Few days remain for the end of the Duque Administration in Colombia and judging by what we read in the local media, its people have not realized that it is one of the best governments in the history of that South American nation.
Indeed, Colombia has been one of the modest growth nations in Latin America for three fundamental reasons. The first is its complex geography that demands huge investments in infrastructure. These investments are the only way to economically integrate a nation that is divided into three regions by the presence of high mountain ranges. The second is the absence of significant deposits of fossil fuels. The third low investment in human capital.
Hence, the economic relaunch of the country in this era of globalization demanded the confrontation of these three challenges. And it turns out that Mr. Ivan Duque has done it. And he has planted a pike in Flanders to reverse the harmful effects of these weaknesses on the future development of Colombia. But judging by the conduct of the electorate and the columns of opinioncracy, Mr. Duke has done nothing in four years.
And it turns out that when you ask for statistics you find unusual data. The Duque administration built 41 highways in four years. And when it comes to human capital, the achievements are simply impressive. The poverty rate and labor informality were reduced by 20%. A social protection network was developed that covers 11 million households that were in a situation of extreme poverty. Higher education enrollment in low-income families increased. And that government delivered 50,000 rural property titles that allow small producers to use their land as collateral for credits to finance harvests. In summary.,
But there is more. The Duque administration began the same energy transition that Costa Rica and Uruguay did many decades ago to diversify their energy matrix, overcome oil shortages and enter the green economy.
That if it was a low administration in the production of jam as they call in Colombia the purchase of favors between official and factual powers. Nor did he spend money on propaganda for his programs on topics that fascinate the print media and for the first time in a long time his government was based on the rule of law. In other words, he tried to ensure that all Colombians were treated equally before the law.
It is true that COVID 19 pushed back the growth rate and created unsustainable tensions on public finances, causing inflation and unemployment simultaneously. But that moment in the journey of the Duque administration does not eliminate its libertarian and developmental trajectory.
However, this government behavior does not seem to pay dividends either in Colombia or in the rest of Latin America except in definitely exotic places like Costa Rica, Uruguay and Barbados. Because the entire region is still a prisoner of medieval culture where the chief is imposed by authority, not by specific weight, and his entourage is entitled to all kinds of advantages and benefits while the rest of the population suffers from the problems of underdevelopment. And those who lay the foundations to break these schemes end up being stoned. In the Middle Ages with stones and today with votes.
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