The Associated Press

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Given the current bleak economic picture, small businesses in Southern Arizona should do more to promote the passage of a free-trade agreement with Colombia, according to that country's vice minister for foreign trade.

"In the face of a weakening economy, we should not close in," Eduardo Muñoz said Thursday during a visit to Tucson.

"By going to the international market, we can create a strong engine."

As the Bush administration tries to drum up congressional support for a free-trade pact with Colombia, Muñoz visited seven U.S. states to rally owners of small and medium-sized businesses to put pressure on politicians for its passage.

The U.S. Congress approved a free-trade agreement with Peru in December and is debating the approval of a similar pact with Colombia. The Bush administration is promoting the agreements as a way to establish a stronghold in Latin America.

"Those benefiting from trade agreements have not spoken up," Muñoz said, explaining why he targeted smaller-business owners. "Only opponents are vocal."

Kathleen McInerney of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who traveled with Muñoz, noted that 88 percent of the 5,550 Arizona companies that export their goods have fewer than 500 employees.

Colombia can export to the United States without paying tariffs through the Andean Trade Preference Act, enacted in 1991. It offers select countries the ability to move trade if they work to combat drug production and trafficking. Colombia's primary exports to the United States are oil, coal, flowers, coffee, cigarettes and bananas.

The existing trade agreement is up for congressional reauthorization several times a year, Muñoz said, and is not reciprocal to U.S. businesses wanting to sell goods in Colombia.

Arizona businesses exported $9.8 million worth of merchandise to Colombia in 2006 — mainly machinery and electronic parts — and paid tariffs of 10 percent to 20 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Opposition is fierce. U.S. labor unions decry more free-trade agreements for fear that American jobs will be lost. And environmental and human-rights advocates believe the developing country won't adhere to sound ecological practices or uphold worker rights.

Lisa Kubiske, an official with the U.S. State Department, said the proposed free-trade pact includes rules to prevent corruption, to protect worker rights and save the environment — including compliance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, known as CITES, which ensures that trade activity does not endanger wild animals or plants.

Muñoz acknowledged the criticism and said it is the biggest hurdle to passage of the trade agreement.

"We don't deny that there are problems," he said. "The important thing is that we're moving forward."

The Colombian government has established a protection program for workers, and currently 25 percent of participants are union members, Muñoz said.

The program offers personal safety analysis, surveillance and protection, up to and including armed security, he said. The $38 million effort is funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development, which provides economic, developmental and humanitarian assistance around the world to support U.S. foreign-policy goals.

"We are doing our best and will continue to do more to get rid of the problems," Muñoz said. "People need to pay attention. This is a clear economic opportunity."