While his country grapples with escalating violence and economic uncertainty, President Petro chose to immerse himself in foreign conflicts, taking his activism to a protest in Times Square against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There, alongside Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, Petro grabbed a megaphone and delivered a fiery speech. The critical moment came when he directly called upon members of the United States Armed Forces to “disobey the orders of Donald Trump and obey the order of humanity,” a move that Washington interpreted as a direct incitement to mutiny—a felony under US law.

The State Department’s response was swift and unambiguous. In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the agency declared, “Earlier today, Colombian President Gustavo Petro stood on a New York street and exhorted US soldiers to disobey orders and incite violence. We will revoke Petro’s visa due to his reckless and incendiary actions.” The statement underscored a fundamental principle of international alliances: “No responsible ally encourages members of the US Armed Forces to disobey the constitution or break military discipline.”

This diplomatic fallout is not merely a reaction to a single speech but the culmination of escalating tensions. The relationship between the Petro administration and Washington has been strained by disagreements over anti-drug policy, the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, and now, Petro’s vociferous stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The US recently “decertified” Colombia as a partner in counter-narcotics efforts, a symbolic but significant rebuke of Petro’s strategies, which have coincided with a surge in illicit coca cultivation.

President Petro has consistently framed US policy as “hypocritical” and “imperial,” using platforms like the UN General Assembly to lambast the United States for what he calls a “failed” war on drugs. His rhetoric has grown increasingly confrontational, accusing Washington of “pushing the world toward new wars.”

Domestic Backlash and Political Condemnation

The repercussions of Petro’s actions in New York have been felt acutely within Colombia, drawing sharp criticism from across the political spectrum. Opponents argue that the president has recklessly endangered a critical strategic partnership for the sake of ideological posturing on a global stage.

Federico “Fico” Gutiérrez, the two-time mayor of Medellín, laid the blame squarely on the president. In a post on X, Gutiérrez stated, “Petro has done everything to destroy Colombia’s relationship with the United States. It has been a premeditated strategy of provocation. I evidenced it in our agenda in Washington. Now don’t play the victim. The horrible night will soon cease. Petro is not Colombia. The United States is clear about that. Colombia needs a President who governs with his five senses and in his five senses. Colombia will get ahead.”

Similarly, former governor of Antioquia Sergio Fajardo called for Petro’s resignation, expressing his dismay on social media. “You finally did it, President Petro! You no longer have a visa for the United States. Now resign from the presidency and dedicate yourself to leading the third world war against Trump and his friends,” Fajardo wrote. He added, “He was not capable of thinking about his responsibility to Colombia or of protecting our country’s interests. He stopped governing a long time ago and will now go out to do politics as the victim he has always wanted to be. What an embarrassment, Mr. President!”

In response, Petro dismissed Fajardo’s criticism, retorting that “being president of Colombia does not depend on the US, it depends on the people. Understand that the people are sovereign.”

A Symbolic Strike with Historical Echoes

The revocation of a sitting president’s visa is a severe diplomatic rebuke. While it does not prevent President Petro from attending multilateral forums like the UN, it is a potent symbol of disapproval. The last time the US took such a drastic measure against a Colombian leader was in 1996, when President Ernesto Samper’s visa was revoked by the Clinton administration over substantial evidence that his presidential campaign had received funding from the Cali drug cartel.

Upon his return to Bogotá, Petro confirmed he had been notified of the visa cancellation, framing the US government’s decision as a violation of international law and the diplomatic immunity afforded to heads of state attending UN functions. “Separating the US from Colombia is what the mafias need,” he wrote on X, warning, “The headquarters of the United Nations cannot continue in New York.”

The protest in New York, which drew approximately 2,000 people, was organized by a coalition of groups including the Palestinian Youth Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The Colombian delegation accompanying the president was also present, and they notably walked out of the UN General Assembly during Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address.

As President Petro pivots to domestic rallies, the long-term consequences of his diplomatic gamble remain to be seen. What is clear is that his actions have pushed the vital US-Colombia relationship into its most precarious state in a generation, prioritizing a crusade on foreign disputes over the stability of a cornerstone alliance.

