How Will Chimbote be Affected?

Congress is expected to vote soon on the Peru-United States Free Trade Agreement. This agreement affects the poor the most. About 73 percent of Peruvians live below the poverty line. It is estimated that 700,000 producers of cotton, barley, corn, wheat, oilseeds and dairy producers will be unable to compete with U.S. prices and so will become even more impoverished. They will migrate to the cities. Some of these will end up in Chimbote. As in Mexico and Central America, when hundreds of farmers suffered the loss of their farms, the alternative became migration to countries like the United States. The connection between trade, investment and immigration is often lost in the immigration debate.
Further, mining, oil and natural gas exploration would cause damage to the Peruvian environment, especially the Andes mountain region and the Amazon basin, the largest virgin forest on the planet. In the Free Trade Agreement, multinational corporations have the right to sue governments if any attempt to protect the environment would cause the companies a reduction in profits.
The right to life with dignity is what is at stake here. The Peru Trade Agreement should be rejected until its provisions are so revised as to strengthen, not worsen the economic, social and political equality of Peru.(NETWORK) Social justice demands such a rejection. Jesus' advocacy was always for the poor. If we are going to live out our baptismal commitment we must advocate for these people with our legislators.