BRIEFS. international relations

Official heads to U.S. to discuss treaty

Panamanian Chancellor Samuel Lewis Navarro will travel to Washington, D.C. on May 7 to lobby for the ratification of a free trade agreement between the two countries.

Navarro said that he will meet with senior White House officials and members of Congress to try and get the trade agreement, which has been pending since last June, back on track.

"I will be making contacts at the highest level so that I can ensure that, at the time that the treaty is sent to Congress, it has the support it requires," Navarro said. The chancellor added that he is optimistic that the treaty can still be moved forward. But he admitted that it will be an uphill battle.

Free trade agreements, including NAFTA and a proposed deal with Colombia, have become a key issue in the U.S. presidential campaign. Both Democratic candidates, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, have harshly criticized such deals as harming American workers.

Clinton, in fact, had to fire a chief strategist because he was involved in lobbying efforts on behalf of the Colombian government's pending free trade agreement.

While the final details of Navarro's visit are still being worked out, he also plans to meet with officials to discuss issues such as drug trafficking and regional security.