Finance Colombia’s executive editor Loren Moss recently met with Ambassador Hodgson, the United Kingdom’s envoy to Colombia, during a visit to Medellín one sunny November morning, where the city hosted a British pavilion celebrating cultural ties between the two countries. Ambassador Hodgson discussed the historic ties between the UK and Colombia, the evolving business landscape, and opportunities for Colombian students and companies in the UK.

And so through this roadshow, we want to show that we’re interested in Medellín. We’re interested in the relationship with ‘los paisas,’ and we’ve got a lot to offer each other.

Finance Colombia: So I’m here with Ambassador George Hodgson, the ambassador from the UK and Northern Ireland here in Colombia. First, welcome to Medellín. It looks like we’ve got a nice sunny morning.

George Hodgson: Another beautiful day in Medellín, yeah. Great to see you here.

Finance Colombia: Fortunately. You know, it’s too bad that all the embassies and consulates are in Bogotá, because the weather here is a lot better.

British exhibit in Medellín’s Parque del Rio (photo © Loren Moss)

George Hodgson: But that’s precisely why we’re here, because we’re based in Bogotá, but we’re the British embassy in Colombia. And so through this roadshow, we want to show that we’re interested in Medellín. We’re interested in the relationship with ‘los paisas,’ and we’ve got a lot to offer each other.

Finance Colombia: That’s great. And we’re here celebrating…this is, I think, the 200th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship, the bilateral relationship between Great Britain and Colombia. So maybe if you tell me a little bit about the history and what’s gotten us here today.

George Hodgson: So we’re celebrating 200 years of friendship and alliance between our two countries. Obviously, we have a history before that. The UK and Brits played an important role fighting alongside Simón Bolívar for the independence of this country and its neighbors. And through those 200 years, it’s been really positive. And now we have a really thick relationship in lots of different areas. We’re working together on peace and security, on environmental issues, recognizing how important Colombia is in terms of its biodiversity and its forests, things like that. We’re working together a lot in the business space. The UK is one of the top investors in Colombia, and we’ve got a trade relationship of something like $2.5 billion per year. And then, of course, English education and culture is a really important part of what we’re promoting here, too.

The UK is one of the top investors in Colombia, and we’ve got a trade relationship of something like $2.5 billion per year.

Finance Colombia: Absolutely. English is the second language in Colombia. You get into the metro system and the airports anywhere; you see English. But it’s like that globally. I remember going for the first time to Central Asia, and I thought I was going to need a translator. And I didn’t, because everybody spoke English and everything was in English.

Speaking of that, the cultural ties are very strong, I mean, the whole world listens to British music and has done so forever. But there’s a lot of things, like you guys have a scholarship program similar to—I’m most familiar being from the US—the Fulbright Scholarship program. But you all have something that’s even more comprehensive. And I think you have something like 50 or 20 spots, rather, reserved for bright Colombian students. Maybe if you could speak to that.

George Hodgson: That’s right, Loren. So one of the activities that we’ve got today is showcasing the opportunities that British universities offer Colombians. And one of the ways that Colombians can make the most of UK universities is through the Chevening Scholarship. So every year, we’re selecting something like 15 to 20 Colombians. Obviously, Colombians with a great academic record. Obviously, also with a good level of English to study in the UK. But most of all, Colombians with a sense of how studying in the UK is going to help them do something really important for this country, and important for the relationship between our two countries when they come back here.

Finance Colombia: Now, a lot of major British companies are investing and have invested here in Colombia. I mean, we talk about infrastructure and engineering, we talk about financial services. Maybe could you speak to some of the success stories that British companies have had helping Colombia to develop its economy and infrastructure?

