Colombia

Colombia has been immersed in much political and civil strife for most of the twentieth century, even with these unfortunate events, Colombia has upheld its democracy. Early twentieth century, territorial disputes with Peru led to a year long war between the two countries, which then ended through negotiations by political leaders of both countries. Later, Colombia experienced extreme political instability, a period known in Colombian history as “La Violencia;” almost twenty years of civil war, between two of Colombia’s major political parties: the Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party. Eventually the two parties negotiated once Gustavo Rojas successfully disposed the president of Colombia. Some people say that much of Colombia’s miseries can be traced to this violent period. During the period of “La Violencia” many agriculture land owning peasants fled, due to violent encounters during the period and joined guerrilla armies. Most of Colombia’s guerrillas were founded on Marxist Communist ideals; leaders of these groups say that they represent the poor, yet they create civil chaos in the country through kidnapping, distribution of drugs, attacks on civilian, attacks in cities and other violent activities. Colombian elites who were not protected by the Colombian army, were given the opportunity to form private armies, known as “paramilitaries” to defend against guerrilla forces. These “paramilitaries” originally created for use against the guerrilla armies, turned against its objective and later became a nuisance in Colombia, very similar to that of the guerrillas. In a couple of years, the “paramilitaries” which were meant for defense against these “terror groups” entered similar behavior like guerrilla gro...

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...at Colombia has all the sufficient conditions to make itself a prosperous country. After examining the facts, it seems that instability within the country’s borders have been big determinants of Colombia’s underdevelopment, and lack of investment. From the reports mentioned in this research paper, we see that investors are interested in investing in Colombia, but it is Colombia’s instability that has caused the country much economic and developmental harm.

Now with much of Colombia at peace, Colombia can focus in growth; with much of its violence gone, investors can begin investing in Colombia and exploiting natural resources that the country has to offer. It is with no doubt that with persisting efforts of Colombians, Colombia can undergo a great deal of development; all it needs now is to maintain its peace and allow time to take its course.