According to Semana, neither sister held any employment or contract with the government during the period in question, yet between 2024 and 2026 they accumulated enough influence to sway executive-branch decisions, and — according to the magazine’s sources — effectively took control of three state entities: the Departamento Administrativo de la Presidencia de la República (Dapre, the administrative department of the presidency), the Fondo Colombia en Paz (Colombia in Peace Fund), and the now-liquidated Ministerio de la Igualdad (Ministry of Equality). El Tiempo, El Espectador, and other Colombian outlets picked up the allegations within hours.

A Price List for Access

The three whistleblowers, whose identities Semana withheld citing safety concerns, described a fixed tariff structure. A first meeting with the sisters cost $1 million COP. Juliana Guerrero would then allegedly handle the lobbying inside the government in exchange for an advance of $200 million COP plus 10 percent of the value of each project awarded, while businessmen were instructed to communicate exclusively with Verónica Guerrero for status updates. A separate $1 million COP fee applied for arranging meetings between mayors and national government officials.

The money, according to the report, was initially collected by David Trespalacios, a young Barranquilla man close to the family, who told the businessmen in a December 10, 2024 message that Verónica “does not want money in her accounts, which is why I have been collecting and delivering. I am handing her cash in Bogotá.” After an apparent falling-out with Trespalacios, Semana reports, the sisters began receiving deposits directly — including through the mobile payments platform Nequi, to an account number that Verónica identified in a December 28, 2024 chat as belonging to her sister Juliana. Deposit receipts reviewed by the magazine include transfers of $5 million COP, $1.8 million COP, $3.2 million COP, $3.95 million COP, $3.05 million COP, and $10 million COP, among others, and one distribution instruction attributed to Trespalacios reads: “Verónica Guerrero, savings account, 12.5 here; Juliana Guerrero, 12.5 here; Wilmer Trespalacios, 10.”

“If it is true, they gave money like fools, thinking that the ministers or I myself act under pressure from women or out of greed.” — President Gustavo Petro, on X

Aqueducts, Housing, and Security Cameras

The promised projects included an aqueduct in a Cesar municipality to be funded by the Ministry of Housing and channeled — according to what Verónica Guerrero told the businessmen — through then-Vice Minister of Water and Basic Sanitation Edward Libreros, whom Petro later fired on camera during a televised October 2025 council of ministers. Airline tickets purchased by the businessmen on December 5, 2024, to fly Verónica from Bogotá to Aguachica, Cesar, and back from Bucaramanga the same day, form part of the evidence. Semana’s report documents her subsequent WhatsApp updates: “My sister is already on it. She already spoke with him (Edward Libreros). They agreed to meet so she can tell him about the commitment.”

Other promised deals included home-improvement programs across multiple municipalities — under terms one businessman described as $35 million COP per municipality awarded, plus 10 percent of each project’s value — a security camera initiative financed by the Fondo Nacional de Seguridad y Convivencia Ciudadana (Fonsecon, the Interior Ministry’s security and coexistence fund), and, in June 2025, an aqueduct contract in La Guajira worth more than $27 billion COP through the Ministry of Housing. “That one is only with me, because I am the one who assigns it,” Verónica allegedly wrote of the La Guajira project.

“The Boss of Bosses”

Throughout the chats, Verónica Guerrero invoked her sister’s access to the highest levels of the government. “Juliana has a meeting today with the boss of bosses,” she wrote on January 21, 2025, when businessmen pressed for results — an expression the whistleblowers say the sisters used to refer to President Petro. In other messages she claimed to be sitting in budget-release meetings, reported that “the boss of bosses has already given clarity and is signing the unfreezing of ministry resources,” and described maneuvering to protect a secretary general at the Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (Ministry of Environment): “If they topple my secretary, I lose a lot of things here.”

The magazine’s evidence also points to alleged influence or attempted influence at Fiduagraria S.A. (the state agricultural fiduciary), the Agencia Nacional de Tierras (National Land Agency), the Ministerio de Defensa in contracts at the Hospital Militar Central, and the Dapre. One chat suggests money flowed beyond the sisters: “I understand that is for the people inside (the government) and for you,” a businessman wrote, a characterization Verónica confirmed in the exchange, according to Semana.

More Than $600 Million COP, and Nothing Delivered

None of the promised contracts materialized. The three businessmen told Semana they handed over more than $600 million COP in total between 2024 and 2025. “They robbed us and do not want to give the money back,” they told the magazine. When one of them confronted Juliana Guerrero in the second half of 2025 over $70 million COP transferred to her Nequi account, she replied, per the chats: “I have no problem returning that, but let me talk to her (Verónica) first.” No refund followed, the businessmen say. None of the reports reviewed by Finance Colombia includes a public response from either sister; Semana published video of the two attending the Fiestas del Mar festival in Santa Marta on July 24, the night before the story broke.

Las pruebas que aquí se indican, reflejan, que los llamados “empresarios* se pusieron furiosos y a lo mejor entregaron los chats, porque no les cumplieron. Si es verdad, dieron dineros como pendejos, pensando que los ministros o yo mismo, actuamos por presiones de mujeres o por… https://t.co/JWaAtnGYz0

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) July 25, 2026

Petro: They “Gave Money Like Fools”

President Petro responded on his X account the same day, arguing that the story proves his government’s safeguards worked precisely because the contracts were never awarded. “The evidence indicated here reflects that the so-called ‘businessmen’ got furious and probably handed over the chats because they were not delivered for. If it is true, they gave money like fools, thinking that the ministers or I myself act under pressure from women or out of greed,” he wrote, adding: “The magazine would do a great favor by handing those chats to the prosecutor’s office… The corrupt businessmen appear to have been swindled, and the government prevented the theft.” He also quipped that the “boss of bosses apparently torpedoed the deals because he thinks about things other than greed,” and suggested the businessmen might “even turn out to be abelardistas” — a reference to supporters of President-elect Abelardo De La Espriella, who takes office August 7.

Criticism came from inside Petro’s own coalition. Carlos Carrillo, former director of the Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres (UNGRD, the national disaster risk management unit) — itself the center of an earlier procurement scandal that shook the Petro administration — wrote on X that although Semana “has an evident political bias, the evidence it publishes against the Guerrero sisters is very serious. The justice system must investigate what crimes may have been committed. It is very worrying that Fonsecon is also being mentioned — the multibillion-peso Interior Ministry fund in the hands of Armando Benedetti’s friends.” Benedetti, the interior minister whom Colombian media have long described as Juliana Guerrero’s political sponsor, was himself sanctioned by the US Treasury’s OFAC in October 2025 alongside President Petro and members of the president’s family.

The report also vindicates warnings made months earlier by Angie Rodríguez, the former Dapre director who left the government in January 2026 and gave an explosive interview to Semana in April: “She (Juliana Guerrero), without any scruples, has the nerve to go to state entities to give orders, to say what gets contracted, who gets hired and who does not. She and her sister go to the Ministry of Equality and make decisions without being public officials,” Rodríguez said at the time.

The Only Case So Far: Fake Diplomas

Despite the mounting allegations, the only criminal proceeding currently facing Juliana Andrea Guerrero Jiménez is the fake-credentials case that derailed her 2025 nomination as vice minister of youth. The Fiscalía General de la Nación (Office of the Attorney General) has finalized an indictment charging her with procedural fraud and ideological falsehood in a public document, alleging she uploaded fake accounting degrees from the Fundación Universitaria San José — an institution where prosecutors say she never attended class or sat an exam — to the government’s SIGEP II résumé system in order to qualify for the vice ministry. The accusation hearing is set for August 5 at 4:00 p.m. before Bogotá’s 46th Circuit Court, two days before Petro leaves office. The university’s former secretary general, Luis Carlos Gutiérrez Martínez, faces charges of falsehood in a public document in the same proceeding for signing off on the degrees.

Guerrero remains the presidency’s delegate to the university council of the Universidad Popular del Cesar (Popular University of Cesar) and retains a state-funded protection detail from the Unidad Nacional de Protección (National Protection Unit). Prior to the events described in the investigation, her only documented government work was an $11 million COP advisory contract at the Interior Ministry, while Verónica Guerrero held two contracts totaling $19 million COP at Colombia Compra Eficiente (Colombia’s public procurement agency) and one for $11 million COP at the Interior Ministry, according to public procurement records cited by Semana.

The scandal lands in the final two weeks of a presidency already battered by corruption cases — from the UNGRD contracting affair to the illicit-enrichment investigation of former foreign minister Laura Sarabia — and hands incoming president De La Espriella’s attorney general appointees an early test: whether the chats, audios, and bank records now in Semana’s possession become a criminal file.

Who’s Who in the Guerrero Case

• Juliana Guerrero — Cesar-born political operator, former Interior Ministry adviser, and failed nominee for vice minister of youth; described by Semana as the most powerful woman in the Petro government. Accused by three businessmen of selling access to ministry contracts; separately indicted for uploading fake university degrees, with an accusation hearing set for August 5.
• Verónica Guerrero — Juliana’s sister and, per the chats, the network’s day-to-day interlocutor with the paying businessmen. Former contractor at Colombia Compra Eficiente and the Interior Ministry, with no state role during the alleged scheme.
• David Trespalacios — A young Barranquilla man close to the Guerrero family who, according to the report, collected cash and deposits so the sisters could keep money out of their own accounts, before a falling-out changed the arrangement.
• Gustavo Petro — Outgoing president of Colombia, leaving office August 7. The “boss of bosses” invoked in the chats, per the whistleblowers. He says the story shows his government blocked the corruption and that the businessmen were swindled.
• Edward Libreros — Former vice minister of water and basic sanitation, named in the chats as the channel for the Cesar aqueduct project; fired by Petro during a televised council of ministers in October 2025. The chats record the sisters’ claims about him; no response from Libreros appears in the published reports.
• Angie Rodríguez — Former Dapre director and one-time Petro confidante who publicly warned in April 2026 that the sisters were giving hiring and contracting orders inside state entities without holding any public office.
• Armando Benedetti — Interior minister and Juliana Guerrero’s longtime political sponsor, per Colombian press reports; sanctioned by OFAC in October 2025. Carrillo warned that Fonsecon, a fund under Benedetti’s ministry, figures in the allegations.
• Carlos Carrillo — Former UNGRD director who called the published evidence “very serious” and urged the justice system to investigate.
• Elvia Milena Sanjuán and Jorge “Popo” Barros — Governor of Cesar and a Cesar departmental deputy linked to the Gnecco political clan, respectively; the businessmen asked the sisters to broker meetings with both. An audio records Juliana agreeing. Neither is accused of wrongdoing in the report.
• Luis Carlos Gutiérrez Martínez — Former secretary general of the Fundación Universitaria San José, dismissed in late 2025 and charged with falsehood in a public document for certifying Guerrero’s degrees.
• The three businessmen — Unnamed contractors from Norte de Santander, Valle del Cauca, Cesar, and Santander who say they paid more than $600 million COP and received nothing. Petro suggests they were simply defrauded; they remain the case’s key witnesses.

