{"id":45,"date":"2011-12-23T02:57:39","date_gmt":"2011-12-23T10:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/?page_id=45"},"modified":"2011-12-24T06:16:01","modified_gmt":"2011-12-24T14:16:01","slug":"letter-to-the-editor-columbia-fta","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/colombia-free-trade-agreement\/letter-to-the-editor-columbia-fta\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing a Letter to the Editor Opposing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Letters to the Editor matter! They are an excellent means of sharing your opinions with a large audience. Because politicians often read the letters section of the local newspaper to keep track of public opinion, they are also a great way of communicating with your elected officials. Over the long term, letters can even help to shape news coverage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Talking Points about the Colombia Free Trade Agreement:<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Please focus on the issues that matter most to you, and write your Letter in your own words! Newspaper editors are usually turned off when seeing identically-worded letters. <\/em><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>CHOOSE ONE ISSUE TO FOCUS ON: The Colombia Free Trade Agreement is bad for <em>Oregon\/working people\/the environment<\/em>and should be opposed.<\/li>\n<li>The United States is in the midst of its largest trade deficit ever.The Colombia Free Trade Agreement would make matters worse by forcing U.S. employers to compete with sweatshops abroad.This would undoubtedly help accelerate the export of Oregon jobs.The Oregon Fair Trade Campaign estimates that 68,000 Oregon jobs have already been lost to outsourcing and foreign competition.<\/li>\n<li>Colombia remains the deadliest place on Earth to be a labor advocate.Since 1991, at least 2,283 union leaders have been murdered &#8212; with the vast majority of cases remaining unsolved.You cannot trade &#8220;freely&#8221; with another country when its workers arephysically intimidated into accepting poor working conditions.<\/li>\n<li>Colombia&#8217;s rainforests arehome to an incredibly wide range of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth.The Colombia Free Trade Agreement does almostnothing to protect biodiversity in Colombia, and would lead to increased drilling, mining and logging there, putting countless species in danger of extinction.<\/li>\n<li>The Colombia deal copies the same horrendous agricultural provisions found in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and as such, is expected to push sizable numbers of small-scale Colombian farmers out-of-business. This decidedly &#8220;unfree&#8221; trade agreement would force Colombian farmers to compete with farm goods imported from the United States that receive massive government subsidies and can thus be sold for less than the cost of production.<\/li>\n<li>The Bush administration is pushing Congress to vote on the Colombia Free Trade Agreement this year.Our elected officials should oppose this reckless policy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><em>For more info on the Colombia FTA, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/trade-policies\/colombia-free-trade-agreement\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/trade-policies\/colombia-free-trade-agreement\/<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Local Newspaper Contact Info:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Oregonian<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:letters@news.oregonian.com\">letters@news.oregonian.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Bulletin<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:bulletin@bendbulletin.com\">bulletin@bendbulletin.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hillsboro Argus<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:NewsClerk@HillsboroArgus.com\">NewsClerk@HillsboroArgus.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Daily Astorian<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:editor@dailyastorian.com\">editor@dailyastorian.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Asian Reporter<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:news@asianreporter.com\">news@asianreporter.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Dalles Chronicle<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:kgray@eaglenewspapers.com\">kgray@eaglenewspapers.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Statesman Journal<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:letters@StatesmanJournal.com\">letters@StatesmanJournal.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Register-Guard<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:rgletters@guardnet.com\">rgletters@guardnet.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mail Tribune<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:letters@mailtribune.com\">letters@mailtribune.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ashland Daily Tidings<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:tidingsopinion@dailytidings.com\">tidingsopinion@dailytidings.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Willamette Week<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:mzusman@wweek.com\">mzusman@wweek.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The World<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:theworldnews@theworldlink.com\">theworldnews@theworldlink.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Portland Business Journal<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/portland.bizjournals.com\/portland\/aboutus\/contact_editor.html\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/portland.bizjournals.com\/portland\/aboutus\/contact_editor.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>East Oregonian<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastoregonian.info\/FormLayout.asp?formcall=1\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.eastoregonian.info\/FormLayout.asp?formcall=1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Argus Observer<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/secure.townnews.com\/argusobserver.com\/forms\/letters.php\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/secure.townnews.com\/argusobserver.com\/forms\/letters.php<strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tips for Getting Published:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Keep your letter short.In most instances, your letter should be no more than five or six sentences.<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t try to make too many points in one letter.Stick to one basic point and make a simple argument, such as, \u201cThe Colombia Free Trade Agreement would be bad for Oregon because _____.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Be opinionated, but know that name-calling, insults and inflammatory language will likely prevent your letter from being published.<\/li>\n<li>If at all possible, write your letter in response to an article or editorial that recently appeared in the newspaper you\u2019re writing.<\/li>\n<li>Include your name, address and telephone number so the paper can verify that you submitted the letter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"center\">Please send copies of any of your letters that are published to <a href=\"mailto:orftc@citizenstrade.org\">orftc@citizenstrade.org<\/a> or ORFTC \u00b7 310 SW 4th Ave #436 \u00b7 Portland, OR97204<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Letters to the Editor matter! They are an excellent means of sharing your opinions with a large audience. Because politicians often read the letters section of the local newspaper to keep track of public opinion, they are also a great &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/colombia-free-trade-agreement\/letter-to-the-editor-columbia-fta\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":24,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.4.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Writing a Letter to the Editor Opposing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement - Oregon Fair Trade Campaign<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.citizenstrade.org\/ctc\/oregon\/colombia-free-trade-agreement\/letter-to-the-editor-columbia-fta\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Writing a Letter to the Editor Opposing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement - Oregon Fair Trade Campaign\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Letters to the Editor matter! 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