President Gustavo Petro in New York, joining a rally for Palestine. Photo credit: Colombian Presidency.

The purchasing banks are Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBVA, BME: BBVA), Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE: SAN, BME: SAN), BNP Paribas Securities Corp., a subsidiary of BNP Paribas (EPA: BNP), Citigroup Global Markets Inc., a subsidiary of Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, a subsidiary of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS), and J.P. Morgan Securities plc, a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM).

The Tender Offer’s Framework

The offer targets a dozen outstanding series of Colombia’s global bonds with maturities spanning from 2027 to 2061. The purchasers will pay a fixed cash price for each series, plus any accrued and unpaid interest up to the settlement date.

While the offer is for a broad range of securities, the total amount to be paid for the tendered bonds, referred to as the “Maximum Purchase Price,” remains at the sole discretion of the purchasers. If the total value of tendered bonds for any given series exceeds the determined maximum, a proration factor will be applied. This structure provides the syndicate and, by extension, the Republic of Colombia, significant flexibility in managing the scale and scope of the buyback.

The specific bonds and their respective purchase prices per $1,000 of principal amount are detailed below:

Strategic Rationale and Total Return Swap Structure

The offer document explicitly states that the transaction’s primary purpose is for the purchasing banks to acquire the bonds to hedge potential obligations under total return swap (TRS) transactions expected to be executed with the Republic of Colombia.

This arrangement suggests that Colombia is entering into agreements with the banks where it will receive the total return (interest payments plus capital appreciation/depreciation) on its own debt, effectively neutralizing its exposure to those specific bonds. In return, Colombia would likely pay the banks a floating rate, such as SOFR, plus a spread. For the banks to hedge their position in this swap—where they are paying out the bonds’ total return—they must physically hold the underlying assets. This tender offer serves as the mechanism for the banks to acquire the necessary bonds from the market.

This structure allows the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit to synthetically manage its debt profile, potentially reducing interest rate risk or altering its maturity schedule without immediately retiring the debt from its balance sheet. At the maturity of the swaps, the banks are expected to deliver the bonds to the republic, at which point the debt would be formally extinguished.

Key Terms and Timeline for Investors

For bondholders considering the offer, the key dates are as follows:

• Expiration Time: The offer will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Wednesday, September 3, 2025. This is also the deadline for withdrawing any tendered bonds.
• Announcement of Results: The purchasers expect to announce the aggregate principal amount of accepted bonds and any proration factors on Thursday, September 4, 2025.
• Settlement Date: The transaction is scheduled to settle on Monday, September 8, 2025.

Tenders must be submitted in principal amounts equal to the minimum authorized denominations, which is $200,000 for most series ($100,000 for the 6.125% bonds due 2041) and integral multiples of $1,000 in excess thereof. The process must be conducted through DTC, Euroclear, or Clearstream.

The offer’s primary condition is the successful execution of the TRS agreements between the purchasers and Colombia. It is important to note that the purchasing banks are severally, not jointly, liable. Each bank is only responsible for its own accepted portion of the tender.

The depositary and information agent for the offer is Global Bondholder Services Corporation.

US Dollars. Photo credit: Mano Chandra Dhas.

Eligible holders of existing notes who tender existing notes prior to 11:59 p.m. New York City time, on August 27, 2019  will be eligible to receive, for each $1,000 principal amount of existing notes tendered, $1,000 principal amount of exchange notes, which includes the “ Early Participation Premium ” of $50 in principal amount of exchange notes per $1,000 principal amount of existing notes. Eligible holders who validly tender existing notes after the early participation deadline will not be eligible to receive the early participation premium. The exchange offer and consent solicitation will expire at 11:59 p.m. New York City time, on September 11, 2019, unless extended or earlier terminated.

The exchange notes will be secured by a pledge, mortgage or assignment of:

1. The Avianca brand and certain other intellectual property
2. Certain unencumbered aircraft which are currently owned by certain subsidiaries of Avianca
3. The residual interest in substantially all aircraft which are owned and financed now or in the future by Avianca and its subsidiaries, except for aircraft currently expected to be sold and aircraft subject to third party leases.

