The Liberal Rarity of South America: Oil and Mining Policy Reform in Colombia in the 2000s

Abstract

English Abstract: Even though Colombia exports minerals and oil, it cannot be considered as an oil or mineral-rich country. Colombia depends largely on this to generate income for the central and subnational governments, but because of the limited availability of these resources, and the comparatively large costs of exploiting them, Colombia has required foreign and domestic private investment to develop the sector. Through an overview of the history of mining and petroleum in Colombia, this paper revises the position of the government towards foreign investment in these sectors. Ultimately, it argues that Colombia has not experienced energy and resource nationalism, at a comparable level to other countries of the region, due to the low capacity of the state to develop these sectors in the absence of private and foreign investment. Spanish Abstract: Aunque Colombia exporta minerales e hidrocarburos, no puede ser considerado como un pais rico en estos recursos. Colombia depende en gran medida de estos recursos para generar ingresos al gobierno central y a los gobiernos locales, pero debido a la escasa disponibilidad que tiene a ellos y al alto costo comparativo que representa su explotacion, este pais ha necesitado inversion privada nacional y extranjera para desarrollar estos sectores. A traves de una revision de la historia de la mineria y el sector petrolero en Colombia, este paper estudia la posicion del gobierno frente a la inversion privada y la inversion extranjera en el sector minero energetico. Finalmente se argumenta que Colombia no ha experimentado nacionalismo energetico en comparacion con otros paises de la region, debido a la escasa capacidad del Estado para desarrollar estos sectores sin la inversion privada y extranjera.