Apr. 24, Feature - Both Democratic Presidential candidates have been embarrassed by secret meetings on 'free trade deals'. A staff member in Barack Obama's campaign met with Canadian officials, reportedly to assure them that Obama is more supportive of the North American Free Trade Agreement than his speeches suggest. more recently, a top strategist in Hillary Clinton's campaign met with Colombian officials, as part of his PR firm's work supporting the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. With Congress likely to vote on the controversial Colombia deal later this year, the Colombian government has retained multiple lobbyists with Democratic Party ties. Judith Siers-Poisson and Diane Farsetta of PR Watch dot org report.

The former chief campaign strategist for Hillary Clinton's campaign, Mark Penn, has been a controversial figure for some time. His "day job," which he continues to work at while he works on the campaign, is heading the major public relations firm Burson-Marsteller. Labor leaders criticized his role in the Clinton campaign, pointing to corporate campaigns Burson-Marsteller has waged against unions. The breaking point came earlier this month, when Penn met with Colombian government officials, as part of his firm's work promoting the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

The controversy resulted in Colombia ending its contract with Burson-Marsteller, but the country still retains several high-powered Washington, D.C. lobbyists. Two have ties to the Democratic Party and labor groups. One is Andrew Samet, former President Clinton's Deputy Under Secretary of Labor. He's claimed that while trade unionists are still violently attacked in Colombia -- the most dangerous country in the world for union activists -- the attacks are not as frequent as they used to be.

Another Colombia lobbyist is the Glover Park Group, which is also headed by former Clinton administration officials. According to lobbying disclosure forms, Glover Park's work is to identify "within the press, the Congress, the academy business leaders and in general the United States society, speakers and leaders that can help the Government of Colombia" promote the free trade deal.