Road corridors across the department of Cesar have been blocked since early July by campesino communities demanding something they say they were promised but never legally received: the registered deeds to land that the national government of President Gustavo Petro publicly adjudicated to them. Families who stood at official ceremonies and, in many cases, walked away with adjudication resolutions say that months later they still hold no escrituras (registered deeds) establishing them as the legal owners of their plots.

The gap between the ceremony and the paperwork has left hundreds of rural families in legal limbo over the homes they occupy and the crops they plant. Their central fear is timing. President Petro’s administration leaves office on August 7, when president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella is inaugurated, and the affected communities worry that once the clock runs out, no one will finish titling the parcels handed over in what several protesters have described as largely symbolic acts.

According to Infobae, close to a hundred farmers initially gathered outside the Valledupar offices of the Agencia Nacional de Tierras (National Land Agency), or ANT, the entity responsible for the program. When no officials came out to address them, the group moved to block the department’s main road corridors, halting regional transport. The protesters include campesinos from Cesar, La Guajira, and Magdalena.

A campesino leader from the municipality of Chimichagua, who withheld her name, publicly accused the ANT’s director and two members of Congress — representatives Alexandra Pineda and Nadia Umaña — of handing over land “symbolically and irregularly … generating false expectations in the communities,” according to Noticias Caracol. She said the communities felt they had been used as part of a media event while the documents formalizing ownership never arrived.

“When they carry out those handovers, the mayors are never called in. When they fail to deliver, the problem is left with us, and they block the city.” — Ernesto Orozco, Mayor of Valledupar

The mayor of Valledupar, Ernesto Orozco, placed responsibility on the agency’s management and the absence of its director, Juan Felipe Harman. Orozco said ANT officials had come to the region, handed out some resolutions, and left without completing the legal process, leaving a major social problem in the hands of the municipalities. His administration activated social-dialogue protocols through its security and government secretariats and spoke with the protesters for more than three days, he said, but could not find a single national-government representative in Valledupar willing to meet them.

“Here we are talking about the director of the National Land Agency, whose officials came, symbolically handed over some things, some with a resolution, but they have not given them the titles, and that is what the campesinos are demanding — their land titles,” Orozco said.

The only response, the mayor said, came from Bogota, where an ANT official explained that the agency was in the middle of its institutional handover to the incoming administration and could not send a delegate to Cesar. The agency’s proposed solution was for the farmers themselves to form a commission and travel to the capital. Lacking the resources to do so, the affected families relied on a private citizen, arranged through the Valledupar mayor’s office, to cover the bus fares for five campesino leaders who made the trip to Bogota. Officials warned that the corridors could close again if the delegation returned without concrete answers.

“We are not against agrarian reform or anything of the sort, but let them hand over the titles, or do things the way they should be done,” Orozco said. “When they carry out those handovers, the mayors are never called in. In my case, they did not call me, they did not tell me who received land or anything like that, but when they fail to deliver, the problem is left with us, and they block the city.”

The dispute lands at a moment of unusual instability at the top of the agency. Harman resigned as ANT director in early June to join the presidential campaign of leftist candidate Iván Cepeda, then returned to his post after Cepeda lost the June runoff to de la Espriella. The incoming president has threatened to eliminate the ANT altogether, sharpening the communities’ concern that the titling of their plots could stall in the transition.

The land at the center of the protests is tied to Petro’s flagship agrarian reform program. In its response to Noticias Caracol, the ANT said Harman had met with campesino communities from Cesar and elsewhere and that some titles would be issued during the second half of July. The agency said part of the parcels are properties recovered from the Sociedad de Activos Especiales (Special Assets Company), or SAE, the state entity that manages assets seized through extinción de dominio (asset forfeiture). The agriculture sector’s own tally counted more than 550 parcels recovered across several departments, including Cesar. The plots handed to the Cesar families were formerly SAE-administered properties that the agency acquired for about $1 trillion COP, part of 250 parcels purchased under a single agreement, with a titling process the agency said can take up to seven months but remains in force. Should a plot later face a legal reversal through a forfeiture proceeding, the agency said the parcel would not be taken back from the campesino; instead, the corresponding value would be paid to the former owner or alleged front holder.

Neither Harman nor the ANT’s central office had issued a definitive public resolution for the affected families as of Infobae’s publication. For an incoming administration that has questioned the agency’s very existence, the episode underscores how far a redistribution program can advance politically — through ceremonies, resolutions, and public tallies — while stopping short of the registered title that gives a rural family durable, bankable ownership of the ground beneath it.

Magico-2X is operated by Maurel & Prom Colombia Sociedad Limitada, the Colombian arm of French producer Etablissements Maurel & Prom S.A., which took a working interest in Sinú-9 earlier this year. The well is designed with three sections: the 16 inch, 12-1/4 inch, and the 6-3/4 inch, drilled to a total measured depth of 7,500 feet. NG Energy expects drilling and completion to take approximately 35 days, after which the well will be connected to the block’s central processing facility for production.

“We are pleased that M&P Colombia, as operator of the Sinú-9 Block, delivered the spud of Magico-2X on schedule, targeting the Pre-CDO–San Cayetano formation as its primary target,” said Jorge Fonseca, CEO of NG Energy. 

The focus on the Pre-CDO–San Cayetano formation follows results at the Hechicero-1X well, which tested at rates of up to 26.4 MMcf/d gross (10.3 MMcf/d net) from the zone. NG Energy describes Pre-CDO–San Cayetano as a newly discovered formation that has opened a wider area for natural gas at that stratigraphic level across Sinú-9. 

Following the test, M&P Colombia has elected to manage Hechicero-1X at a sustainable production rate of approximately 15 MMcf/d gross (5.85 MMcf/d net), which the company says is consistent with reservoir-management practices intended to protect the well’s long-term performance and integrity.

“Hechicero-1X has already demonstrated the strength of this zone, testing at rates of up to 26.4 MMcf/d gross and now sustaining steady production at 15 MMcf/d — exactly why we believe Pre-CDO–San Cayetano has the potential to be a key driver of production growth across the Sinú-9 Block as the six-well campaign advances,” Fonseca continued. 

On the infrastructure side, the initial pipeline loop to Jobo, built by NG Energy’s infrastructure partner INFRAES S.A.S. E.S.P., has been completed. Mechanical commissioning at the Jobo and Guayabal facilities is underway over the coming weeks and is expected to raise transportation capacity at Sinú-9 from the current 30 MMcf/d gross (11.7 MMcf/d net) to between 40 and 45 MMcf/d gross (15.6 to 17.6 MMcf/d net). Current production at Sinú-9 is approximately 17.5 MMcf/d gross (6.8 MMcf/d net). NG Energy brought first gas online at the Sinú-9 site as it built out the block.

At the María Conchita Block in La Guajira, total field production is currently approximately 14.8 MMcf/d gross (11.8 MMcf/d net), against infrastructure that supports up to 30 MMcf/d gross (24.0 MMcf/d net) of processing and transportation capacity. 

The next development well at María Conchita, Aruchara-6, is expected to spud immediately after the completion of the ongoing Aruchara-1 workover. That workover began on June 15, 2026, and is expected to be completed by July 10, 2026, targeting the isolation of currently produced zones, the opening of new zones, the deployment of sand control equipment, characterization of upper intervals, and recompletion of the well. 

Civil works at the Aruchara-6 location are expected to begin in the coming week, with the drilling rig to be mobilized immediately after the Aruchara-1 workover concludes. NG Energy previously installed a natural gas plant in La Guajira to support the block.

“Combined with the completion of the INFRAES pipeline loop to Jobo, we are positioning the block for a meaningful step-up in takeaway capacity as commissioning progresses over the coming weeks,” Fonseca added. “At Maria Conchita, our team is advancing the Aruchara-1 workover ahead of spudding Aruchara-6, our next development well at the block. It is a productive period across both of our assets, and we look forward to providing further updates as this work progresses.”

NG Energy also confirmed progress on the transaction with Maurel & Prom. The company has received the $15 million USD installment payment from Etablissements Maurel & Prom S.A. due in June 2026 in connection with the Sinú-9 transactions, bringing total consideration received to approximately $135 million USD to date. The remaining $15 million USD installment is expected in July 2026, which would bring total consideration received on the transaction to the full $150 million USD.

The activity comes as Colombia contends with a widening natural gas deficit that has pushed energy costs higher and drawn attention to domestic supply. NG Energy positions itself as a supplier of gas into the premium-priced Colombian market, and has outlined progress across its Caribbean coast petroleum projects as it scales output.

NG Energy holds its working interests in the María Conchita and Sinú-9 blocks through Operadora NG Energy Sucursal en Colombia (formerly MKMS Enerji Sucursal Colombia), the Colombian branch of the company’s indirect wholly owned subsidiary Operadora NG Energy International, S.A.

Headline photo: Aruchara-4 Drilling Rig CNW Group/NG Energy International Corp.