George Hodgson: Yeah. So infrastructure, clearly, is a really important thing for Colombia. Colombia needs to build out its rail system again. Colombia needs to improve the capacity of its airports. It needs bigger ports. And in all of these areas and many more, things like entertainment venues, the UK has really world-class experience and expertise to share. And that’s one of the things that we’re focused on at the British Embassy; helping to bring together that British expertise with local know-how as well. And also making the most of financing opportunities. We have UK Export Finance, which is a way of bringing competitive financing to projects where there’s sufficient UK content involved.

Finance Colombia: That goes back to the UK’s history as the world’s banker. Going back hundreds of years. Now, also, we see Colombian companies that are taking advantage of the favorable investment and taxation conditions in the UK I mean, Avianca, when they reincorporated Colombia’s largest flag carrier, is now actually a British company.

George Hodgson: Yeah, so the UK is a really attractive place through which to internationalize your operations, right? Whether you’re a big company like Avianca, but we’ve had other recent decisions to domicile in the UK A huge company called Elite Flower, perhaps the world’s biggest cut flower company, domiciling in the UK

But also for smaller companies, right? You know, thinking about things like tech startups, looking to expand internationally. The UK is a great place to do that from a number of different points of view. So access to financing, access to other markets, access to talent. And all of these things mean that more and more Colombian companies are looking at the UK as a way of reaching the British market, a European market, but also Africa, Asia, the Middle East.

Finance Colombia: I was going to say, London has such strong historic ties with places. You know, they say the EMEA region, you know, Europe, Africa, the Middle East. I mean, a lot of the companies that come down here and do industry trade events that we attend are based in the UK. Vostock Capital, for example, that does a lot of the mining and energy events, that’s a British company. We always participate with them. GFC Media, that does the financial events, that’s a London-based company as well.

What is kind of the “secret sauce” that helps London or helps the UK more broadly to maintain that leadership position globally? No matter the [political] environment which seems to change every 20 years. We have a new…you know, there was the Cold War. I’m old enough to remember the Cold War. And we’re going into a time now where a lot of the multilateral institutions are sort of under attack. But the UK has been able to really kind of be steady through that and maintain its relationships. What’s kind of the key as a diplomat? And then what is the key to the UK’s success in that respect?

George Hodgson: So I think openness. You know, we want talented Colombians. We want ambitious Colombian companies and companies from all over the world to come to the UK And that means that we’ve got this huge talent pool of ambitious, creative, go-getting people from around the world. And we want to keep that going. I think the connections point is really important because from the UK you’re really well-connected physically, but also culturally with all sorts of different parts of the world. And then finance is really important to any business, right? And London is one of the most, alongside New York, the most important financial center in the world. And so that means you’ve got access to financial opportunities, to capital. That is absolutely important in growing a business.

Finance Colombia: For investors, for executives that want to investigate further the commercial and investment opportunities in the UK, is there a site or an agency or a ministry or what are the first steps that an interested company or individual should take?

George Hodgson: Absolutely. So the British Embassy is here to help, is the basic message. We’ve got a fantastic team. We’ve got people here in Medellin, but we’ve got people in Bogotá as well. We’ve got specialists in how to use the UK to internationalize your business. And so get in touch with us at the embassy through our social media, our website. We’ve got contact information on there. And then we can guide you. We can signpost you as you need.

Finance Colombia: Great. Well, George, great talking to you.

George Hodgson: Thanks very much.

British exhibit in Medellín’s Parque del Rio (photo © Loren Moss)

Several outsourcing firms won accolades in the 2025 CX Interaction Awards, which drew participants from around the globe, including Shelli Ryan from Ad Hoc Communications, who visited from the US.

Ana Karian Quessep, president of BPrO, the outsourcing industry’s trade association in Colombia, Ricardo Durán, and John Santafe Correa from Outsourcing SAS BIC, Jill Erika Charry from Atento, Óscar Velásquez from Konecta, Pablo Vega Pinochet from Voz Digital, Iván Pacheco Durango from the city of Montería, Colombia, and María Juliana Herrera from Huawei discuss their takeaways from the event in this video recap.

