Why Colombia is Still Not Green

Last Sunday Colombians elected a new president: incumbent-party candidate Juan Manual Santos. Santos was elected in a runoff election against Antanas Mockus (opposition Green Party), after neither was able to secure the presidency in the first round on May 30th. Prior to that first election, however, most people believed that Santos and Mockus had approximately equal chances of winning the presidency. In the last revealed poll before the election, the level of support for Santos and Mockus was 34% and 32%, respectively. However, once the votes were counted after the first round it became clear that Santos had a significant advantage (46.7% to Mockus's 21.5%). By the second round, to no one’s surprise, Santos easily secured the presidency with 69% of the votes. How was Santos able to craft this "last-minute" advantage? Did Mockus really ever have a chance?

After the first-round election, there seemed to be a profound sense of public disillusionment all over Bogotá and other major cities; Mockus's supporters were in disbelief. But even though the grief seemed to be generalized, somehow almost half of the voters had supported Santos and now he had a clear lead.

In truth, despite appearances, the disappointment that followed the first election was restricted to the higher social rungs of Colombian urban society. Santos, who offers a continuity of Uribe’s strong “security first” policies, represents a disenchanting choice for all those who, although grateful for the improvements Colombia underwent under Uribe, are thirsty for change. For Mockus’s supporters, Santos represents yet another elite politician besmirched by scandals who is willing to use any means, however detrimental, to achieve his goals. Mockus, on the other hand, ran on a platform of post-modern promises: strengthening institutions, upholding the rule of law, improving the quality of life of citizens and, above all, respecting human rights and the value of all human lives. His beautifully-colored, star-studded campaign created a lot of hype and momentum, but in the end his supporters were simply not enough.

Ultimately the vast majority of Colombians supported Santos because he offered them the things that they understand and want, namely security and jobs, not some vague ideas about a brighter future. The disappointment in Bogotá was visible and strong because it is the home of the upper-class elites, not because the whole country was actually agonizing over the loss. The reality of Colombia is that it is simply not a post-modern society and although there is certainly a large upper and upper-middle class that can appreciate those values, there are many more people within the middle and lower classes that are still more preoccupied with their survival than with abstract principles and beliefs. In Colombia, survival has an economic sense to it, but for most people it is first and foremost a matter of security. Many people might have therefore felt galvanized by Mockus’s campaign and his rhetoric, but at the end of the day, they simply were not able to make the philosophical leap. And so, as some would say, Colombians sold their soul to the Devil in order to keep the status quo.

At the end of the day, the results are disappointing for those who would like to see Colombia continue to grow politically, socially and economically. President Uribe concentrated his efforts in keeping Colombia safe (particularly in the cities) and this newfound security certainly brought about an unprecedented economic transformation; whereas no one would have dared to invest in Colombia in the late 1990s, during Uribe’s presidency investors from within and abroad rushed in to open up banks, construct new buildings, extract minerals and, most surprisingly, bet on tourism in Colombia. Nonetheless, what most supporters of Uribe are not willing to recognize is that having obtained security in the country has simply raised Colombia’s prospects to where they should have been without conflict and war. Uribe closed the security gap between Colombia and its neighbors, but it is not clear whether a continuation of those policies will yield the necessary economic results that Colombia needs to maintain the fragile social equilibrium that is currently keeping the peace in this historically volatile nation.

That said, there is nothing to do for now, as the results would not have been any other way this time around. Until Colombians are not, as a whole, a society that upholds the values of good governance, strong institutions and economic prosperity and equality, it is simply unfitting to expect political leaders with such values to rise and to end up in Palacio de Nariño. And Colombians won’t achieve that society until they can stop worrying about the basics. At any given time, every nation simply gets the leadership it deserves.

For now, the only green we’ll see in Colombia is the color of its mountains and prairies...at least until the summer rolls around. 

Where We Stand Today and Where We are Headed

If we step back to see where we stand right now as a global society, we will find many disappointing realities all over the world. We will witness the drug wars in Mexico spiraling out of control, the oil spill near Louisiana rapidly becoming the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history and Hugo Chávez continually antagonizing his neighbors. If we look elsewhere, we will see that while the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to cripple entire families, villages and nations, Europe braces itself for a second round of economic and financial crises in 2010. Further away, we will hear about the seemingly endless struggles in Iraq and Afghanistan and the violent outbursts that have recently consumed Thailand and Kyrgyzstan. And if we dig deeper, we will inevitably observe the social injustices that are being carried out around the world, whether it is exploitation in a sweat-shop in Vietnam or the manifestations of intolerance towards women and homosexuals that are found all over the Islamic world.

These are the headlines and the issues and events that reach our ears and eyes, but they are not an accurate indication of who we are or where we are headed. All of these issues certainly represent immeasurable suffering for millions of individuals around the world; however, these issues do not define us. Rather, they are a static snapshot of where we are today and the challenges that we need to overcome in order to evolve. The news leaves us numb, thinking that things will never change and that progress is an illusion, but are things not already improving?

In the past fifty years, standards of living have been rising steadily across the world, particularly in East Asia. And countries like Colombia that faced decades of unimaginable levels of violence and conflict are now poised to become purveyors of growth and hope for their citizens and even their neighbors. Multinational companies are now more than ever being held accountable for their disproportionate consumption of resources and their infractions. Human rights are consistently being upheld in countries where the concept did not exist a few decades ago and as a global community we are learning every day about better governance, more effective institutions, new policies and experiences that will allow us to meet the challenges of our present and our future.

The driving force behind all this is the fact that more and more of us are opening our eyes and reacting to the realities of our current situation. The human consciousness is continually expanding to understand the values of preservation and sustainability; of improving health and eliminating epidemics; of promoting education and opportunities and promoting growth and inclusion; and of mitigating social, political and economic disparities.

The future of our planet is not bleak.

Is it naïve then to have faith in humanity and in progress? In our resilience and our endless ability to adapt and surmount any test or trial? In this blog, I would like to share my opinions on those problems and their potential solutions, on new ways of framing our problems and resolving them and on innovations that are already being implemented around the world. Additionally, I would like to highlight the cultural richness that is arising as we discover more about one another in every corner of the world, with a particular emphasis on global culture, food and language.

I believe in a day in which there is no conflict and no war, a day without poverty and disease...a day in which humanity once and for all transcends its flaws and learns to live in peace and abundance in this paradise called Earth. To that day and to all of what it represents, I dedicate this blog.