For Javier Urrego Jimenez
The first test and perhaps the most important aspect that the new government has to face is what to do with the economy? Finance Minister José Antonio Ocampo is already taking steps in New York so that some of the firms that measure investment grades return to leave this score as it was in the past decade. And why not being in the Big Apple start reassessing the free trade agreements that at times like these have the country on edge. And it is that, that the dollar is at its highest peak in years, once again, it is not Petro's fault. But the president-elect does have to do something about it once he starts his government. The movement that Ocampo makes in New York is for the Colombian economy to appreciate a little more. Only for this firm to say whether or not it is profitable to invest in our country will ease the pockets of Colombians.
pray to the dollar
The second thing is that the national economy stops depending on economies such as the North American and European ones, among others. It is one of the consequences of globalization that we are seeing in the world at this moment. You cannot not depend on the outside absolutely. Whether we like it or not, we depend on the movement of all economies to mobilize ours. But it is still unheard of that basic food products, which can clearly be produced in our country, have to be imported. That is where the free trade agreements signed in recent years come in. These tied us to the fact that some products are going to arrive cheaply in the country, in theory, but we are tied to having to import others that we can happily produce on our lands.
I remember that in the middle of the pandemic some engineers managed to develop ventilators to supplement the need of patients enter intensive care. But surprisingly for everyone, Invima did not want to release the authorization for its use, why? Because these respirators were being imported either from the United States or from Europe. Then intervention was made in high places to stop the national fans while the business with foreign economies was completed.
The above shows that the country suffers from the ills that have come from years ago. That we look more like a colonial economy where we only have to produce certain products while we have to import others. This problem produced that in the 19th century the country was channeled into meaningless civil wars. That in the 20th century the country did not achieve a competent industrialization. And that in the 21st century Colombia continues to be a precarious economy that is one of the most affected in times of crisis. Of the Latin American countries, Colombia is in the top three most devalued currencies along with Argentina and Chile, mainly due to its high dependence on imported inputs.
For now Petro must entrust itself to the sacred dollar while waiting for the US economy to shake off the ghost of the recession that Wall Street executives give their approval in the midst of the distrust that fills the world. At this moment almost thirty million Colombians, slightly more than half of the population, have confidence in the new president. It's not much, but ultimately, economics is about trust.
July 17, 2022