The company’s flagship Jupiter 3 satellite was launched July 29, 2023 and covers north & south America with capacity exceeding 500gbps, and individual streams up to 100mbps bandwidth. The school-bus sized satellite runs off of 14 solar panels and sits perched at a longitude of 95 degrees east. Hughes packages this GEO (Geostationary Earth Orbit) with its managed LEO (Low Earth Orbit) service to provide connectivity without the end client or user having to manage the connections, coordinate, or even be aware of what satellite or network is providing the connectivity. This has allowed Hughes to deploy solutions such as its OneWeb in-flight satellite internet service for aircraft.

Hughes insists that its solutions are not just for the jet-set or big businesses. Locally, Hughes has been deploying its advanced technology in places like Colombia’s remote La Guajira peninsula, rural Huila and 12 other Colombian departments, connecting 12,510 previously isolated households. Rural schools, agriculture, and small, remote communities are all able to benefit from Hughes’ modern satellite technology.

Hughes country manager for Colombia, Roque Lombardo was kind enough to take time out from his dealmaking at ANDICOM to speak with Loren Moss, executive editor of Finance Colombia, and himself a veteran of the early commercial satellite business, to talk about how Hughes is making the latest space technology like Jupiter 3 relevant and accessible for even a grade-school student in Colombia’s La Guajira desert or Chocó rainforest.

Finance Colombia: I’m here with Roque Lombardo, who is the country manager for Hughes Satellite here in Colombia. Thank you very much for your time. It’s an honor to be here talking with you. How’s it going here at ANDICOM?

Roque Lombardo: Well. We have been participating for several years now, truly with great success. I’d say it is the largest telecommunications and technology fair in Latin America, except for some events in Mexico. So, luckily, we are doing very well.

Finance Colombia: Excellent. I want to start by congratulating Hughes because one thing I have seen is that, year after year, you have a long-term commitment here in Colombia. Aside from all the technology that Hughes has developed throughout its history, from World War II, when you made aircraft, to now as a satellite company, you are committed to connecting not only Medellín and Bogotá and Cartagena here, but also rural areas of Colombia. Explain to me how you are applying your technology to bridge that gap.

Roque Lombardo: Satellite technology is, generally speaking, a long-term investment. Since you mention long-term commitment, obviously, there is a long-term commitment, but the business is very long-term because the satellites we launch have a useful life of 20, 25, or 30 years. So any business we can do in satellite connectivity is long-term.

This provides two things: it guarantees sustainability and regional coverage. From there, I would say that satellite communications are basically focused on rural connectivity, or are focused on rural connectivity and backup services; fundamentally, it’s those two. Our strength is in rural areas, but you can also see, even though we don’t compete with fiber optics, you can see our VSAT terminals in urban areas, like I don’t know, at a gas station. What is one of our VSAT terminals doing at a gas station in an urban area? It is a backup service because they cannot be left without communication. When the radio link or fiber optics connection fails, the backup service kicks in.

Now, to answer your question more specifically, there are two things I consider to reduce the digital divide. The first consideration is, obviously, that we are all very committed to reducing the digital divide, especially in the southern hemisphere. I am not talking only about Colombia, but on a global level.

And from there, we need to have a certain level of connectivity, but we also need to have content. Because many advocates for reducing the digital divide say that we have reduced the digital divide if, and only if, we have connected a school to a satellite station. But if you don’t feed that school with relevant content from a satellite station, it’s useless. You know? In other words, a connection alone is one thing, but a connection with relevant content so that people can educate themselves, engage in e-commerce, communicate, carry out e-government procedures, and so on, is another thing entirely.

So, from there, satellite connectivity is very useful, and we are working in that direction to increase connectivity. Because even narrowing the gap is sometimes a fallacy, because there are always more places to connect. In other words, the number of places to connect is growing, and the speed of coverage should grow at the same rate as the need for internet service, right?

Finance Colombia: Yes, it’s quite shocking. I’ve visited parts of Colombia: La Guajira, not far from here, Chocó, in the south, like the Amazon and Vaupés, and those areas where there’s no cell phone service, let alone internet access or anything like that. But I think you have technologies that allow cell phone operators to, like, they don’t have to run fiber optics,  they can install connectivity in remote areas like Leticia, or in Antioquia. There are areas where the only access is by river.

Roque Lombardo: 30 kilometers away from here, there are areas without coverage. We are in Cartagena, and 30 kilometers away, there are areas without coverage. That is another service we are providing called cellular backhaul, which connects cell phones through satellite stations. Why? Because, in a way, it is not profitable for cell phone operators to go to a very isolated location with fiber optics or a radio link. So, since they don’t go there with that, they can do it through a satellite link and achieve 4G or 5G cellular coverage in remote areas.

Finance Colombia: One thing that fascinates me is technological advancement. I’m old enough to remember when people had satellites like C-band antennas in their yards.

Roque Lombardo: 180 cm tall.

Finance Colombia: When you changed the channel, that satellite would move from one game to another.

Roque Lombardo: I am that old as well.

Finance Colombia: And I remember that in the nineties, I had a company that provided services for those things.

Roque Lombardo: C-band.

Finance Colombia: Right, yes. And up north, when it’s cold, the lubricant freezes.

Roque Lombardo: And the antenna wouldn’t move.

We have approximately 10,000 schools connected in Colombia, and we have between 15,000 and 17,000 homes connected – Roque Lombardo

Finance Colombia: It was a money-maker for us, because they called us so they could watch the game, and it was just a matter of cleaning the arm that moves it. But what killed that was the Ku-band. And then the dish satellites arrived, which already had the small things, and changed the industry completely. Now, twenty years later, for example, you have antennas that are like small laptops. The connection and installation are much easier. Before, a technician had compasses and weird things.

Roque Lombardo: Elevation and azimuth.

Finance Colombia: It looked like voodoo, installing that for the consumer. So my question is… You guys are still at the forefront. How do you see and what is your strategy with the advancement of systems, which they say are disruptive, but we already have Low Earth Orbit, which has like satellite constellations? You guys already have it; you’ve been setting the pace with every piece of technology. How is that changing the market, and what is your strategy in response to that?

Roque Lombardo: Yes, let’s see, what changes the market dramatically is the reduction in hardware and service costs, beyond the technology itself. I mean, it can be GEO, or LEO in this case; either one. Now, GEO technology has a specific coverage area, and LEO technology, due to the characteristics of the networks, has global coverage.

What does LEO allow for? It allows you to have connectivity everywhere, absolutely everywhere. GEO has very significant coverage, with extremely high capacity, but in perfectly defined areas, right? So, I believe that fixed Internet connectivity is becoming more democratic, but two paths are also opening up: the residential path, B2C, and the business path, B2B. In the residential sector, with low orbit or stationary GEO, needs can be met without any problem. In the business sector, you have two solutions: a LEO solution, a GEO solution, or a mixed solution.

Finance Colombia: Yes.

Roque Lombardo: In general, the best solutions are mixed ones, in which the provider analyzes your needs and gives you the best solution for each of those needs. There is no single GEO solution or single LEO solution.

Finance Colombia:  Something you guys have is a featured product that provides services to airlines.

Roque Lombardo: Yes, that is LEO.

Finance Colombia: That is LEO, okay. And aside from that, your customers obviously include broadcasters, traditional media outlets that always send their signals that way, and one of your first commercial customers. Apart from that, obviously, cell phone operators, but… there’s something in Colombia and many countries here in Latin America, as well as in Canada and Alaska, there are businesses that are located in very isolated places. And I don’t know if there’s much coverage so far north, but my question is, aside from those traditional clients who have known you for decades, what are the companies, I imagine like we have many readers from the mining and oil sectors, what are the sectors where you see the most growth, where perhaps you have solutions for those industries?

Roque Lombardo: There is a need in all industry verticals. Banking, finance, oil and gas, mining, agriculture and livestock; because in addition to everything we’ve already talked about in these few minutes, you have what is called IoT, which is the famous Internet of Things, with 5G technologies in which everyone can set up their own virtual private network, and from there have all their connectivity needs covered. That demand is infinite, because I’m talking about wanting to connect a television camera, wanting to connect my refrigerator, wanting to connect a drone, wanting to connect a moisture detector to measure agricultural moisture, or wanting to connect livestock to see how it is evolving and to monitor it.

Finance Colombia: The water levels.

Roque Lombardo: Water levels, I mean, the applications are endless. That’s why I say that demand is growing all the time, and all the solutions that are appearing in any type of orbit are going to be necessary to meet all that demand.

Finance Colombia: That’s right. Well, I remember that, I don’t think it was last year, but two years ago, you guys were celebrating, and you invited us to celebrate with you the launch of a satellite. I don’t remember if it was Jupiter 3, off the top of my head.

 Roque Lombardo: Jupiter 3.

Finance Colombia: Is there something we haven’t mentioned that you want to mention, or a question I didn’t ask you, or some successes since then?

Roque Lombardo: No, basically, we have continued to grow. We have approximately 10,000 schools connected in Colombia, and we have between 15,000 and 17,000 homes connected. We have many deals with large companies, and we have cellular backhaul, as I mentioned before. And we are marketing, let’s say, if we’re talking about basic services, we are marketing everything that Hughes offers with geostationary orbit satellites and OneWeb’s service with low orbit satellites, with full coverage.

Finance Colombia: And if there are businesses or school districts that want to learn more, is there a specific section of the website or a contact? What steps can be taken?

Roque Lombardo: Yes, at Hughes.com, you can find all the information there. It’s a very user-friendly site with instructional videos, product lines, services, and more. It’s at Hughes.com.

Finance Colombia: Okay, thank you very much for your time.

Roque Lombardo: Great, thank you.

Finance Colombia: Okay.

The affirmation of TGI’s ratings reflects a connection to its parent company, Grupo Energia Bogotá S.A. E.S.P. (GEB) (OTCMKTS: GEB; BVC: GEB), based on what Fitch describes as medium-to-high operational and strategic incentives for GEB to support TGI. The negative outlook is consistent with Fitch’s outlook on the sovereign rating for Colombia (BB+/negative), as TGI’s cash flow is generated almost entirely within the country.

The ratings also consider the company’s position in the Colombian natural gas transportation sector, regulatory risk exposure, and capital structure. Fitch noted that the ratings also account for re-contracting risk due to a lower supply of long-term gas supply contracts.

