The relationship between Colombia and
USA
Distribution of wealth
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Trade relationship between Colombia and
the United States 1
Commodities from Colombia. 2
Commodities from the USA. 3
Coffee. 3
Social Issues and Responses 4
Sources: 5
Trade relationship between Colombia and the United States
The USA and Colombia have both free
market economies and have strong relations which reach from the energy sector,
mining and oil export, other to the cultivation of cocoa and coffee beans and
even reach the illegal trade of drugs like cocaine. Therefore the war on drugs
and also terrorism is one of the main contributions to relationship of these
countries. Despite those major reasons, what also affects the huge investment
of the USA in Colombia is the issue of Human rights as well as general
territorial tensions and conflict in Colombia. The USA is
Colombia’s biggest trading partner worldwide, some people argue Colombia has
total economic dependents to the US.
Commodities from Colombia
Due to Colombia’s
geographical and temperature conditions, there is a diverse variety of
agricultural products they export. The United States imports cacao,
coffee, beans, bananas, Tabaco and coconuts from Colombia. In 2000 the States
imported Colombian goods being worth 6 billion dollar. In general the
agricultural belt is Colombia’s most important, it has a weak developed
technical industry and therefore counts on human labor. The issue of drug
trafficking and drug cartels makes it harder for farmers and the government to
maximize their economic potential.
The main attraction for US
investment on Colombia is the energy sector. The US imports natural gas, oil,
and coal from Colombia. When it comes to energy generation, Colombia falls into
the same category like most other Latin-American countries, simply because the
US has, throughout the cold war for political interest, established strong
economic and political relationships with the countries surrounding Colombia.
And even with the fall of the Soviet Union, these countries still are from
great important to the states.
Although
the energy sector takes the biggest part of US interest, what shall not be
overlooked is the service sector. It takes up 52.7% of the GDP and
inhibits 36.1% of the Colombian labor force. Tourism is becoming more and more
popular in Colombian, when comparing it to the time before millennium. In 2010
Colombia had more than 1.2 million visitors from which the majority came from
Venezuela, Brazil and the United States. As with the agricultural belt,
Colombia again struggles to maximize for economic potential with tourism as
well due to the violent tensions within the country.
Commodities from the USA
The largest exported products
from the States to Colombia are manufactured petroleum and coal; in fact they
made up to 89 percent of manufactured merchandise. Adding to that other
significant commodities is general purpose machinery. These are Computer
equipment, machinery for construction and agriculture and basic chemicals.
Therefore in general Colombia mainly receives technological goods and
manufactured products, rather than pure resources.
Coffee
Colombia produces Coffee in all
price classes. It is often rewarded as a high quality product with a
distinctive taste. In general the most holistic and efficient way of
cultivation is, after the Soil was given some rest from the previous harvest,
to emigrate already planted seedling from nurseries outside. This is because
during the usual growing time most seeds are eliminated from the rain. On the
other hand a great percentage of Coffee beans are being picked from wild tress
which did not get artificially planted. The beans in raw form look like
cherries. There different ways of picking these cherries, the two major ones
are selective picking, which is to only pick ripe cherries so the rest of the
pant remains untouched and Strip picking, where the whole crop is being picked.
Usually Colombian Coffee beans are primarily picked by Human labor, however to
the country a competitive edge Colombia regularly increases the use of
machines, which are imported by industrial countries like the USA, Germany and
France for example. After the picking the beans are being “washed”, to separate
the bean from the fruit and also isolate the good beans. Following this the
beans are being cleaned, and dried in the sun. Continuing with removing the
last layers of fruit and dry skin there are now different options depending on
the expected quality of the Coffee. These are polishing, which improves the
appearance and taste and sorting, which can be done by colour or density and
size. After these basic steps the coffee can be stored. The local farmers sell
their coffee to Companies which then export the product. The coffee bags arrive
in the various countries and are distributed to supermarkets, shops and so
forth. The consumer purchases the Coffee and consumes it normally my roasting
it.
Social Issues and Responses
To start off, Colombia has
always had environmental issues throughout the cold war, to suit the US demand
for wood and oil. Therefore the burning of fossil fuels and the soil
degradation associated with over cultivation and the chopping of trees are just
some indicators of the damage to nature. What also contributes is the illegal
cultivation of coca plants, which the government seeks out for to destroys.
Deforestation is probably one of the major issues Colombia is facing today and
its importants will for sure increase in the near future, due to the fact that
Colombia can’t allow exceeding its environment because of the way its economy
runs. The damage to the environment and climate change has led into a decline
of Colombian coffee production from 12 million bags in 2006 to 9 million bags
in 2010, according to the New York Times. The article also stated that the
rising temperature creates more and more problems for the cultivation
requirements and coffee beans like Coffea Arabica.
There are many Human rights
abuses in Colombia which are associated with the working conditions and the
exploitation of resources. The highest poverty rate can be found in the mining
zones. Foreign western cooperation’s who control those areas; practically force
locals to work for a unfair payment in order so suit the economic demand. This
also leads into an ascending rate of child labor, which is one the human right
issues Colombia is increasingly facing. Coffee gives a great example of how the
trade relationship creates social issues. To maintain competitive with
countries like Brazil and Panama, Colombia must sell its coffee cheaper and
cheaper. Local authorities work for inappropriate prices. Moreover Colombia is
forced to increase the amount of coffee produced, which leads into soil
degradation, the exhaustion of water supply, the destruction of the forest and
desertification. The Colombian environmental management has been multiple times
criticized from inefficient planning and harvesting. The low standards of
living and the bad payments, creates job opportunities in the illegal drug
transfer of cocaine. Because of the increasing number of people interacting in
that field, some countries fear that Colombia may become a Narco state at some
point. This situation creates violence and instability in the country. Due to
this fact, a lot a company’s utilize paramilitaries. The company Chiquita
Banana has been recently exposed for subsidizing paramilitaries near their
plantations for protection use and also to suppress any riots of low paid
workers.
The government of Colombia and
the international Community response is expanding their police and military
forces to stabilize internal conflicts. NGO like the Colombian Coffee Growers
Federation, fight for rights and economical fairness of farmers. There are
several agreements between Colombia and the USA, which also fight for these rights.
Over the last 10 years, these initiatives managed to decline the right of
violence and crime, the GDP growth has remained constant and unemployment did
not rise as well, in fact extreme poverty has eventually dropped. Therefore in
comparison to the 90’s Colombia’s situation has strongly stabilized. In my
opinion the International Community’s response has been a good approach for
Colombia’s people and economy. But I think that there are a lot of factors it
did not seek out to improve like the environmental issues and the inefficient
cultivation. I believe that the next step for the international Community is to
enforce laws for western companies to generate Colombia’s recourses in a more
sustainable way and also not to push productivity over the rights of each
individual worker. If these demand are not met in the near
future, then the not only the Colombia’s economy will fall, Its people will
suffer from extreme poverty and territorial violence and if that happens It
will have a drastic impact on the States as well, in nearly every aspect.
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