The aggregate value of the collateral aircraft (calculated according to multiple desktop valuations using the half-life method), net of the aggregate amount of outstanding indebtedness under financing arrangements with respect to such aircraft, is approximately $1.0 billion USD.

The exchange notes will be issued by the company and will be guaranteed by all of the guarantors and the co-issuers of the existing notes and will additionally be guaranteed by various subsidiaries which do not guarantee the existing notes.

The exchange notes will have the same maturity and other terms as the existing notes, except that:

1. The exchange notes will be secured
2. The exchange notes will have additional guarantors
3. A cross-acceleration provision will be substituted for the cross-default provision
4. United Airlines, Inc. and Kingsland Holdings Limited (Controlled by current Avianca chairman Roberto Kriete) will be designated as the permitted holders under the change of control provisions
5. The exchange notes will be subject to the Mandatory Exchange, described below

The exchange notes will automatically be exchanged (the “ Mandatory Exchange ”) for an equivalent principal amount of 9.00% Senior Secured Notes due 2023 (the “ New Notes ” and, collectively with the exchange notes, the “ Secured Notes ”) on December 31, 2019 upon the certification by Avianca to the trustee of the closing of an investment of not less than $250 million of new equity or convertible debt in the Company from United, Kingsland and one or more financial institutions, of which at least $200 million will be made by United and Kingsland (the “ Stakeholder Investment ”) and the receipt of such funds prior to December 31, 2019.

The new notes will have terms that are identical to the terms of the exchange notes, except that:

1. The coupon on the New Notes will be 9.00% per annum
2. The maturity date of the New Notes will be May 10, 2023
3. The new notes will be redeemable as further described in the offering memorandum
4. The collateral for the new notes will be subject to release upon the new notes achieving certain ratings.

The exchange offer and consent solicitation will be conditioned on there being validly tendered and not withdrawn at least 50.1% of the aggregate principal amount of the existing notes. However, United and Kingsland have informed Avianca that participation of 50.1% in the exchange offer will not be sufficient for them to consummate the stakeholder investment.

The full 6-K filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission of the US can be seen here.

ETB awarded new security technology patent (see below)

Castellanos Rueda is an economist, with a PhD in Economics & Finance from Columbia University in New York City. He has previously worked as the Director of Public Credit in Minhacienda (Colombia’s Finance Ministry), Superintendent of Banking, Director of FOGAFIN (Financial Institution Guaranty Fund – analogous to the FDIC in the USA), and President of Bancafé (now part of Davivienda) . Castellanos also held positions at JP Morgan, The World Bank, as director of Banca de Inversión de Correval, and Darby Investment Bank.

Throughout his career, Castellanos has been recognized for his work on treasury and other debt, market valuation, solving Colombia’s past banking crises, reform of the electrical sector, restructuring of public and private entities, and establishment of private equity firms.

New Board of Directors

Last Wednesday, January 13, ETB announced the new board of directors, as named by the majority shareholder, the City of Bogotá, now controlled by newly inaugurated Mayor Enrique Peñalosa.

Women make up the majority of ETB’s new board of directors.

The seven main members of the new board are:

• Emilio Jose Archila, former Superintendent of Industry and Commerce
• Beatriz Elena Arbelaez, Ministry of Finance
• Maria Consuelo Araujo, Secretary of Social Integration
• Sylvia Escovar Gomez, president Terpel
• Maria Claudia Correa, an economist with expertise in international affairs
• Mario Pacheco MBA, economist
• Gisele Manrique Vaca, a lawyer specializing in public administration

The seven alternates named to the board are:

• Ana Maria Rojas, advisor to the Presidency of the Republic
• Hector Mauricio Escobar, manager of the firm Strategy and Consulting
• Alexandra Rojas Lopera, manager of Transmilenio;
• Andres Ortiz Gómez, Secretary of Planning
• Oscar Diaz, urban projects consultant
• Carlos Malagon, expert in administrative law, environmental and public services
• Mary V. Fernandez, lawyer with extensive experience in government contracting.