Key Rating Drivers

Parent-Subsidiary Linkage: Fitch’s analysis of the relationship between GEB and TGI indicates a high strategic linkage, a medium operational linkage, and a low legal relationship. This is assessed using a “top-down minus one” approach, where a subsidiary’s standalone credit profile (SCP) is considered one notch below that of a stronger parent. In this case, TGI’s SCP is deemed susceptible to Colombia’s operating environment due to its domestic cash flow generation. The ratings are equalized because TGI’s SCP is one notch lower than GEB’s.

GEB’s incentives to support TGI include its nearly 100% ownership and TGI’s substantial financial contribution, which accounted for approximately 45% of GEB’s operating EBITDA at year-end 2024. Fitch expects GEB to continue its strategic focus on investing in Colombia’s midstream businesses, such as TGI.

Change in Contract Dynamics: The availability of long-term gas supply contracts has diminished, affecting commercial contracting dynamics. Regulatory changes have introduced more flexibility in gas commercialization, enabling short-term transportation contracts that align with the terms of supply agreements. This has led to lower contracted capacity for TGI, but Fitch anticipates the company will be able to renew contracts with its customers. These customers are considered part of the structural demand derived from the cities of Bogotá and Medellín, as well as the Barrancabermeja Refinery operated by Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE: EC; BVC: ECO).

As of June 2025, TGI’s contracted capacity had an average life of 2.6 years. Fitch projects that transported volume will remain at approximately 460 million cubic feet per day (Mcfpd) between 2026 and 2027, consistent with current volumes. The average life of contracts is expected to continue decreasing as legacy agreements are renewed with shorter maturities.

Business Profile: TGI is a natural gas transporter in Colombia, with a 55% market share of transported volume. Its scale and geographic footprint provide predictability to its cash flow generation. The company’s customer base is moderately concentrated, with four distribution and marketing customers representing about 81% of revenues as of June 2025. Residential and industrial sectors accounted for 93% of revenues, providing a stable consumption pattern.

Financial Discipline and Capital Expenditures: Fitch anticipates TGI will maintain its financial discipline. EBITDA leverage is projected to peak at 2.3x at year-end 2025, influenced by lower regulatory revenues from reduced contracted volumes. Leverage is expected to decline to around 2.0x in 2026 following the implementation of a new tariff scheme. The analysis assumes TGI will fund both maintenance and expansionary capital expenditures without increasing debt levels and will maintain a dividend payout ratio of 90% of the previous year’s net income. The company has also employed hedging strategies to reduce exposure to the US dollar.

TGI is considering several projects to ensure a reliable gas supply to the interior of the country, including pipeline bidirectionality, infrastructure expansion, and a new pipeline connection in La Guajira to a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU). While the La Guajira project may pressure free cash flow in 2026 and 2027, it is expected to strengthen the gas supply network.

Peer Analysis: TGI’s credit profile is categorized as investment-grade, with predictable EBITDA generation consistent with natural gas transportation companies such as Transportadora de Gas del Peru, S.A. (TGP) (BVL: TGP). TGI is also positioned against other regional peers in the natural gas distribution and liquefied natural gas sectors, including Gas Natural de Lima y Callao S.A. (BVL: CNL), Promigas S.A. E.S.P. (BVC: PROMIGAS), and GNL Quintero S.A.

TGI is rated one notch above Promigas due to its more conservative capital structure, with leverage below 3.0x compared to Promigas’s range of 3.5x to 4.0x. TGI’s rating is one notch below TGP, as TGP’s revenue is derived from long-term ship-or-pay contracts with a remaining average life of approximately six years, while TGI’s average contract length is 2.8 years.

The ratings also reflect the strategic and operational incentives for GEB to support TGI. In 2007, GEB provided a $370 million USD shareholder loan to TGI, which was repaid in 2023. Fitch believes that GEB could provide further support if necessary.

Liquidity and Debt Structure

As of June 2025, TGI’s cash on hand was approximately $594 billion COP, an increase from $476 billion COP in December 2024. During the first quarter of 2025, the company reduced the interest rate on its “Club Deal” facility and prepaid $50 billion COP. The Club Deal loan, which refinanced an intercompany loan from GEB in 2023, is the company’s only significant debt maturity until December 2027.

Natural gas well. (Photo credit: Ken Doerr)

What many people may be unaware of though, is that the countries have a 150 year bilateral diplomatic history together. The countries’ ties go far beyond merely commercial ventures. A 19th century Swede even was appointed governor by the fledgeling government after Colombia gained independence from Spain. Sweden has several cultural, peace-building, civil society, and humanitarian initiatives both in Colombia and throughout the Andean region.

Ambassador Helena Storm made time in her busy schedule to speak with Loren Moss, the executive editor of Finance Colombia, where they discussed the bilateral relationship, Storm’s impressions of the country over her time here, and the potential for deepening ties between the two countries.

Finance Colombia: I’m here with Helena Storm, Her Excellency, the Ambassador of Sweden in Colombia. First, I want to thank you very much for making time for us. I know that the life of an Ambassador or any diplomat is very busy. And so it’s an honor to speak to you here briefly. So first of all, thank you.

Helena Storm: Well, thank you very much for inviting me, Loren.

Finance Colombia: I want to talk about Colombia and Sweden having a 150-year-old bilateral relationship. It’s not often the noisiest relationship. You know, like a lot of countries in the news and things like that, for sometimes good reasons, sometimes bad reasons. But of course, Sweden has a strong global reputation for quiet diplomacy and things like that. But tell me, what are the ties that bind Sweden and Colombia? And are there notable examples of collaboration or cooperation going back over the years?

Helena Storm: Yes. Well, as you pointed out, Sweden and Colombia have very good bilateral relations. And last year, we celebrated 150 years of bilateral relations. I mean, that’s 150 years of formal bilateral relations, formal diplomatic relations. Before that, we had relations with Colombia. People-to-people relations and even contacts between the two governments go beyond. Already from the liberation of the country, Sweden was here, and we were present. We had a count, a Swedish count fighting with Simon Bolivar to liberate the country. He was then appointed the first governor of Mompox by Simón Bolívar.

At this time, we had several important Swedish families migrating to Colombia, one of them very well-known, and they’ve been active in many areas of Colombian society. It’s the Familia De Greiff. So we have this tradition of people-to-people relations. And since I would say maybe three, four decades now, we have been very engaged in this Colombian peace process.

In all the formal attempts that have been executed, negotiating between different groups and the Colombian government, Sweden has been present, supporting these talks in different ways. So, a durable peace in Colombia has been part of the main kind of activities that we’ve had over the last decades in Colombia.

Yes, so it’s a strong relation. And we also celebrated the 150th anniversary with the visit of President Gustavo Petro to Stockholm, where we signed a joint declaration of bilateral partnership between Sweden and Colombia. And I would say this partnership kind of sets a new scene for our relations.

Finance Colombia: Absolutely. If I’m not mistaken, there is even a street in Medellín named after De Greiff. I never made the connection until just now, so every day you learn something, as they say. And speaking of President Gustavo Petro’s visit to Stockholm, I want to congratulate you guys. I’m from the US, and Lockheed Martin was there. But that’s an impressive accomplishment. You guys beat out lots of different competitors, all of them worthy. Of course, all of us are partners with Sweden and with the EU. And we’re all allies.

 But first, congratulations to Sweden and Saab on winning the deal to replace Colombia’s fighters, which are from the early 70s, the tactical fighter fleet. And so, how long have you guys been working on that deal? And how big is that deal? People don’t realize outside of aviation that there’s the price of purchasing the hardware, the aircraft, but there are long-term service contracts that go on for decades after; it is a whole program. So maybe if you could elaborate on that, and obviously, that’s a commercial deal, but the way that these things work, it’s a hand-in-hand thing with the government, and everyone is working together. So I’m sure that occupied a lot of your time in the past few years.

Helena Storm: Well, thank you for that comment. And obviously, we are very happy and proud of the fact that Colombia chose the Swedish company Saab to replace their fighter fleet. And these kinds of decisions are long-term; they take a long time to make. So I think we have been discussing this with the Colombian government, and Saab has been offering a solution from their company since Santos’ time in government. I think that’s when they started to look at the replacement of this fleet. And this is normal. This is how long these kinds of acquisitions take. And, as you say, we have a great respect for our competitors, the other countries and companies that were also putting in offers. We are very proud that they chose Saab.

And as you pointed out, this is a long-term relationship for us. We are not looking for clients, we are looking for associates, allies, and friends. And with this kind of agreement, we have the opportunity to reinforce all three of these aspects with Colombia. And so right now we are in the process of identifying the details of this agreement.

Finance Colombia: That’s good to hear. And so also, I understand that part of the package… And Sweden has always been, as have your other Nordic neighbors, really involved in social efforts across the globe and have been leaders in that. And I understand that part of this package, you know… fighters are necessary in the real world. But there’s also, you know, we always have that perennial conflict of guns or butter, as they say. But I understand that part of this package includes a significant investment and efforts by Sweden in Colombia’s Atlantic region, which is a region that suffered a lot of neglect and a lack of investment, and things like that. And I don’t remember the details. Maybe you can fill us in. What’s that social part of the commitment that you guys have agreed to?

“Colombia is such a rich country in culture, history, and nature. I mean, it’s just amazing.” – Helena Storm

Helena Storm: Well, as you said, these kinds of acquisitions are accompanied by an offset program. And the offset program is an agreement to transfer technology and transfer knowledge, so we can multiply, actually, the investments in Colombia. And it’s up to the Colombian government and the Colombian society to identify in which areas, in which sectors, they would like the investments when it comes to technology, and the transfer of knowledge and technology.

And as I said, we are in the process of identifying this part of the offset program, it’s as you call it, direct and partly indirect. And the indirect part, that’s what you are referring to, I guess, when it comes to the social investments. And this is right now being identified and discussed between the Colombian Ministry of Defense and the company Saab.