Video and featured image credit: Loren Moss/YouTube.

This week little of that, so I will spare you another video with me basking in the sun of the UK.

Rosa Villavicencio, the new temporary foreign minister, is still trying to unravel the US situation in terms of both trade and political vitriol. Little progress this week.

Violence is still making headlines with the Gulf Clan (ex-Paramilitaries), ELN & FARC dissidents making unlikely bed partners as they fight for their share of the narcotics trade.

There are rumblings (only in a quiet news week) about Gustavo Petro looking to ban opinion polls ahead of next year’s elections. Frankly, does anyone on a global scale ever read them? Those locally, if you check the technical information, have long since been unreliable in methodology, inaccurate, and, added to this, the local press cherry-pick how they report them. Miguel Uribe, still struggling for his very life in the hospital, has risen from nowhere to top the most recent polls.

And that is about it. As ever, we have presidents, past and present, being accused of all manner of things, as well as the usual political shenanigans in congress, but I won’t waste your time.

Have a great Friday.

Regards.

Roops.

Never miss Rupert’s latest commentary.
Follow him now on LinkedIn to see What Jumps Out.

President Gustavo Petro. Photo credit: Presidencia de la República de Colombia.

She was released from her duties at DAPRE on January 20, when the government announced Jorge Rojas, previously deputy foreign minister, would be the new head of this office. The office of the Presidency announced her appointment as the new Foreign Minister the next day. Her responsibilities will officially begin on February 1st, but she is already working with the outgoing Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo to facilitate a smooth transition.

Murillo resigned in time to meet the legal requirements to run for political office in the next presidential election.

Murillo who has been dealing with exigencies like the passport printing contract scandal that removed former Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva, the tense relations with Israel after the Gaza Strip conflict began, and the decisions of the UK and Germany to reimpose visa obligations for Colombians due to abuses of the asylum process, resigned and will leave office next Friday—ostensibly to return to academia. It should be noted however, that Murillo, a former presidential candidate who ran against Petro, resigned in time to meet the legal requirements to run for political office in the next presidential election.

Sarabia has been an important figure in Petro’s government for the last two years serving as a key communication link between ministers and the president. Her position as Petro’s right hand of the President put her into the public eye in May 2023 when a bag with a large amount of money disappeared from her residence. She accused her domestic employee, Merelbys Meza, of taking the money and allegedly forced her to take a polygraph test, This is an open investigation that precipitated her removal from government for seven months, until she returned as the head of the DAPRE.

Her new position will come with some challenges. One of the first tasks she will have is to address the situation created the past Sunday between Petro and the United States President Donald Trump, after Petro denied the entry of two flights bringing back deportees from the US. The initial response from Washington was a package of sanctions against Colombian officials and increasing the tariffs to 50% for Colombian exports, Later the same day, the sanctions were reversed after Petro agreed to Trump’s demands, however, Sarabia will have to carefully manage the diplomatic fallout from the crisis.

Sarabia will also focus her attention on the relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean, as President Petro proposes a unified position from the region against the political decisions made by Washington.

Headline photo: DAPRE Director Laura Sarabia is appointed as new Colombian Chancellor (Source: DAPRE official website)

The United Kingdom issued an order to implement the visa requisite for all Colombian travelers starting from November 26. This decision was taken by the UK government due to the “significant and sustained increase in Colombian nationals who have traveled to the UK for purposes that are not permitted under the Immigration Rules for Visitors, such as to live, work or claim asylum in the UK.”

As of mid-January, no visa measures have actually been imposed on British subjects.

The embassy revealed the latest statistics showing the trend related to the asylum requests “rising from 2, 4 and 7 in the first 3 quarters in 2022, to 105 in quarter 4 of 2022. There were 211, 176, 173 and 294 asylum claims in the 4 quarters of 2023, and there have been 227 and 241 asylum claims in the first 2 quarters of 2024. This compares to 19 asylum claims in 2019, 11 in 2020 and 6 in 2021. There have been more asylum claims per quarter in 2023 and 2024 than in the entire 10 years preceding the visa lift.”