Emilio Jose Archila Penalosa (main) – Lawyer & alum of the Universidad Externado de Colombia (External University of Colombia). Specialist in Financial Law at the Universidad de Los Andes. Master of Comparative Jurisprudence (MCL) New York University (NYU) School of Law, New York. Development Law (DLC), International Development Law Institute, Rome. He has served as director of the Legal Office of the Ministry of Economic Development (now of Commerce, Industry and Tourism), CEO for Insurance Banking Superintendency (today Financiera Colombia), Superintendent of Industry and Commerce and Chairman of Asobolsa. He is currently Director of the Department of Economic Law of the Universidad Externado arbitrator various arbitration and conciliation centers and partner Archila Lawyers.

Ana Maria Rojas Villamil (alternate) – She is an economist and lawyer, and graduate from the University of the Andes, with a Masters in Economics from the same university and Master in Public Policy from Georgetown University. She is currently advisor to the Ministry of the Presidency, the Presidency of the Republic and served as Director of the Center for Social Innovation, the National Agency for Overcoming Extreme Poverty.

Ministry of Finance, Beatriz Elena Martínez Arbeláez (main) – She is an economist who studied at the Universidad Externado de Colombia, with studies in Business Administration and Regional Development Planning at the University of the Andes, Master of Finance, University of Strathclyde (Strathclyde University) in Glasgow, Scotland and Administration of Economic Policy of Columbia University in New York. In the Colombian public sector she has served as Division Chief of Programming and Budget Control at the National Planning Department and Director General of Economic Regulation at the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit and Vice President of Finance, Bancafé.

Mauricio Escobar Hector Hurtado (alternate) – He is an economist and graduate of the External University of Colombia with postgraduate studies in Transnational Business Management of the University. A professional with extensive experience in defining, structuring and implementation of solutions to corporate financial problems. He was an advisor of the liquidation of the Caja Agraria and transfer of assets to Banco Agrario de Colombia SA; Banking Superintendency consultant and advisor to the Director General of Public Credit. He was also an external advisor of the Banco Agrario. He is manager of the consulting firm Strategy and Consulting.

Secretary of Social Integration, Maria Consuelo Araujo Castro (main) – She is a professional in Finance and International Relations graduated from the Universidad Externado de Colombia, Specialist in Government, Management and Public Affairs of the External University of Colombia. She comes after positions as the president of Gran Colombia Gold Corp., Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Culture, District Director of the Institute for Recreation and Sport and director of the José Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden.

Transmilenio manager, Alexandra Rojas Lopera (alternate) – He began his career at Planeación Nacionál (National Planning), led the Fondo de Prevencion Vial (Road Prevention Fund) and was undersecretary of finance during the first term of Bogota mayor Enrique Penalosa. He is an industrial engineer from the Universidad de los Andes and has a Masters in Economics from the University of Maryland. He worked at the National Bank Project Planning Department and was an advisor and chief negotiator of Colombia’s Free Trade Agreement with the United States, while at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.

Sylvia Escovar Gomez (main) – She is an economist at the University of Los Andes, with Advanced Econometrics studies at the University of Sorbonne, Paris. She is currently the president of the Terpel petroleum company, where she also served as National Manager of Fuels, as Administrative and Financial Manager, and Commercial Vice President. She also served as National Director of FES Leadership Institute.

Secretary of Planning, Andrés Ortiz Gomez (alternate) – she is an architect having graduated from the Pontifical Javeriana University, and with a Master of Science from the University of Oxford in Urban Planning in Developing Countries, and has taught as a Master’s Thesis tutor in Urban and Regional Planning at the Pontifical Javeriana University (2001-2008) as well as holding other academic positions.

Maria Claudia Correa Ordoñez (main) – She is an economist at the University of Los Andes, with a Masters in Economics from the same university. Additionally, she holds an MA in International Affairs and Economic Policy Management from Columbia University in New York. She served as project manager at Efromovich Silva Capital Partners and Skandia (Old Mutual). She has held various positions such as CIO, CFO, Vice President of Strategic Planning and Vice President of Special Business.

