't vote, Ms. Puerto said almost everyone she knows has abandoned Mrs. Clinton over the trade deal.

"I've changed my mind about her," she said. "I think other people are changing, too."

April 10, 2008 Edition > Section: New York > Printer-Friendly Version

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Great article. All I have to say is that I now won't be voting for Obama or Clinton if they keep acting like jerks towards Colombia. But I definitely won't vote for a Republican either!

"You want to talk to God? Let's go see him together, I've got nothing better to do."---Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark)

justkirkers says on Apr 10, 2008, 14:39:

TLC or any other agreement the Americans offer is good for business but bad for workers and their rights in both countries. Take your pick!

Frank Rizzo says on Apr 10, 2008, 17:20:

Just heard from a friend in Colombia...they are closing and dropping off almost 80 employees....in June.... their exports have dried up from what hes' telling me.... I knew he had been hurting for a few months....and thought this might happen.....ugggggg

Rubito says on Apr 11, 2008, 17:25:

Time to retool in Colombia. If you want to export, it can't be rice and beans and coffee and platanos anymore. It's gotta be something to go with your new position as having arrived into something better.

---Violence is the price of freedom.---