Finance Colombia: Great. Besides aviation, besides, obviously, Saab, besides the Gripens, what are the primary bilateral trade links between Colombia and Sweden? Has there already been a significant amount of ongoing import and export between the two countries in terms of what Sweden buys from Colombia, and then what products does Sweden export to Colombia? Maybe if you can speak to the trade that has already existed.

Helena Storm: Yes, of course. Well, we have had trade between our nations for over a century. And today, the exports from Colombia to Sweden mainly consist of fruits, flowers, and coffee. And the exports from Sweden to Colombia mainly consist of different pharma products, technology in general, and vehicles and auto parts. And we are trying to increase now, together with the Colombian side, the export possibilities from Colombia to Sweden. We just had a delegation of 20 Colombian companies to look at export possibilities in Sweden.

I went with them and we visited various actors in Sweden in the first week of June. And this was an initiative by my colleague, the Colombian ambassador in Stockholm. We are working very much hand in hand to increase the Colombian exports to Sweden. The numbers are not showing the reality, because when it comes to the trade, much of the trade goes via another European before it comes to Sweden, or before it exits Sweden, which in the statistics does not show Swedish imports from Colombia, or Swedish exports to Colombia. So, the numbers, that’s why I don’t go into numbers, but there has been a significant interest from Swedish companies to increase their presence in Colombia. We have, give and take, 100 Swedish brands and companies in Colombia.

They generate more than 25,000 direct jobs. We’ve also had big investments since I came here. One investment was the company Essity acquiring El Grupo Familia. We have had the inauguration of three IKEA stores in Colombia.

Finance Colombia: Thank you. Thank you, by the way! Thank you. A big fan, of course.

Helena Storm: Yes, thank you very much. No, but it’s an important commitment. We also have the company Zelestra, which is owned by a Swedish investment fund that has invested $300 million USD in two solar parks. And they are now discussing another investment in La Guajira. They have investment plans for several hundred million dollars more until 2027. That’s in the renewable energy sector. We also have other Swedish companies here, a big multinational that every year invests in Colombia to strengthen their position here and strengthen innovation policies that they have here.

I was recently in Rionegro to inaugurate a redistribution center, the second biggest in the world, which the company Essity has just built and inaugurated in Rionegro. That’s also a big investment of at least 35 million dollars. We also invest in the waste-to-energy sector, where we are also taking part from the government side, where we, for example, have financed feasibility studies to increase the possibility of investing in this sector for Swedish companies.

Finance Colombia: That’s impressive. I know about your Rionegro facility. It’s just a few minutes away from where I live here in Rionegro. Yeah, you know, lovely area. I can tell you, it’s kind of funny. So many times before, when I would travel to Miami, just back to the US, whether it’s on business or whatever, and stopping at the big IKEA there near the airport, and carefully weighing my luggage and being sad because things were too heavy to bring back. I remember just writing the article several years ago when we first heard that IKEA was going to open its first store in Bogotá, and now in Envigado. And just aside from being a journalist, just personally excited. And so really very happy for you all.

 You know, I know that is a company of national pride, but then even for us as consumers, so happy about that. Renewable energy is a big area, as well as the strategic investments that you’ve made in companies like the paper companies, like Familia, which makes consumer packaged goods and things like that.

Beyond commerce, are there bilateral cultural or social initiatives to strengthen the people-to-people ties between the two countries? I know sometimes I’ll talk to people and, you know, it’s a little bit different in English compared to Spanish, but I found people get tripped up pronouncing in Spanish, of course, Sweden, with Switzerland, and things like that. It’s like, no, you know, it’s a quiet country because they don’t make bad news. You know, it’s one of those countries that are, and I know you guys are proud of this, quietly doing good things and have a great reputation.

 But tell me about some of the people-to-people ties that you have and the bilateral initiatives that you guys have on an ongoing basis with Colombia.

Helena Storm: Well, thank you. We have in our embassy here in Bogotá two strategies for development cooperation, one bilateral for Colombia and one regional for the whole Latin American region. We manage both of these strategies from the embassy in Colombia. By the way, the Swiss embassy in Colombia is the second biggest in the region after Washington. So it kind of shows how we prioritize Colombia in our bilateral relations. And these two development cooperation strategies have priorities. For the Colombia strategy, our priorities are climate change and environment, peace building, and the third priority is democracy, human rights, and gender equality. And these are kind of the three main focuses for our work when it comes to development cooperation.

And we have several initiatives that also foster these people-to-people relations, and are also working very much hand-in-hand with the private sector to kind of use the Swedish development cooperation as an engine for economic growth. We have several programs for that. I won’t go into detail here, but I could if you want to.

We also work with education, vocational training for youth, and women, within these programs. And regionally, one program that I want to highlight is our mining program, which promotes sustainable mining in the region. And the Colombian chapter of that program was inaugurated or launched a couple of months ago, in May.

So it’s a recent addition to our efforts when it comes to sustainable mining. And in all our programs, we try to always have a gender equality perspective, because Sweden is a country where we highlight the importance of gender equality in all sectors in everything that we do. So gender equality is one of these priorities that we’ve been working on for the last five years that I’ve been here, and also before. But we’ve had numerous activities with exhibitions in the parliament, the Colombian Congress. We will inaugurate one very soon with the mayor’s office in Bogota, where we also highlight the men’s role when it comes to gender equality.

Another area where we have strengthened our bilateral relations recently is the cultural area. Sweden has, since I came, been twice a partner country for FILBo 2021 and 2022. We were also the invited country for the EuroCine Festival 2024. We’ve financed several documentaries that show the civil society’s engagement in peacebuilding and the role in the conflict, in the Colombian conflict. We’ve done that with various of our partners. ICTJ, which is the International Center for Transitional Justice, has been one of the partners, and UN Women another.

We have also strengthened our cooperation through the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogotá, where we have a Swedish head director, musical director. And this orchestra went to Sweden during my five years here. I think it was 2023 or 2022. They traveled the whole orchestra to Sweden to showcase the quality of a Latin American Philharmonic Orchestra. And that was a very successful visit. So we are now planning a new visit to the Nordics for this orchestra in 2026. Unfortunately, after I’ve left, but yeah, maybe it will take place in the Autumn of 2025.

But anyway, these are very important areas of people-to-people relations that we’ve been working on. We’ve also brought Swedish artists here, singers, groups. One example that I want to highlight is Jon Henrik Fjällgren, who came and performed during COP16. And he is part of the Swedish native population, the Sami. But he was adopted from Colombia from an indigenous community in Colombia. So he has a double indigenous identity. He was born as an indigenous baby here in Colombia and then adopted by a Sami family in Sweden. And he has been reconnecting with his Colombian roots. And he is a very famous artist in Sweden, and he won our version of Sweden’s Got Talent. So it’s also been very emotional, I would say, the two visits that he made to Colombia during my five years. And to see how he had been fostering also a rapprochement between our indigenous groups, and how we can engage in further dialogue with them and foster further respect for their traditions and cultures.

Finance Colombia: You bring up an interesting point. A lot of times, I know growing up in the US, and I’m from the Midwest, where we do have a significant Nordic population. But it’s easy to forget how integral it is to society. I don’t even know why, but for some reason, we tend to remember the neighbors in Finland, that they have a significant indigenous population. But of course, Sweden does as well. I don’t know why we unfortunately tend to forget that. But that sounds like an amazing, not just collaboration, but just a story, just life history. And that brings me to ask, like you mentioned, your posting is mature here, and I’m sure that you’ll move on soon.

 But during your time as ambassador, what accomplishments and activities are you most proud of? Not when you look at your resume or when you talk to the foreign minister, but when you talk to friends and family, what are you most proud of about the things that you were able to touch during your time here in Colombia?

Helena Storm: Oh, that’s a very difficult question. But I’m very proud of the footprint that Sweden has left in Colombia. I’m very proud of the association many or the majority of the Colombians have when I travel in the territories, because as an ambassador, I’ve prioritized traveling in Colombia, and to visit the territories, not only working from Bogotá. Colombia is not Bogotá. Colombia is an extremely diverse country. And most of the people that I meet in the territories associate Sweden with support for peacebuilding, conflict resolution, human rights, and gender equality. And I think we have been able during these five years to increase that footprint in Colombia. And I think that’s what I’m most proud of.

And also, obviously, the 150 years of bilateral relations were a unique moment to show that we were the first country to support the first verification mission that came to Colombia to support the peace process in 2004, I think it was, with the establishment of MAPP/OEA, the Organization of American States Verification Mission in Colombia. Sweden was the first country to support financially and politically that they came to Colombia. We created MOE with the actual director of MOE now. MOE is the observation of the electoral organization in Colombia. I would say it’s an organization; it’s an NGO in that sense. It’s not a governmental organization, but it is the organization with the most respect from all parties when it comes to reliability in election monitoring.

We also have supported the territorialization or the expansion of La Defensoría, which is kind of the Ombudsman office in Colombia that was introduced in the 1991 Constitution. Ombudsman is a Swedish word. So the whole idea of the Ombudsman’s office is a Swedish invention, so to speak. And I think the Defensoría is maybe the Colombian institution, the government institution with the most presence in the territories all over Colombia. And as we know, much of the conflict that still occurs here in Colombia occurs due to the lack of official representation, the presence of official institutions around the territory. So that’s another example of how we’ve been working very long term to try to contribute to peacebuilding.

Finance Colombia: I understand. And you’ve been very generous with your time. I’m grateful. Last question for you. What will you miss most about your time? You may come back to visit, but I mean, your time here living in Colombia, what will you miss most about it? And maybe, not so much politically, but you know, really speaking as people, what can the people in the two countries maybe learn from each other?

Helena Storm: Well, that’s a super difficult question because there’s so much that I will miss. Colombia is such a rich country in culture, history, and nature. I mean, it’s just amazing. So obviously, all of that, the strength of the Colombian civil society, I think I’ve never experienced such resilience and strength from civil society. But actually, it’s funny that you say that, because this weekend, I was doing kind of my last errands in Bogotá, and I was panicking a bit, because I said, “Oh, my God, I have to fit now all the Colombian artesanía,” as you say it here, “that I can fit in my suitcase.” Since I came, I’ve been buying handcrafted things from all the territories, and I always wear Colombian artesanía.