Oscar Edmundo Diaz (alternate) – In the last 15 years he has advised more than 50 local and national governments on different continents in terms of institutional structuring of urban projects. He is a member of GSD +, a consulting firm that has worked on the institutional and financial structuring of urban projects in cities across the Americas, Africa and Asia.

Mario Pacheco (main) – He is an economist from the University of Los Andes, with a MBA from the University of Michigan and PMD from Harvard University. He has belonged to the boards of Cardioinfantil, Incolda Hospital, Fundacion Semana, Fundacion Colfondos and the National Museum. He has extensive experience in the financial sector and was president of Banco Colpatria from 1986 – 1990, among other positions in the same corporation.

Carlos Malagón Bolaños (alternate) – He is a lawyer that graduated from the External University of Colombia, with a specialization in Economic Law at the same university. He has practiced law for 35 years in the areas of administrative, environmental and public services, regulatory affairs and government procurement law. He was Vice President of Legal affairs at ETB, Deputy Minister of Justice and Law, and he belongs to the list of arbitrators registered with the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota.

Gisele Manrique Vaca (main) – She is a lawyer and graduate of the External University of Colombia with a specialization in Public Administration and a Masters of Law at the University of Los Andes. With over 20 years of experience in the public sector. She has served as attorney for the Plenary Chamber of the Constitutional Court, Local Mayor of the Barrios Unidos sector of Bogotá, Chief of Regulatory Competition in the field of television and Innovation – COLCIENCIAS, and served as director of Fiscal Control of the Auditor General’s Office .

Mary V. Fernandez (alternate) – She is a lawyer and graduate from the Universidad de la Sabana, specializing in contract law. She has more than 12 years of experience in administrative proceedings concerning competition and unfair competition. She has extensive experience in government contracting.

ETB Receives Anti-Theft Patents

In other news, ETB has received a fourth patent for “friction cup” keys that make up a theft and tamper-resistant system for securing manhole covers. In Colombia there has been a problem with theft of the metal manhole covers, and theft of the valuable copper wiring that they are designed to protect.

The security system was invented by Mauricio Barón Gutiérrez and Héctor Alfonso Suárez, both ETB engineers. The Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio issued the patent via resolution # 84692.

ETB owns 120,000 manhole covers throughout metropolitan Bogotá, protecting its subterranean fiber optic network that covers 65% of Bogotá, and the copper network that covers the city in its entirety.

The demand for copper driven in the past by China’s thirst for the material, resulted in international mafias that facilitated an epidemic in cable and wiring theft in Colombia and other countries, including the US. China’s deceleration has caused the price of copper to drop from $4 USD last year, to $2.50 currently, helping to mitigate the situation. On the other hand, the strong dollar takes away much of this advantage.

“According to statistics from Migration Colombia, the United States remains in first place for arrivals and departures. Between January and July of 2015, 719,620 Colombians went to the US, accounting for 30.5% of all international destinations, representing 12.7% growth over the same period the year before,” said ANATO’s president, Paula Cortés Calle.

ANATO President Paula Cortés Calle

Latin American countries also were important destinations for Colombian visitors. “In times when the dollar is high, traveling within Latin America is a good option, as other countries are also experiencing devalued currencies. Travel agencies also have plans and packages to countries in Central and South America at very good prices,” said Cortés.

After the US, between January and July, the countries most visited by Colombians were Venezuela, that even with 13.4% of visits, saw a decline of 0.9%, Panamá, Ecuador, México, and Perú. When it came to visitors to Colombia, in second place behind the US was Venezuela, which saw an increase of 29% in Venezuelans traveling to Colombia, followed by México, Argentina, Ecuador, Brasil, and Perú.

Said Cortés, “Tourism has passed from third to the second most important generator of foreign reserves for Colombia, passing coffee, flowers, and banana sales. In times when the whole world economy is suffering signs of deceleration, we need to take advantage of those areas that grow more than others. Tourism provided 5.9% in national GDP and has become one of the primary economic engines of Colombia. We need to take advantage of this good moment for this sector and achieve more trips, and more top quality destinations.”

