How are relations between Colombia and the US progressing after Petro’s words?

A few years ago it would have been an inconceivable speech, but the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has already marked an undeniable distance from his predecessors in relation to the US.

«The US is practically ruining all the economies in the world», said the Colombian president on Wednesday, in a speech delivered from Urabá, an iconic region in the history of violence in Colombia. There, Petro even accused Washington of making decisions «to protect themselves» without thinking about the consequences for the rest of the globe.

The president’s words were immediately answered by the US ambassador. in Colombia, Francisco Palmieri, who recommended that instead of focusing on looking for culprits of the crisis, it was necessary to focus on joint work «to promote development», explains. the journalist Nazareth Balbás for RT.

What this ambassador does not say explicitly is that the United States would prefer that «joint work» not involve other actors who steal its historical hegemony in Colombia, even less if it is a powerful candidate who flirts with greater investments in the key areas of Petro’s agenda: renewable energies and the ‘decarbonised’ economy.»Beijing money»

Although Petro’s positions towards the US have always been critical regarding the failure of the anti-drug policy, it was not until this week that the president attacked his ‘political partner’ head-on, drawing him as an actor who only watches over his own interests.

«That country that doesn’t love us», Petro said to sum up in affective terms a more bitter reality: the breakdown of the ‘American dream’ and the violent response of the US against migrants who leave the region in search of opportunities, in the face of the economic plunder that they live in their nations of origin.

The only strategy that Petro sees as viable to face this challenge is for «all Latin American countries to come together in the face of the global crisis and build their own agenda», as he said in his speech in Urabá, deliberately excluding the US from that call.

In parallel, the Colombian president has begun to open the compass to «promote development» -as Palmieri recommended-, but with another partner that is a direct competition for the US. The move has already generated concerns in Washington and the reaction of a delegation of US parliamentarians in Bogotá left their ‘observations’ on the table.

«Getting the money from Beijing is going to have its costs», would have been the unsubtle reaction of US parliamentarians to their Colombian partners, according to El País. The “advice” came about as a result of the meetings of the Petro cabinet with Chinese investors, which would be key to the energy transition policy that the Government wants to implement.Does Petro play both sides?

According to the aforementioned article, the North American congressmen assured that it was not a «good idea» to include Chinese businessmen in the equation of the energy transition, insinuating the supposed «dangers» that cooperation with the Asian giant would embody.

Colombia’s reply would have been a kind of exchange offer: the US could maintain its main role as a trading partner against China if it finances the purchase of the 3 million hectares of land –previously negotiated with the landowners– to hand over to farmers. That measure, in practice, would allow the president to materialize the postponed agrarian reform, which was the origin of the bloody armed conflict.

Already at the beginning of this month, after the agreement with the Colombian Federation of Livestock Farmers (FEDEGÁN), the Colombian president admitted that the most complicated thing was «getting the money» to apply the land democratization policy, which would allow the government to allocate 500,000 hectares, by year, to the farmers. Faced with this challenge, the US could be his financing option.

On the other hand, the rise in tone with the US could be understood as an attempt to pressure for more help on other pressing issues for Colombia, such as economic stagnation and inflationary pressure.

On Thursday, in fact, Petro suggested that Washington could «compensate» for the damage caused by its financial policy, exercising «leadership in the IMF [International Monetary Fund] to lower debts in exchange for investment in decarbonized economies».

Another option, in his opinion, would be «to slow down the growth of the profitability of cocaine in Colombia, in pesos, generated by its own economic policy, balancing the flows of dollars from the balance of payments».Growing interest

But while raising the tone against Washington, Beijing is open. Statements to Bloomberg, earlier this month, by the executive director of the Colombo-Chinese Chamber of Investment and Commerce, Ingrid Chaves, show that there is a growing interest from companies that work in infrastructure in the Asian country in works that promote the decarbonization of the Colombian economy.

“What is coming is a renewable energy issue. Focusing on what the perspective is with the new government. This is very positive because China has a lot to offer», said Chaves. She in particular named companies such as Trina Solar, which has already won a tender for the installation of a solar park, as well as Power China, with several projects underway in Valle del Cauca.

Currently, there are at least two more companies with Chinese capital behind works such as the Bogotá Metro and the Western regional train (Regiotram), in Cundinamarca. They are China Harbor Engineering Company, Xi’An Metro Company Limited and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.

According to data from the Colombian embassy in China, the Asian country was consolidated in 2021 as the second trading partner of the South American nation «and became the first place of origin of the country’s imports».

On this last point, the figures are revealing: in 2021, Colombia imported almost 14,800 million dollars from China, compared to the 14,071 million dollars that the South American country bought from the US.

The tight competition between China and the US in Colombia is evident and, apparently, Petro intends to take advantage of that race to carry out his ambitious political project. The volatile economic climate and inflationary pressures will set the pace for this risky bet, which begins at the microphones and ends at the negotiating table.