Uribe Falls Short at US-FTA Talks
Neither the presence of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe nor his close ties with Washington relaxed the US position to close Saturday the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between both nations.

Thus, the debates will continue next week to overcome obstacles in agriculture, sanitary and phytosanitary issues.

Since Tuesday Uribe has engaged in intense meetings with with top US officials, including President George W. Bush, but has not persuaded the negotiators.

With the impossibility of closing negotiations today and forced to budge on some key matters such as elimination of taxes on vital products like chicken and corn, things are going from bad to worse for Colombia in this agreement.