Conservative restoration will not resolve Colombia's structural deficit

The economic direction of the government led by Abelardo de la Espriella points to a return to tax exemptions for the mining and oil extraction sectors and cuts to the State's social spending, on the argument of reducing the national fiscal deficit projected this year at 5.3% of GDP.

Gutting public investment in social infrastructure and subsidies in a country where informal employment accounts for 43% of the workforce is an act of political blindness.

Cutting agricultural assistance and public education programs will deepen territorial inequality gaps in marginalized regions.

Reducing public investment in a country with deep inequality gaps risks reigniting urban and rural social unrest.

What is needed is a progressive tax system that targets large fortunes and industrializes the countryside through affordable public credit, without choking the base of the population.