Roy Barreras, Colombian ambassador for the UK recognized, in interview with El Tiempo, the problem created for those who abuse the asylum requests and create this unpleasant situation. “A minority of compatriots, as we have warned for months, abused the ease of visa-free travel and have harmed the majority with the irregular practice of applying for false asylum with false documents that have skyrocketed by thousands the applications for these irregular asylums in the United Kingdom.”

Si el Reino Unido ha restablecido la necesidad de visas para el pueblo colombiano, tengo que decir que por el principio de la reciprocidad, el gobierno colombiano pedirá visas a los y las ciudadanas británicas que quieran venir a Colombia https://t.co/btr4exz8ND

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) November 26, 2024

The move would likely hurt Colombia more than the UK

The announcement by Petro didn’t fit well with opposition senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, senator and presidential candidate for the Centro Democrático Party, criticizing the attitude of the government. According to him, the decision to request a visa from UK citizens will affect tourism activity and the investments in the country: “This will close the door to investors and hit hard the tourism industry.”

Another senator from the opposition party, Maria Fernanda Cabal, also criticized the decision to implement a visa for UK visitors. As Uribe Turbay, she blames Petro for his lack of capacity to govern. “He doesn’t build anything; he fights and isolates Colombia. How many fewer investors and tourists   due to this absurd measure?”

As of mid-January, no visa measures have actually been imposed on British subjects, according to both Colombia’s Foreign Relations Ministry and the British Embassy. Travelers are advised to contact appropriate government agencies for updated advice.

Headline photo: Colombian foreign minister Gilberto Murillo (left) discusses with the Colombian President Gustavo Petro (right). (Source: Chancellery web page)

Finance Colombia: So, you gave a really interesting talk today. We’re at the CGS 2024 Colombia Gold Summit, put on every year by Paul Harris and his team. Now, FTI, you guys are known as one of the most important consultants across, I think, the globe, but I know certainly across the Americas. Now, you talked today about the politics of energy transition, and that’s an interesting thing because we go back and forth. There’s like a tug of war between the right and the left everywhere, even down here in Latin America, and specifically in Colombia.

At this mining event, there is a lot of consternation, and I’ve seen the same thing at petroleum events that I’ve attended, and there’s a lot of uncertainty regarding governmental policy and that kind of thing. So, tell me about, when you talk about the politics of energy transition, especially down here in Latin America, what tend to be some of the major obstacles that your corporate clients might come across?

Lucas Marsden: Sure. Well, I mean, it’s a topical time to be talking about this because we’re not just having Colombia Gold Symposium here; we have got COP16 happening in Cali, and we have roadblocks, we’ve had roadblocks across the country from the mining sector, and farmers that are protesting changes that are being made by the government, environmentally related. Some risks exist on all levels, right? From your macro political to your operational. And what I feel like our clients are currently worried about are being able to comply reputationally and legally with all the new encouraging sort of biodiversity carbon targets that are coming out, that are coming out this week, that came out yesterday on biodiversity credits.

How they can do well by that? Because these things can be made into, you know, black and white, simple concepts, but the actual reality of investing in Colombia and investing in a couple of projects in Colombia or biodiversity is incredibly complicated and involves the social element of getting communities inside, it involves local government, anti-bribery and making sure that you’re getting that political stability and getting things to stay.

Finance Colombia: You know, one of the things that you talked about that I think is very important is a lot of companies will do things…I look at heavy manufacturing, for example, and they’ll go, “Look, we’re 100% carbon neutral” or “We’re green,” and they’ll go and do things like purchase carbon credits, which, conceptually, may be a good idea, but there are some dangers there. We find that a lot of those programs are…not only are they not regulated, but not necessarily monitored. So maybe you could touch on that because you gave some interesting case examples of that today.