Today, I’m wearing an earring from Choco, made by a women’s organization in Choco. And you know, this is one small example of how you can create conditions to sustain yourself economically and empower women economically around the world, just a small example. But I have a huge collection of these, and I was like, “How will I be able to maintain this collection when I travel back to Sweden?” So that’s one of the things I will miss to travel around the territories, talking to different people, women in these territories, trying to make a living, trying to change, trying to construct a future for themselves and their communities.

And I think that kind of resumes what I will… You know, something that I’ve noted during these five years it’s the talent of the Colombian people and the talent of the workforce. It’s also one of the explanations why we have such an interest from Swedish companies to come here and establish here, the talent of the Colombian people. And I think when it comes to learning things from each other, I think Swedes maybe should learn to be a little bit more relaxed, not to plan everything, and that things may turn out great, even though you don’t have 100% control over every step and every detail. And maybe Colombians can learn to have a little bit more structure and a planning horizon.

Finance Colombia: Ambassador, thank you so much for your time. It’s been an honor to speak with you. Best of luck on your future postings and the rest of your career. I’ll certainly endeavor to stay in touch. We appreciate it. And I want to make sure that your staff knows that we want to do a better job of covering Sweden’s activity here in Colombia.

 Sometimes, as journalists, we can be lazy and write about what the US is doing, or what Spain is doing, or what happened next door in Venezuela. But we want to be sure, because we know that there are so many countries like Sweden that, aside from trade and commerce, are doing good works and contributing not just to Colombia, but to the region. And we want to make sure to communicate those things that you all are doing. And again, thank you. I’m tremendously grateful.

Helena Storm: Thank you so much. Thank you.

At the Maria Conchita block, the Aruchara-4 well is being drilled to a total depth of 10,000 feet. The well targets the Jimol formation and aims to develop the H1A and H1B accumulations. The company will also explore the potential for reserve and resource extension in the H2 AA section and H3 and H4 fractures, and test the limestone formation on top of the well’s basement. The well is expected to be completed and tied in by the end of September 2025.

After the drilling of Aruchara-4, the rig will be used for a workover and recompletion of the Aruchara-3 well to address a downhole mechanical obstruction. The company will then proceed with the drilling of the Aruchara-5 well.

At the Sinu-9 block, gross production has reached 22 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d). The company is completing the installation of dew point handling equipment at the Central Processing Facility, with full installation expected by the end of August. Once the equipment is installed, aggregate gross production at Sinu-9 is projected to increase to up to 30 MMcf/d.

The company is also working with its infrastructure partner, INFRAES, on the construction of a twin pipeline to double transportation capacity from Sinu-9. The project is being completed in two phases. The first phase, an 18-kilometer loop from Jobo, is expected to increase transportation capacity to 40 – 45 MMcf/d. The second phase, the full twin pipeline, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026 and will increase transportation capacity to 60 MMcf/d.

Aruchara-4 Drilling Rig. Photo credit: CNW Group/NG Energy International Corp.

The companies are owned by Statkraft’s subsidiaries: Enerfín Sociedad de Energía S.L.U and Enerfin Enervento Exterior S.L. The portfolio’s projects are located in the departments of La Guajira, Sucre, Córdoba, Caldas, and Magdalena.

If completed, this acquisition would represent significant progress toward Ecopetrol S.A.’s decarbonization and energy transition goals, particularly the target of incorporating 900 MW of renewable self-generation capacity by 2025, in line with its 2040 Strategy. Additionally, the transaction would support the generation of low-emission energy under competitive conditions for the Ecopetrol Group’s self-consumption, reducing exposure to spot market purchases and contributing to the diversification of the company’s energy matrix.

Photo credit: Ecopetrol/Flickr.

Click on the image above to view the video. 

Finance Colombia: But here, of course, in Medellín… Medellín is, as you know, kind of like a combination of the Silicon Valley of Colombia, and now with the biotech that you’re doing, it’s almost like Boston as well. It’s amazing to see something like this, not just Colombian operated, but Colombian owned, as part of SURA.

Jorge Osorio: We are very proud of it, you know, we’re very proud, and it’s kind of my dream come true. I left Colombia when I was very young, 22 years old. I didn’t know a word of English. I grew up in a very humble family, you know, a low-income family. But through education, I was able to make it through, and I ended up in Wisconsin, without even knowing where Wisconsin was. I went with short sleeves, you know? But I went in the summer, so it was great, because the summer is so nice, you know. As the weather gets colder and colder, I was like, “Oh my god, what am I doing here?”

Finance Colombia: By September, it’s all changing.

Jorge Osorio: I know, I know. The first November I was there, we had three feet of snow. It was up to here, so it was crazy. It was crazy. So then, little by little, you know, I learned English, and loved school, did my master’s, my PhD in Wisconsin, and I worked in the industry in the US. I started my own company in the US. My mom, all these things are inspired by mothers, you know, mothers play a major role in us. My mother told me one day, “Son, you haven’t done anything with your life.” After having my master’s, my PhD, and being a professor in one of the top universities in the US, my mom said, “You haven’t done anything with your life. People in Colombia are dying of dengue, and you haven’t done anything. Do something, do something for dengue, try to figure that out.” So what a challenge. So I started studying dengue, and with a friend of mine, created a company to make a vaccine, and I did it. It was successful.

Click on the above image to watch the full video and tour.

So that was like my moment of pride, and that vaccine is now in the hands of the people. Our company, Takeda, bought the vaccine, bought the company, and everything, and now that’s being used to prevent dengue. So at the same time, I said, “I need to do something for my own country, you know, my homeland. I’ve done this company somewhere else, and I need to do something.” So COVID came, you know.

And when COVID came, SURA said, “We need to do something.” Because what has happened is that we’re going to continue having these problems, you know, these outbreaks, these things are going to continue happening in general. But we were like one of the last countries… well, LATAM was one of the last regions to get vaccines.

Finance Colombia: Most people here who could, I mean, even I flew to Miami to get my vaccine, and then people were waiting on different ones, and the country was dependent on the mercy… And every other country is going to take care of their people first, and then send what’s left over down here.

Jorge Osorio: So we got vaccines from Sinovac, we got a few things there, but SURA said, “We need to do something ourselves, we need to do something.” So I came to meet with them, and that was my dream. I said, You know, I want to do something for my homeland.” And this is it.

So I decided, I want this to be inspired, to make people feel good to come to work here, and so the design of the buildings, I took a lot of a role in that as well. The design of the gardens, everything, the facilities inside, everything I did, I did a lot myself.

Finance Colombia: It’s amazing. So from Wisconsin, back home. And so you already sort of answered a couple of the questions that I have, which was why, not just why Colombia, not that there’s any bad reasons, but it’s interesting because there has not been, not just in Colombia, but in Latin America generally, not a large industry in producing high-level biologics.

I mean, some companies do things like produce vitamins, and some contract manufacturing, but not like the vaccines, which is a much higher tech than just saying, “I’m going to produce a generic, I’m going to produce a vitamin supplement,” or something like that.

Jorge Osorio: So yeah, because look, the whole region is 650 million. LATAM. That’s pretty large, isn’t it? And there are only four countries that make vaccines: Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, and Argentina, and they don’t make enough for everyone. So there’s a need to do this. There’s a need to produce something that will provide more vaccines for the region. At the same time, my dream is that… Tropical diseases affect people around the planet. It’s not just Colombia, or Venezuela, or the region, but mosquito-borne diseases, dengue, for example, affects people in Africa, in Europe, Spain, and Italy are having cases of that as well, and Asia as well.

Primary filling facility (photos © Loren Moss)

So I think what I would like to see happening is that we export science and technology from Colombia. We put our brains to work, and we export science and technology to help folks in other parts of the world, and we can control diseases in that way. We can export our knowledge and our scientists. I’m very proud of the scientists that we have, you know, people that we have.

Finance Colombia: The talent, and not just Colombian talent, but global talent. You have a quality control guy coming from India… And so that makes Colombia, and specifically Antioquia, kind of like a global hub.

Jorge Osorio: So what I want to see here, and we can even walk, and you can see. Because I’d like you to see what my dream is. You know, if you come to this area, it’s mostly.. You find these parking areas for cars that are near the airport, right? We can change the whole concept here by creating what you just said, a biotech hub.

That this whole area here, I dream that there’s going to be more buildings coming, hospitals, because we need some other supplies to make the vaccines. We need someone to make the caps, the glasses, and the enzymes. So I think we could have some other players that will come here and say, “Hey, you know, I want to be part of this.” And this could be a new hub for biotech. That’s how it started, actually in India.

If you go to a place like Hyderabad, if you’ve been there, but the hub for biotechnology there it’s called the Genome Valley. And that Genome Valley started about 30 years ago with one single company. Today, it’s amazing. And that’s what I want to see happening here: that we build more and more industry, and we invite more people to come to join this effort.

Finance Colombia: And people don’t realize that that brings not just the jobs, but the talent and the know-how that establishes you as the center for this.

Jorge Osorio: Exactly. And, you know, I think I’ve been seeing the Colombian folks that have come back, they wanted something like this to happen. They have said, you know, like you just met the plant director, Juan Fernando. He’s like, “Oh, you know, this was a dream of my life to be able to come back, but the opportunity was never there.” So I think we want to provide that, but also for the young people who are here in Colombia to feel that there’s an opportunity.

Finance Colombia: You don’t have to leave. There’s an opportunity here. A lot of times, there’s a brain drain.

Jorge Osorio: Exactly. Right. So we want to create the talent that we have. We want to stimulate the young people to say, “Hey, you know, I can do something as well for my country. I can come here, learn about technology, and new things to produce vaccines.” What I also like to have is innovation, okay? And what I have done is bring technology that has been used, for example, in mRNA vaccines. We can now make mRNA vaccines here.

Finance Colombia: Messenger RNA. 

Jorge Osorio: Like the vaccine that COVID, that Pfizer made, that was, you know, like saved the world, basically, the vaccine that was made in 11 months. We can make that here. And we can do that. So I think I’d like to have the concept of health independence, you know, that we can do health sovereignty for the region. And that our country can also… and our region, because I think more about LATAM. I’m very proud of being a Latino.

