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Latin American Program in the News: Colombia Protests Show Dark Side of Economic Boom

Cindy Arnson

This article on growing protests in support of striking farmers in Colombia quotes Latin American Program Director, Cynthia Arnson.

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Colombian leaders have lately enjoyed rattling off economic data, including an annual growth rate above 6% at the end of 2012. While GDP growth has slowed this year, the long-term view remains positive. Per capita income grew from around 4,400 euros per person in 2000 to over 7,500 euros per person in 2011, according to government figures.

However, Dr. Marco Romero, director of the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), a group that works closely with rural Colombians, said that the bonanza was not the full picture. “Colombia’s rural areas have been left back in time,” Romero said. “Sixty percent of rural people live in extreme poverty, that figure that stands in sharp contrast to the reality in cities.”

Dr. Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center, agreed that many people felt as though they had been left out of the party.

“This is not like the protests in Brazil. These are not middle-class people demanding improved services. This is something more basic than that. Poor people are demanding the fruits of Colombia’s growth,” she added.

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For the full article in France 24, click here.

About the Author

Cindy Arnson

Cynthia J. Arnson

Distinguished Fellow, Latin America Program
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Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more