“So a lot of what we do in FTI is help companies. It’s not just about the investment.” – Lucas Marsden

Lucas Marsden: Yeah, definitely. I mean, first off, just on that point of claims of net zero and nature-positive, which is the kind of biodiversity equivalent, our team in the UK and Europe were advising companies to be very careful about how they’re using these terms, because a general consumer will think, “Oh, net zero, it doesn’t have an impact on the environment.”

No. You know, you’re impacting the environment, but you’re also doing things to benefit it. So, that term “nature-positive”, there have been talks at COP16 to try to change that, to try to change it to “net positive” and more nuanced terms, because no company can be nature-positive, right? So, I think first, there’s that terminology issue and the reputational thing. But you’d like me to talk a bit more about the actual projects that we’re seeing and tracing and investments that-

Finance Colombia: Absolutely. I mean, obviously, don’t give away any client secrets, but we’d really love to hear about some of the ways that companies engage with FTI to kind of navigate this landscape.

Lucas Marsden: Yeah, I mean, the great news is that Latin America is the main receiver of climate-related funds, and there’s a huge amount of money, and this week with COP16 even more money being pumped into some incredible projects in, say, for example in Colombia, in Antioquia, in Vichada, around the Amazon. Some really incredible things are being done. I actually had a talk with one of the ministers of Indigenous Relations in Chile, who was telling me, “Look, all this money is pumping in, but what’s actually happening on the ground? Like, we’re not seeing this on the ground. We’re already protecting the environment.”

Saying, you know, “We’ve invested 20 million, might be great for a sort of top-level headline.” But, when you’re thinking about it actually being implemented, these communities are already doing this; they’re already protecting the oceans, they’re already protecting the landscape. So a lot of what we do in FTI is help companies. It’s not just about the investment, it’s about how do you get in a room with these communities, how do you find out what they’re doing, how do you increase those efforts so we’re not starting from zero and we’re not going in there and making a mess of things, which, unfortunately, has happened.

Finance Colombia: You know, you kind of almost answered my next question for you, and you’ve been generous with your time, and that was: You see a lot of these initiatives that are launched at a global level, or these guys go over there, Davos, Switzerland, and come up with this initiative, and they come on the ground and it’s like, “We’re going to do this or that,” but they don’t have input at the conceptual level or the decision-making level, with the local communities on the ground. You know, I’ve talked to friends in the Wayuu community, for example, here in Colombia. And on one hand, with some companies, they have great relationships because the companies have been very…I guess not presumptuous, or, you know, like, “Look, let’s come and listen to you first before we go and do anything,” or say, “What do you need?”

In other cases, they’ve been in more contentious relationships where some company comes in with some initiative that doesn’t take into account the actual needs on the ground, or not just the needs, but the beliefs and the wishes of those local communities. So, what can companies do and what have you seen that has been successful when companies try to engage, and so not just be environmentally responsible, but also socially responsible, and treat those local communities as equal stakeholders and partners, versus looking at them as, like, little children or something like that?

Lucas Marsden: Yeah, definitely. And I think that is the key to what this COP has been about. It’s called the COP of the people. It’s this idea that you can’t remove the environment from the social aspect and that there are communities that are living there that are making their income, their livings, from living in this kind of highly biodiverse place. So, that’s why there’s been so much encouraging indigenous participation at COP16. The first thing you need to do is actually understand who you’re talking to.

The other side of the business that we have is FCPA investigations, Department of Justice investigations, corruption; when things go wrong, we have an investigative team that goes and finds out what’s happened. A lot of the times what has happened is that you’re speaking to the leader of the community, you think that they represent the wider community, and they say, “Right, there’ll be no problem. We’ll sign all the papers; just help me with the roof of my house over here, and it’ll be okay.” Right? So, make sure that you’re not falling into those traps, that you’re not just saying- It’s not as simple as saying, “Okay, this is the leader of the community.” Unfortunately. You’ve got to have a wider thing and find those good actors, find the ones that are really benefits in the community and make sure you identify that. So, a big part of what we do is stakeholder mapping identification to make sure that that panorama is clear.