You know, we can say, you know, here we are. We can take care of things. We can do it ourselves. We can drive the economy. Change the economy of the region. You know, I think we can do that because when we export science and technology, we can change that.

Finance Colombia: A knowledge economy. It’s not good when all the laborers are local and all of the managers are from somewhere else.

Jorge Osorio: Yeah. That happens in some places. Some companies do that. You know, and I’m very proud also of the training. What we want to do is that the opportunity that I have, which someone gave me a scholarship in Wisconsin, and I can do it for a hundred people. I can do it for more people. So we are sending people to Wisconsin. It’s a good education, you know, and I want them to have that opportunity to educate themselves, to experience what it’s like to be out of their comfort zone, and to understand that they can do good things. They can do even better things than I have done. So I’m proud. We are training people now. And not just science, you know. They are getting into business development, education, accounting, all that.

Finance Colombia: Accounting, engineering, management, right.

Jorge Osorio: All that. Right. So I think that’s what we love to see happening. To change this area.

Laboratory building (photos © Loren Moss)

Finance Colombia: This is such a modern plant. It’s brand new. I remember when they announced it, we did an article about four years ago, I believe it was, you know, covering it. And I remember thinking, “Okay, well, you know, it’s a concept. Let’s see.”

Jorge Osorio: “Let’s see what happens.”

Finance Colombia: And it wasn’t that I didn’t believe it, but, you know, I live very close to here. And when I saw the construction begin on the site, I was like, “Oh, this is real. This is coming.”

Jorge Osorio: This is real.

Finance Colombia: You know, and here it is.

Jorge Osorio: And also, one very important thing is the Colombian talent: the engineers, the architects, who took the concept, we had the best advisors from India and other places that have built manufacturing facilities all over the world. We took that concept and we have to translate that to the local language here because nobody here has made a facility like this before. And it’s not so simple.

If I walk you through this building and you will see the level of complexity that is on every level there. It’s amazing to be able to connect the air, the energy, and all the water supplies. It’s amazing. So, to me, I’m also proud to say this was built by local companies, you know, that did that work. But we brought the best technology and equipment from around the world. This is what makes me very proud of it, that we have done that.

So, you can see that in three and a half years, this is what we have, you know, and I think it’s really…We have had visitors from all over the world now, different companies that have said, you know, like you said, “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know if those guys are going to come up with anything.” But look at it now.

Finance Colombia: When you saw SURA behind it, you know, SURA is a multinational. It’s Colombian, based in Medellín. It’s a company that already has assets and operations, and they, you know, they go far beyond everything from health insurance to car insurance to all different types of asset management and things like that. So, certainly that backing, I would imagine, gives you the financial stability.

Jorge Osorio: It does. That’s why I made that major commitment, because for a long time I wanted to do this, but people will say: “you know, I’ll give you $500,000.” This takes more than that, you know. So, when I first started this project, I told SURA, well, this is going to cost probably $100 million. In the first year, you’re going to cost maybe about $15 million. Say, okay, what are you waiting for to get started?

So, you need to have that muscle behind, that group that tells you, you’re not going to run short of this. And that’s where I think the private sector in our economy plays a major role. This would have never happened with government funds. I’ll be honest with you. I wish I were wrong there, but you need that private muscle, insurance that says, “Hey, you know, here I’m supporting you and, you know, just keep going, keep going.”

Finance Colombia: The patience, not just the capital, but I mean, it’s kind of sad when we look at it. There are cases. I was in Cartagena, and I was in La Guajira recently, and I saw unfinished hospitals. And there’s a case right now up on the Atlantic coast, and they gave the guy the deposit to start building the hospital, and he ran off, and he’s in Miami somewhere or something like that.

Jorge Osorio: That’s crazy. That’s crazy. So, you know, I think what we have here is also my name, my credibility. I put my name on this, and I want to deliver. I want to deliver to SURA but also to my people, to my commitment that I have.

Finance Colombia: Oh, it’s helping untold millions. Something you talked about earlier that I’m also curious about, you mentioned the work that you’ve done with dengue. And dengue, I remember my first time in Nicaragua, which was before, it was back in the 90s, and there was a dengue outbreak, and I remember being in a restaurant and looking over and people like falling out, you know, and I’m sitting there, but dengue is a very technically difficult disease to create a vaccine for because the vaccine is very, very harsh, and they won’t just give it, that’s why prevention is such a cure. It’s like, look, better not to get bitten by the mosquito.

And so, that’s challenging. And so, I wonder, you know, we’re up here kind of in the mountains at 7,000 feet, but we have things like dengue and yellow fever. In tropical… I’m sure that there are some, you know, I’m not a medical person. If we go down to the Amazon, there are some things that we have parasites and things.

Jorge Osorio: We have oropouche, we have malaria, we have chikungunya, we have many, many things that are tropical diseases. But also, some of those problems, big companies don’t want to put the resources into because they are so local.

Finance Colombia: Orphan diseases. Exactly.

Jorge Osorio: We call them orphan diseases, tropical diseases. So, my goal is also to create vaccines for these types of diseases that affect our population. And now that we see climate change and we see all these issues, we see that the mosquitoes are in Florida and Texas, and all these areas there. So, it won’t be a surprise in the future if we have a major outbreak in the US or something.

Finance Colombia: Then they start paying attention.

Jorge Osorio: Then they will.

Finance Colombia: But it’s important to be able to have the capacity here so that, you know, aside from the research and things like that, if you said we need to produce something, that’s not necessarily getting enough attention, you’re not beholden to some laboratory or some charity somewhere to do it.

Jorge Osorio: That we can make the decisions ourselves. That we can have that independence to say, yes, we want to do this, or we can do this. So, I feel that is also what makes us feel proud of it. You know, we can focus on our diseases, our tropical diseases, but they can also have an impact. I was asked recently, for example, one of the vaccines that I’m working on could have a significant impact in Africa. And we could do… It’s hard to believe that, but it’s going to be true. We will do a technology transfer from here, from Colombia to Africa.

Finance Colombia: Oh, yeah?

Jorge Osorio: That makes me very proud, too.

Finance Colombia: Exactly. Because Colombia is now a donor country, whereas 50 years ago, it was a recipient country.

Jorge Osorio: Exactly. So, we can change a few things, but we can also be more involved in this global partnership that we can be part of this network. And we are now part of this network that is also making vaccines and biologicals for all over the world. I think that’s what we wanted to do.

Finance Colombia: That’s great. It’s got to be a, I know it’s a source of pride for you, but also for Paisas, for Antioquia, for Medellín, Rionegro, of course, and then for all of Colombia. And like you mentioned, for Latin America, it’s great to see Colombia taking a leadership role. We hear about Brazil doing things and Mexico doing things, but now Colombia is part of that top tier.

Jorge Osorio: Totally. I feel that that’s what makes us proud. And this is not just an Antioquia or Rionegro project, it’s a nationwide project. And I see more of a regional project, of the entire region. I was in Rio last week as part of this global vaccine research network, and it’s the partnerships that we are doing with people from companies in Brazil, companies in Argentina. You mentioned Mexico, Nicaragua, all those countries, and Cuba as well. And we partner with them. We want to work together with them. So, I think I see this is how we can work together and show that Colombia is going to be on the map. It’s going to be on the map of biotechnology, which I’d like to see happening.

Finance Colombia: Absolutely. It’s so amazing what you’re doing here. I’d love to see if you could kind of give us a tour and show us the cool stuff.

Jorge Osorio: So, let’s, I want to show you what my dream is. Ok?

We’re gonna go there but I want you to see this area here. Because we just walked by, you know, without appreciating this. Look at this. This spiral.

Finance Colombia: It’s almost like…It reminds me of the helix of DNA.

Jorge Osorio: Exactly. That’s what it is. It was made for that purpose. To have that there. We brought that in. The colors are the colors of the company. The Vaxthera colors. Which is…we’re very proud of that, you know. And here is the result. So this here is the filling facility, we are going to go into. I want to walk you through some of the areas where people work here at the facilities.

Finance Colombia: Okay. So is this like the laboratory part? Or the production part?

Jorge Osorio: So here is where we bring…You’re gonna see the Rolls-Royce of equipment. Which is very exciting. This equipment took about three years to build. Two and a half years. It was built in Germany. Bausch. Custom-made for us. With a lot of sacrifice and pain from us. Because we have to deal with them here and there. Bring the equipment here. And make it work here. So it takes a while.

Paul: So since we are at the final stage of the construction of the facility. We still have some activities going on inside. But we implemented some measures to minimize the contamination.

Finance Colombia: Right. And the idea is to begin production in April?

Jorge Osorio: So we are going through the process of certification. What’s called certification. And so the team here is preparing what’s called the dossier for the regulatory packaging for INVIMA to come and inspect us.

Finance Colombia: And INVIMA, it’s like the FDA.

Pressure gauges are part of an integrated building management system to prevent contamination. (photos © Loren Moss)

Jorge Osorio: Exactly. The Colombian FDA. So that’s what’s gonna happen.

Paul: So, over here we have some offices, some storage rooms. The raw materials and the consumables that we’re going to use for the manufacturing process are the access to those materials. So it’s a material airlock. So they come directly from the warehouse, and then from here we’re going to sanitize them, and then we’re going to move them into the manufacturing suite. Let’s talk about these guys, pressure gauges. So our facility works with a cascade effect. So that means that the pressure in the grade A area is higher, the highest.

So when you open a door, basically when we’re transitioning from a dirty room to a clean room, the air from the clean room is coming out into the dirty room and not the opposite. It’s like a balloon when you inflate a balloon. So you are creating pressure inside, and then if you release the air, that air is coming out. That’s the principle of the clean rooms. Right. So that’s why it’s very important to have contingencies for power. So that’s constantly monitored by the building management system. So it’s 24/7 that we monitor temperature, pressure, and humidity. So all these devices are connected to a building management system. And in real time, we can check on the computer all those conditions.

