Under December skies

0
483

Another year comes to a halt with the holiday lights sparkling a little earlier this year than usual. Call it my middle age, but it seems that 2014 raced by at “Shinkansen” speeds and what couldn’t be achieved is better left for the New Year.

At The City Paper we are fortunate to have had a busy and events-filled year. The paper continued to grow and position itself as the long-running English language newspaper in the country. For this, I am always grateful, also to our team of talented writers and photographers who once again delivered original and impactful stories from across the land. And there is still so much to be discovered!

It was a good year to be in Colombia. The country held peaceful and swift elections during the middle of the summer, and although there were the expected scandals and smear campaigning, the contenders accepted the popular vote, shook hands and let democracy have its day. With Santos’ second term, the prospect of signing an eventual peace with the oldest guerrilla insurgency in the hemisphere inched its way closer, and despite expected setbacks at the negotiating table, the FARC and Colombian Government have returned to Havana, in a stoic gesture of finishing an agreed upon task.

But time is running out for President Juan Manuel Santos, and after more than two years of peace talks with the guerrillas, something has to give by next year. After the abrupt suspension of talks over the kidnapping of General Rubén Alzate, both teams are going to reach some sort of deal, and with a lot more humility than when they first stared at each other across a table in Oslo.

Santos said it clearly in his inaugural address back in August, that a “Colombia at peace is unstoppable.” I truly hope so. But far too often, statements like these fall on deaf ears. Everyone backs the idea of a peace, but when it comes to paying for it, there might be a catch. The recent Saudi oil glut does not benefit an oil producing nation such as Colombia, especially a time when this country needs all the cash it can find to finance much needed infrastructure and welfare benefits, especially if the country will absorb next year former combatants into a strained social fabric.

Next year is the last year for the contentious and questionable administration of Bogotá’s Mayor Gustavo Petro. While he has rallied to his party-faithful and challenged others powers that be such as the Prosecutor General, in what became the political fight of the year, Petro’s final 12 months in office, may actually yield much-needed results for this city of eight million and growing; and which has lived through better days. In all fairness to Bogotá, it seems the mayor has picked up the pace in recent months to fill the potholes which need filling, and find a livable solution to the mobility issue which plagues our capital. Bogotá has too many cars, and much of the blame rests with the banks who have spent years offering low-interest credit to anyone wanting wheels. I predict, again, that next year, the banks are going to tighten up their credit lines as its been too much of a good thing, for a little too long.

There won’t be a cash crunch next year and Colombia doesn’t need a stimulus package, but there are concerns that we are riding a bell curve of growth and foreign investor enthusiasm. Our economic prowess may not dissipate in 2015, but it will certainly taper off.

It’s time to leave the punditry and say our goodbyes for the year. María Claudia and I would like to extend a very special ‘Thank You’ to all our advertisers who have incredible products and which make a difference to our quality of life.

Have a wonderful holiday season, a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, beneath these December skies.

 

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here