Finance Colombia: We have two audiences at Finance Colombia. Basically, either multinational executives that have current or potential operations in Colombia, and then, of course, institutional investors. Now, for those executives, when is the ideal time to engage with FTI Consulting? When should they reach out? When should they look at the services that you offer, like you just mentioned? What kind of due diligence, and that kind of thing. What’s the ideal circumstance and, maybe, the ideal client profile?

Lucas Marsden: Well, we embed ourselves and exist on top of the current situation, right? I mean, you get some consultancies that will come in and just start things from scratch. These companies, they know what they’re doing, they have very good risk profiles, they’ve got good boots on the ground. And that’s the real key part: having boots on the ground. So, I’ve been talking to some investors from some banks that said they wouldn’t invest in climate initiatives unless they have a presence in that country, an office. Not necessarily a risk office, but an office, so at least they understand the culture of it, right? And when it’s getting to that point…I mean, what I said about FTI is as early as possible. Anytime that you need that help with the identification, with understanding the culture. If you’ve got a team on the ground, if you’ve got a risk team, brilliant. If you don’t, we can help from scratch. If you do, then we can sit on top of what already exists, do some kind of external and second opinion, right? And yeah, that’s what we said.

Finance Colombia: It’s like when a large company is going to have in-house counsel, but they also have the law firms that they partner with. They may have risk experts, but it’s leveraging your expertise, and especially global expertise, when you’re going into new markets, maybe where they haven’t operated. Well, Lucas, thanks. You’ve been great with your time and, even more importantly, great with your knowledge here at CGS, and I hope to see you again.

Lucas Marsden: Great. Thank you very much.

Today there are approximately 12,000 hotels and 120,000 Airbnb hosts in Colombia according to Cotelco and Asohost respectively. In December 2023 alone, Airbnb alone recorded more than $87M USD in payouts in a single month to property owners across the country. In 2024 it is likely that Airbnb will pay out nearly $1billion to their Colombian hosts (AirDNA). President Gustavo Petro called tourism “one of the largest drivers of economic well being”, ex-President Ivan Duque called tourism “Colombia’s new petroleum”. Indeed the country has come a long way since 2008.

My own humble beginnings started with a single Airbnb listing in 2010 when Airbnb first opened the market in Medellin. I was literally a pioneer. One listing became 2, then 3, and today more than 500, making my company Casacol the largest Airbnb operator in Medellin. Adding this to our 350 room hotel operations makes us the largest tourism operator in Medellin. More than 250 foreign investors have followed me and the international promotional activities of Procolombia, ACI Medellin and the Ministry of Commerce to help me build and acquire more than $100M USD in Medellin real estate. We sell almost 20,000 rooms per month only in the city of Medellin and support almost 300 direct full time jobs, and hundreds more indirectly. The growth of my company has been nothing but meteoric in line with the growth of tourism in Medellin and Colombia.

Minister German Umaña and Procolombia President Carmen Caballero recently presented a showcase for foreign investment in Colombian tourism infrastructure at the prestigious Raffles Hotel in London which charges guests $1,000 a night. The topic was sustainable tourism and this is the question that I think all foreign investors and local participants have in mind; is tourism quantity and quality in Colombia sustainable? Recently I have had my doubts.

We are ready to work collaboratively with policy makers for a brighter, more sustainable future for all 50 million Colombians with responsible and sustainable tourism as our core values.

In the last 5 years and especially exiting the COVID period, I have been a front row witness to a precipitous decline in tourism quality in Medellin. Our colleagues in Cartagena have reported similar concerns. Social media overflows with content that promotes what can be called international dating at best and just plain sex tourism more appropriately. Not to mention foreigners who wish to obtain cheap cocaine or experiment with locally manufactured synthetic substances can freely indulge with impunity. Colombia has recently been more and more a meeting place for the supply and demand for low quality tourism and their counterparties. 

