Lima - Canada and Colombia signed a free trade agreement in Lima as their leaders prepared to attend an Asia-Pacific summit there.

"We are taking a very important step at a moment of great difficulty because of the world financial crisis," said Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper witnessed the signing of the pact Friday by the two countries' trade ministers.

Both Uribe and Harper called on the US Congress to ratify a US-Colombia free trade pact, which was signed long ago.

The Democratic Party, which holds a majority in the US Congress, has blocked its passage because of human rights abuses in Colombia, some of which have been blamed on the military.

Uribe said the fundamental cause of the human rights violations was drug production. "These treaties offer prosperity and alternatives" to the drug trade, he argued.

While Colombia is not a member of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, Uribe was invited to attend the weekend summit as an observer.

It was likely that Colombia would join after a moratorium on new members expires in 2010. (dpa)