A few days ago, the Total Peace policy of the new president Gustavo Petro was approved. Does this mean that the Colombian government is fully taking on the peace process initiated by President Juan Manuel Santos, without the hesitations of his successor, Iván Duque?
Yes, there are two things, firstly, the full commitment to the implementation of the 2016 peace agreement, which is a constitutional mandate that agreed to implement the agreement within a period of 12 to 15 years. Many people think that this process was interrupted during the reign of Iván Duque, but that was not entirely the case, the process just slowed down a bit. Therefore, a full commitment to the implementation of the peace agreement is a first step. The second part consists of negotiations with armed organizations, including first the ELN, a process that is about to officially start. Then there are also dissidents of the FARC, those who did not sign the peace agreement or who subsequently found themselves marginalized. In addition, there is another distinguishing element that is not one of bargaining, but of submission to justice by armed organizations, which are criminal, not political. Therefore, it is a big gamble against all armed actors in Colombia.
When we talk about the integration of former guerrilla fighters, both from the FARC and now from the ELN, is there any aspect of this policy that also has to do with the parallel fight against the drug trade?
Yes, both things are together. It is recognized that drug trafficking is the main source of funding for armed organizations and that an agreement with them is needed to end these businesses. The agreement already provided for a specific chapter on compliance with the agreement by both parties, i.e. both the armed organizations and the government, which has committed itself to carrying out certain tasks to facilitate this transition. Now, for example, groups such as the Clan of the Gulf and others directly involved in the drug trade are offered a policy of submission to justice, which may include a non-extradition agreement for those who stop participating in the business and do not relapse . However, this is not a political negotiation, but a negotiation in terms of justice, because they are criminals. In this case there is no political treatment, it is simply a matter of sentencing, agreeing to the non-extradition if there is no recurrence. These are the kind of general guidelines that are still evolving, but this is more or less what we’re trying to do.
When I interviewed Iván Duque a few months ago on a visit to Portugal when he was still president, he told me that the economy is very strong because last year there was a 10% growth in GDP, and this year there is a forecast of growth of 6.5%. Do these optimistic predictions hold up? Doesn’t the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia have a direct impact on Colombia?
Of course they have an impact, I think all countries are affected and are entering a strong economic slowdown. Incidentally, a large part of the growth of the last two years is related to a recovery effect. That 10%, I remind you, is a big part of the recovery from the pandemic, and there’s still a residual rebound effect. Now, with the global issues we face, China has slowed down and the United States is close to a technical recession. This is the effect of the pandemic, but it is also the effect of the war in Europe with all the harmful effects that we have not seen in the world for a long time. This inflationary phenomenon, mainly caused by the issue of energy and food, has to do with war and also with the threat of nuclear war.
So Colombia’s growth forecast for 2023 will necessarily be moderate?
Yes, we think about a growth of around 3%. Of course it’s smaller than in recent years, but it’s not just a problem in Colombia, it’s something global.
Colombia has suffered a lot from the consequences of the crisis in Venezuela, with the arrival of a large number of refugees. I know that President Petro recently spoke to Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, but was it just a conversation between neighbors or was it also about finding a way to rekindle some form of cooperation?
There was a suspension of diplomatic relations with Venezuela, which was quite extreme and did not give us the necessary flexibility to address the issues common to both countries. We share 2219 kilometers of border, a very active border, with a lot of problems, and the relationship just got cut off and didn’t leave us with any kind of conversation. It was necessary to undo these broken relations. The migration figures appear to be a bit uncertain, but there are about four million Colombians living in Venezuela. Venezuelans have started to emigrate more recently, with about six million Venezuelans leaving in 2018. Currently, about two and a half million are registered in Colombia and about four more million have traveled through Colombia in recent years. Therefore, the government felt it was necessary to restore diplomatic relations. Of course we don’t agree on everything and we’re not best friends either, but we’re neighbors and we need a relationship that will help us solve a range of problems. First, we have to solve the migration and humanitarian issue of taking care of the population and on the other hand, we have the issue of border security that we also need to talk about, as well as trade issues. There are several issues that need to be discussed that neighboring countries always face, so we talked.
Has Colombian foreign policy been one of the most important changes with Gustavo Petro’s presidential election?
Yes, it is the most notable and the most important. It was known that the restoration of diplomatic relations with Venezuela would be made by the participating presidential candidates and only those most supportive of the previous government said that diplomatic relations would not be restored. Everyone else had said it was a necessity, and there was also a very strong public opinion that the way this issue had been handled had caused a lot of problems. There are big changes and we are talking to Europe and the United States about what is being done. Hence the discussions about political issues with other countries, which are also not necessarily public, but are discussed.
There is a lot of talk about the election of Gustavo Petro because of the historic political change that a left-wing government will have in Colombia. But as far as the image of the country is concerned, there is also much talk about the election of the Vice President, Francia Márquez, a black woman from a poor background who is a symbol of Colombia’s diversity. Do you believe that it is easier to spread a positive image of Colombia right now?
Yes, the vice president’s political phenomenon is very remarkable. Francia Márquez is the first Afro-Colombian woman to reach a position like this, besides her own life project being very important. He was already the leader of an organization in Colombia that achieved national recovery based on a discourse against racism, for diversity and inclusion. The vice president will lead a new equality ministry that will deal with gender and other technical issues, as well as minority issues. I think it was also the fact that she was a very humble person, an ordinary person with a very clear political thought, which also made her so attractive to many people. What we are seeing in the Colombian state is that much of the society is increasingly representing a refreshing change that will give us a diverse, multi-racial country, and with a range of positive elements.
A few months after Gustavo Petro’s victory, Lula da Silva won the elections in Brazil and what happened 20 years ago is repeating itself a bit, that is, a very left Latin America, with the exception of Colombia, which is new. It is a curious phenomenon, because the differences between, for example, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico are enormous. Is there anything right now that could work to the benefit of all countries? Is the continental left wing a symbolic phenomenon or could it affect every country?
There is a continental phenomenon from South America, a selection from the early years with Peru, Chile, and maybe Ecuador, and now of course Colombia and Brazil. There is a political shift to the left in South America. We had already seen that at the beginning of the 21st century, under different circumstances, and the regional coincidence turns out to have a lot to do with the pandemic, which ended up generating a lot of criticism from society about the carrying capacity of states. Many societies in many countries have come to feel that the states have been unable to respond to the social issues of peace, and so an alternative has emerged on the left. In fact, criticism from societies was an opportunity even for the left. What this will mean remains to be seen. However, it is clear that this convergence of similar political trends in the region presents an opportunity to rethink relations within the region and the integration processes we could work on. I am sure that Lula’s government will try to strengthen ties between the regional bloc of Colombia and Brazil.
In recent years, several Portuguese companies have invested in Colombia, an important market. How are economic relations between the two countries at the moment? Are there prospects for continuing the investment?
In fact, this is one of the most important investment relationships and has been for at least a decade. I don’t remember exact numbers, but I know that 40 Portuguese companies arrived in Colombia in a period of four years. Portugal has a very close relationship with Colombia and let’s just say that we have the same vision of the world politically and the number of coincidences makes us think that we will continue to be on the right track in terms of investments.
Does the current Colombian left-wing government want to be seen as an investment-friendly government?
Yeah right. One of the things the president is repeating more and more is that integration must also happen in the economy, in manufacturing, not just in trade. When we talk about production and so on, we also talk about investments, and people who come to Colombia from Portugal are always welcome.
Source: DN