On March 28, 2024, we too became victims when an Aribnb tourist was reported to police with 2 underage victims of presumed sexual abuse. Our property was smeared with the association to the accused despite our strict policies and best efforts being thwarted by the individual. To add insult to injury, politicians suggested that property could now be subject to asset forfeiture, a risk that every investor in Colombian hospitality small and large now has to evaluate.

Colombia is indeed at an inflection point with respect to its reputation in the world. Medellin has recently invoked a brand for the city “aqui todo florece,” and Colombia “the country of beauty.” But responsible tourism in Colombia can start with policy makers inside Colombia collaborating with governments around the world. There are more than 850,000 registered sex offenders in the United States visible in public databases. The Angel Watch Center from the Department of Homeland Security is designed to alert foreign law enforcement about Americans convicted with sex crimes that might be traveling to their countries. Colombia doesn’t yet participate in the program. Countries like Canada work with the US on reciprocal programs like NCIC/CPIC to ensure that any criminal record (of any kind) registered on a citizen of one country means automatic denied entry into the other country. Australia and the UK have similar programs. Colombia would be wise to explore cooperation with those governments to ensure those of us in the private sector never have to deal with criminal tourists in the first place.

But this is not to mention the true victims in this story. How can we overlook the deep social problems that allow for human trafficking in the first place? Where are the parents, where are the grandparents and who are they? What kind of conditions did these children grow up in? What kind of education did they have, if any at all? Were they caught in the vicious cycle of Colombian poverty that the OECD reports takes 11 generations for a Colombian child born today to escape? This is where Colombian policy makers have some deep soul searching to do.

But tourism can be part of the solution. Tourism is a labor intensive industry that benefits every single socioeconomic strata. The workers needed to pour the cement, lay the bricks, the engineers and architects who design the hotels and restaurants where they eat and drink. Every taxi and Uber driver which shuttles the tourists to and from museums, parks, beaches, attractions. The cooks, waiters, baristas. To the maids, receptionists, security guards who keep them safe while they sleep. And the entrepreneurs large and small, local and foreign who risk their capital to develop the infrastructure to bring them to Colombia in the first place. If tourism in Colombia (2% of GDP) rises to meet only the level of Spain (12%) there would be millions of Colombians lifted from poverty into stable, decent jobs in the formal economy.

Brad Hinkelman

I think I speak on behalf of every foreign investor, every hotel owner in Colombia, every Airbnb host when I say we are ready. We are ready to work collaboratively with policy makers for a brighter, more sustainable future for all 50 million Colombians with responsible and sustainable tourism as our core values. But please don’t threaten our capital, our private property. Please don’t break the social contract between the private and public sector based on the criminal action and intent of a few. Colombia can define its place and image in the World, and transform its society with a robust tourism industry. But only through a national tourism policy that protects its citizens, investors, and tourists alike.

Brad Hinkelman is the founder and CEO of Casacol.

Breaking news: As of 5pm today, Armando Benedetti was spotted on a commercial flight leaving Panamá for Istanbul Turkey.

Colombian newsmagazine Semana last month first broke the news of Sarabia having accused her nanny, Marelbys Meza earlier in the year of stealing the equivalent of $7,000 cash (others report the number as $4,000-accounts conflict) from Sarabia’s apartment. Morphing from the victim to the perpetrator, Sarabia is accused of then having Meza subjected to a polygraph test, and arranging wiretaps, something that as presidential chief of staff, she would have no authority to do under Colombian law.

Colombia’s Attorney General Francisco Barbosa, appointed by the previous president, and independent of President Gustavo Petro, has already opened a criminal investigation. Petro and Barbosa have a contentious, hostile relationship.

