colombiajournal.org

by Garry Leech

Over the past five years Colombia has achieved impressive economic growth as foreign investment has increased dramatically. According to most analysts, it is the policies of President Alvaro Uribe that have created the security conditions required by foreign companies to operate in the country. A significant portion of Colombia's economic growth has resulted from investment in the country's extractive sector, reflecting the confidence of foreign investors in the capacity of the Colombian military to safeguard their operations in the country's rural conflict zones. However, analysts who praise the Uribe government for Colobmia's economic growth often ignore the fact that the enhanced security provided by the Colombian military has been achieved through an increase in human rights abuses perpetrated against the rural population.