Along the way, you can see some storage rooms, some change rooms. Here in particular, we have what we call a disinfection chamber. A fumigation box. So basically, in here, all those materials that we bring from the warehouse, we are going to disinfect them using hydrogen peroxide. So any material that we want to transfer into the aseptic areas, they must be disinfected with the peroxide.

Finance Colombia: So this is one line of production, and then you’ll have multiple lines of production similar to this?

Jorge Osorio: Eventually. This is for now. We’ll have other ones in the future that will be a different technique that will be like, you know, you have seen those pre-filled syringes, we will have something like that as well.

Finance Colombia: Life-saving. Amazing. Wow.

Jorge Osorio: The water tanks that supply water for the company are based right there, so it’s a very special building, and you can see that from there all the gases and lines are piped to all the different buildings, so that comes here to this, this is the filling facility. Then we have another building, which is like the social building, where people go for lunch, and we go we will go there if you like too. You will see nice areas because I also believe that our workers need to have a nice environment to do well.

Finance Colombia: I mean look at the care that you put into the facilities and making it attractive, and an attractive place to work.

Jorge Osorio: I’ll show you that one, it’s also it’s called the potency lab, so we have about six buildings, so that’s the potency lab that for every vaccine we need to test to make sure the vaccine really meets the standards, the requirements that you need to do, so it’s a nice facility that we have, we can walk through it if you like.

They do a few things here, okay, offices, pharmaceutical chemistry, you know, and then inside there, there is the facilities where they do all the potency testing of the vaccine, of the work, yeah, okay, so that would be inside behind there.

Finance Colombia: Wow, amazing, this is so great to see a modern… not just a facility here, but like I said, it’s just as impressive because it’s domestic. You know, it’s one thing if I don’t know, let’s say Pfizer, yes, puts a  Pfizer says, “we’re going to put a factory in Colombia.” That’s great, but this is Colombian.

Jorge Osorio: It’s all made in Colombia, you know, this is what we’re doing.

Finance Colombia: When it’s fully staffed, how many people will you have?

Jorge Osorio: Likely more than 500. At this point, we have about 150 employees, and this is the plant facility, but we have a research lab in Medellín. We are making a lot of progress in a lot of things, very soon, probably, so number one: we’re moving the facility into the Invima regulatory package, so INVIMA is going to come to visit; we had a major announcement with the government, we announced about a month ago that Vaxthera, the Ministry of Health, and the National Institute of Health, signed an agreement to build capacity locally for the next 10 years. So we’re working together, Vaxthera will help the Institute of National Health to make vaccines as well, okay, because we cannot make all the vaccines ourselves. And it’s good to have partners, and to have them as partners of the government, it would be good for all of us.

One of the vaccine packaging lines deep in the heart of the facility. (photos © Loren Moss)

Finance Colombia: I mean, not just for Colombia, because when you increase capacity, then you’re able to help your neighbors. And not just that, but the whole licensing agreement… because when you guys develop the intellectual property, then you can go and license it, not just to other Colombian organizations, but around the world.

Jorge Osorio: That’s what we’re doing, you got it right. We got, last year, our first patent, for a vaccine that would protect against different variants of COVID, and that vaccine, now, it will also protect against Mpox; Mpox is a virus that is affecting people in Africa. So it’s going to be amazing that we will support some African countries, you know, to develop that vaccine, because we have made it here. We are going to make shingles here, too.

I’m so happy with SURA, because when we had this discussion with SURA, there were some people here in Colombia that were skeptical, saying, “Those guys are not going to do it, you know, they’re never going to be able to do this, or also, where are you going to find the people to do this.”

Finance Colombia: So you’re proving them wrong.

Jorge Osorio: Exactly right, so I’m very happy with that. We have all this space to grow. So take a look, we have all this space, okay? And we have access, we bought the land, this is from our neighbors, we bought them from a family, and that family is very proud of doing this. The owner of the land said, “I want my land to belong to this dream of having the facility here, to do something good.” We have areas here to grow, that we can build, in addition to what we can do here, we have space that we can build more, and there’s even a space behind there.

Finance Colombia: This is only phase one. You have all this space to grow.

Jorge Osorio: It’s going to be nice. And you see, we have the airport right next door, so many vaccines that we can make here.

Finance Colombia: You can ship them instantly anywhere in the world.

Jorge Osorio: Yeah, it’s gonna be nice. And I’m also hosting a scientific event, I’m part of a scientific network, which I want you to know that it’s called PanDengue, from April 21st to the 24th, and there are going to be scientists from all over the Americas coming here.

Finance Colombia: Oh great.

Jorge Osorio: And we’re going to keep hosting events here; there are going to be scientists from Europe, from Africa coming here as well. And I want to make the case, you know, why this could be a good investment, you know, because some people might be afraid of investing in LATAM. We expect next year to have vaccines with the label Vaxthera. Next year, and hopefully, the government will approve them, and we should be in good shape, so this also makes me proud.

Finance Colombia: And like I said, it’s just so impressive to see this happening right here, you know, 15 minutes from where I live, and even more so, it’s not like some big company from Europe or the US, or China, or China said, “We’re going to put a factory in Colombia,” which is good, you know, that’s great, that’s fine, but no, but this is Colombian, and that’s what’s so cool.

In 2024, this organization consolidated its commitment to a social investment model that combines purpose, strategy, and sustainability, connecting donors with revolutionary leaders who run organizations and social enterprises that respond to Colombia’s most important challenges, aimed at reducing inequality and poverty, improving quality of life, and protecting natural resources.

A model born out of urgency, but also of hope

Colombia is one of the most biodiverse countries per square meter on the planet, rich in a variety of plants, birds, and ecosystems. However, it is one of the most unequal: 39% of its population lives in poverty, and 12% in extreme poverty. In this context, more than 200,000 social organizations struggle to survive, and more than 80% do not survive more than two years of operation due to the lack of sustainable models, the absence of monitoring systems, the high dependence on donations, and weak teamwork.

Barista School students. Photo credit: One Inversión Social.

With your help, we can break this cycle. Donate here today to learn more and to help strengthen the delicate social fabric of Colombia.

Faced with this reality, ONE is committed to a different form of philanthropy, moving from the traditional to the strategic, that is, developing a model that goes beyond the donation. Through its BeOne methodology, ONE offers patient capital, strategic accompaniment, capacity building, access to networks, and collective leadership.

During 2024, ONE allocated a total of $472,807 USD in patient capital and $70,926 USD in strategic capital backed by more than 400 hours of direct accompaniment.

Some of the stories that make the impact visible:

1. Coffee, education, and life projects

In Medellín, the One Forest project, in partnership with the Juguemos en el Bosque Foundation, has converted a tuk-tuk into a Mobile Barista School to train young people in situations of vulnerability or poverty. By 2024, 44 young people had graduated, 65% had access to jobs, and their income had increased by 550%.

The tuk-tuk was converted into a Mobile Barista School. Photo credit: One Inversión Social.

Imagine what we can achieve together. Every contribution you donate sows opportunities like this. Support here!

“With a cup of coffee as a symbol of hope, we show that when opportunities come along, lives really can be transformed.” – Lucas Velilla, director of Juguemos en el Bosque Foundation.

2. Light for the nights of La Guajira

In areas where electricity is a luxury, the Casa Grata project, in partnership with Tierra Grata, installed more than 886 solar systems, benefiting 4,000 users and generating a reduction of 733 tons of CO₂ (carbon dioxide equivalent from the use of clean energy).

The installation of more than 886 solar systems, benefiting 4,000 users. Photo credit: One Inversión Social.

One was a real and tangible driver of transformation. Beyond the investment, it gave us the strength to grow and bring dignity to thousands of homes where not only light is the protagonist, but also security, opportunities, employment, study, and well-being.’ – Jennifer Colpas, Co-founder of Tierra Grata.

3. Ballet FROM and FOR everyone

With the Ballet Metropolitano de Medellín, ONE supported the democratization of dance, reaching audiences that had never entered a theatre or seen ballet. The working conditions of the artists were improved, new jobs were created, and works such as BOTERO were brought to more than 4,300 people.

Ballet Metropolitano de Medellín. Photo credit: One Inversión Social.

“The financial and strategic capital provided to our organization represented an increase in quality and outreach indicators; we reached more people with their contribution. But, beyond this support, the value that we highlight today is the trust that allows us to believe in and create new possibilities for the professionalization of ballet in the country through dance.” – Juliana Acosta, director of the Ballet Metropolitano de Medellín.

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4. La Pascasia

In the heart of Medellín, La Pascasia has become a cultural meeting point. In 2024 more than 30,000 people attended its events with a strong component of cultural democratization with 569 artists benefiting.

La Pascasia is a cultural meeting point hosting events benefiting over 569 artists. Photo credit: One Inversión Social.

‘Thanks to ONE, we were able to expand our programming, open more days, offer more subsidized tickets, and improve remuneration to artists compared to 2023. Thus, art became more accessible. – Jaime Suárez, Administrative Manager of La Pascasia.

5. Strengthening businesses to strengthen communities

With the 4Impact program, in alliance with Créame Incubadora de Empresas, 172 companies were supported to improve their capacities and connect them to value chains. The result: more jobs, more income, and a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem.

‘They didn’t just add resources: they added purpose. That made the difference”. – Juan Manuel Higuita, director of Créame.

A better future is possible if we do it together

The 4Impact program. Photo credit: One Inversión Social.

ONE has shown that it is not necessary to wait for a political or economic miracle to transform the harsh reality that Colombia is living. With well-thought-out decisions, well-invested resources, and added to the conviction that a better country is possible, a more dignified life for countless Colombians is possible. In 2025, they will continue to seek strategic allies who share that vision both in Colombia and beyond. ONE is more than an organization: it is a community determined to be part of the solution.

‘The road ahead may present challenges, but I am convinced that together, we have the vision, passion, and determination to overcome them. Every investment we make, every partnership we forge, and every life we transform brings us closer to our goal of creating a more equitable and sustainable Colombia – Mónica Gil, CEO of One Social Investment.

You, too, can be part of this transformative community. Join ONE with a significant donation. Make it here!

Photos courtesy: One Inversión Social.