Juan Pablo Lopez is the director of Parques del Rio for the city of Medellín

The City of Medellín is undertaking a massive project that will see two major urban arteries submerged underground, surfaced by a city park. The plan includes re-naturalizing the currently channelized river, and remodeling the city’s feeder creek system to take them back to a more pristine, natural state, adding parks, trees and bicycle paths along the way.

Finance Colombia was able to meet with Juan Pablo Lopez, the director of Parques del Rio [Parks of the River] for the city of Medellín to learn more about this ambitious public works project, and the impact it is expected to have on the Capital of Colombia’s Antioquia department.

Finance Colombia: So tell me about the genesis of the project.

Lopez: For some years now a master plan in terms of urban renovation has been gestating but there has never been a public space trigger that can take that to reality for us. Then the Parques del Rio project comes up, and launching it is something the current mayor, Anibal Gaviria Correa, building upon the work laid down by past administrations, has been able to realize. What will the Parques del Rio consist of? In those strips along the river which are a highway, in some sectors we submerge the highway, that is to say, we take it underground, right? We build some tunnels underneath and then we immediately generate a very interesting public space on the surface. A person who is standing here right now can take a footpath, cross that footbridge to the river and in the river we’re not going to find the highways which are a barrier anymore, but the footpath will continue to a whole park there. And we’re going to cross to the other side that is residential—a person, a pedestrian or a cyclist will be able to take that route without any problems.

We’re going to improve mobility for motorists while at the same time generating a very interesting public space.

That brings benefits in terms of lateral connectivity, but also a longitudinal connectivity so people can move along the valley because we’re going to widen the lanes that exist today. And additionally, when we recover public spaces in some specific zone we then make the urban renovation of some sectors that hadn’t been consolidated as urban renovation more attractive; then, one example could be that the sector next to the (San Juan Avenue) bridge. Those are old industries or workshops that now will have a park in front of them; they become a high target for renovation with housing, with offices, with shops, with multiple uses—

Finance Colombia: A mixed use redevelopment.

Lopez: Exactly, then it´s like new housing but with a very interesting mix.

Finance Colombia: And like that, when it´s mixed use, the lifestyle is like “I can walk to the shop, I can walk to work, I can walk to the store,” it´s not like you need a car for basic existence.

Lopez: Exactly, a reality in Medellín is that the people that work in the city, the ones that work in the houses, the garbage disposal crew, laborers they live in the farthest away communities from the center of Medellín—

Finance Colombia: Exactly, in San Javier or Santo Domingo—

Lopez: Or Castilla, and then they are the ones to spend more (time and money) on commuting. This is where the city´s mobility problems are, and then the city has to fix that error of having grown towards the hillsides. That has turned out to be very expensive because when you grow towards the hillsides then you have to bring infrastructure, you have to bring public transportation, you have to bring all of that up to the hillsides.

While if you concentrate the growth along the valley, around where the metro goes, where all the public services are, where the civic center of the city is, then the city becomes much more sustainable. That´s what the project is about. Over there where you see those big machines working, we are going to bury, more or less, 392 meters of the highways. Then we are going to have a park almost as big as four soccer fields lengthwise. We are going to immediately recover 50,000 square meters and we are also going to duplicate the lanes that exist there today, we’re going to improve mobility for motorists while at the same time generating a very interesting public space.

By the numbers: Medellín’s Parque del Rio

• 44 neighborhoods in 9 districts will be impacted by the Parques del Rio project
• 19.8 kilometers: the length of the project along the Medellín River
• 212,000 vehicles use the motorways bordering the Medellin River daily
• .92 kilometers of 7 lanes will be subterranean
• $170,438,000 USD is the cost of the project’s primary phase
• 6,105 new trees will be planted as part of the project
• 808 acres (327 hectares) of riparian land will be renovated, from Ancón Sur to Bello

Finance Colombia: Then, that is going to be more or less like a central park for everything but it´s not going to impede the traffic, because the traffic will be able to go through underground; and it will also have wider lanes, because that is an area that has also had a lot of traffic jams.

Lopez: Right now there are four lanes, and you’re going  to have seven lanes, plus merge and exit lanes that will allow—one of the problems that we have isn’t even the flow of traffic across the river but exiting at each one of the bridges. Then, what we’re going to do with those merge lanes is to give traffic a more dynamic flow, that doesn’t have any problems.

Finance Colombia: Medellín has an exemplary subway, but during the construction process there were a lot of problems, so how are those going to be avoided with this project?

Lopez: At the moment, we have some people directly impacted, from the Conquistadores neighborhood. With those impacted we’re making a plan, creating a citizen’s committee, for that committee to take ownership of the park. They are the ones directly impacted right now but they are going to be the main beneficiaries when it’s built. It’s a citizen committee that takes ownership of the park and that writes something like a coexistence manual, for example, something that happened in the Brooklyn Park (New York City), the one that´s on the East River. I think it´s the community that drives the construction, to turn all of the ancient warehouses—in that case, to be turned into a linear park along the East River. That is what we’re doing right now in some workshops with the Conquistadores community.

Finance Colombia: Now that the traffic is diverted, how long will the detours last? How long will the traffic flow be disrupted?

Lopez: 11 months since it began, and it began in February. We’re thinking that by January of next year we can be inaugurating the first stage.

Finance Colombia: Well here in front of us we have EPM. EPM also has a role in the process, don’t they?

Lopez: The new company that is gestating, EPM is the partner with Medellín in that company, which is going to operate, maintain, and is also going to generate those revenues that the Parques del Rio can generate.

If you concentrate the growth along the valley, around where the metro goes, where all the public services are, where the civic center of the city is, then the city becomes much more sustainable. That´s what the project is about.

Finance Colombia: Talking about the river specifically, one thing that here in Medellín and also in Bogotá—well in Cali too, the rivers in cities are channeled in concrete, and I understand that part of the project is to change the river back to its natural state, with stones and crawdads and fish and all that. Why did they put the rivers like that originally? And what is the plan—what does the plan for the river include, and specifically the river’s natural environment?

Lopez: Since the 1950s more or less, there was a worldwide tendency to channelize the rivers that came into being, and that began for heath and sanitation issues mostly. And then the rivers ended up becoming the collectors of all of the city’s dirty waters, then they became harmful to people’s health. I think it was a mistake to have channelized them long ago, and to try to take the channelization away is very complicated, very complex; most of all because the rivers have a flooding behavior. What Parques del Rio is doing is that those cement channels will be enhanced with landscaping and plantings that can provide more interesting ecological benefits. We can plant species that withstand floods and that attract new wildlife, but additionally we have to work with the feeder creeks too, right? Because the creeks are the ones that end up feeding the river, so the Parques del Rio project is also taking place in the creeks, improving their surroundings, and lastly up to the part of the river that isn’t channelized, which is up north. The goal is to protect the watershed such that that no creeks or the river are channelized anymore.

Finance Colombia: Is there a treatment plan for the quality of water or anything like that?

Lopez: That is done through public companies of Medellín, EPM. They have invested about $1.047 billion dollars in a water treatment plant up north that begins to operate next year, and the whole water collection system of sewage, with all the piping, and then those pipes to collect the sewage, they take it to the treatment plants and it is discharged into the river only after it is treated, not how it’s being done right now, where the sewage is poured directly into the river.

Finance Colombia: And the Jardin Cincunvalar (Surrounding Garden) is part of this integrated project; it’s all part of a big plan, isn’t it?

Lopez: Yes, all of that is part of the big plan for the city in terms of sustainability and urban planning. With Parques del Rio, we attract people to here to the center, but with the Green Belt and the linear parks along the feeder creeks, we get all that ecological connectivity the city needs. It is a whole network that is woven with the river, the creeks upward, and the Jardin Circunvalar, or the Green Belt, protecting all of this.

Finance Colombia: And what is the whole term of the plan? Is it a five or ten year plan in total?

Lopez: The idea is that it is ten years of construction and then 25 years of operation planning. With this whole plan, the city is looking to raise the key metric of square meters of public space per inhabitant. At the moment we have just 3.9 square meters per inhabitant, the idea is to take that to 7.5.

Statistics taken from Medellin’s municipal government publication: “Ciudad para la Vida” ^No.12, January 2015

Artist renderings courtesy of the municipal government of Medellín