Now, the same nanny, Meza, used to work for Armando Benedetti, as did Sarabia as his secretary, but Sarabia and Benedetti drifted apart once Sarabia dedicated herself to being Petro’s right hand as his chief of staff. Benedetti says that Sarabia sought his help in covering up the emerging “chicharron” as the press began to get wind of the story, but Sarabia accused Benedetti of leaking the story in a tantrum over his negated demand for government positions.

It seems Meza wasn’t the only one being wiretapped.  Last weekend, Semana published damning, vulgar recordings of audio messages between Benedetti and Sarabia. These are where the scandal metastasizes from a staffer abusing power to something that directly implicates President Petro himself.

Benedetti is clearly heard threatening to expose evidence incriminating Petro’s campaign for criminal funding and ties—though Benedetti himself was the campaign manager. Benedetti references a $3.4 million USD equivalent contribution, which is not accounted for in campaign finance filings. If true, that would be a criminal offense with a mandatory prison sentence in Colombia.

“I wasn’t threatening you, but I am threatening you now you son of a bitch, you and the president, do you understand? If you want me to threaten you, I will come out and reveal everything that I know, which is enough to end your world and mine, we’ll all go down. We’ll all be done. We’ll go to jail,” Bendetti is heard saying in one of the messages to Sarabia.

Once he was busted by Semana, he at first claimed that the audios were manipulated, though hours later he sort of confessed, saying that he had acted out of “weakness and sadness,” was angry, and drunk.

He sido parte fundamental del actual proyecto político del presidente Petro. Sin embargo, no satisfecho con lo que me correspondió políticamente, en un acto de debilidad y tristeza me dejé llevar por la rabia y el trago.

— Armando Benedetti (@AABenedetti) June 5, 2023

Petro was now sucked into the scandal, derailing his struggle to push through controversial legislative reforms that would remake the health, pension and labor infrastructure of the country. Petro is already struggling with a 34% approval rating and a congressional coalition that was fracturing before this. Monday, Congress tabled debates on Petro’s reforms, essentially freezing legislative progress and dissipating whatever momentum he may have had.

The scandal is already sprouting branches and shoots, too many to contain in one article. For example, Colombia’s CTI, analogous to the FBI in the US or MI5 in the UK just this morning conducted a search of offices of Colombia’s tax authority: the DIAN. However, according to news daily El Tiempo, though the building was a DIAN facility, the offices raided actually were occupied by a security organ that reported directly to the presidency, and that they would have had possession of a mirror copy of the nanny’s telephone—illegal if obtained without a proper search warrant and law enforcement involvement. The Office of the Presidency simply cannot order wiretaps, polygraphs, or detain people.

In 2008 under the administration of Alvaro Uribe, his chief of now-disbanded secret police and domestic intelligence unit the “Department of Administrative Security” (DAS), Maria del Pilar Hurtado was jailed for 14 years—ironically for wiretapping and spying on, among others, now President Gustavo Petro! Now his own administration is in jeopardy for similar accusations.

The chameleon

A career politician, Benedetti is not a consistent ideologue, but has a history of aligning himself with whoever is on the way up in Colombian politics. He opposed center-right Mayor of Bogotá Enrique Peñalosa, but then became a close supporter of former President Alvaro Uribe after the star of Horacio Serpa fell and it became apparent that Serpa would never obtain the presidency.

Benedetti became President of the Senate during the presidency of Juan Manuel Santos, and the two forged a close working relationship, even as the bond between Santos and his political patron Uribe collapsed. During the deeply unpopular presidency of Ivan Duque, Benedetti distanced himself from Duque’s allies, and his criticism of the president facilitated his growing close to far left Senator, ex guerilla, and now President Gustavo Petro. When they say “politics makes strange bedfellows,” arrangements like these are exactly what they mean!

A quickly evolving story

Today, June 7^th, Petro called on his supporters to take to the streets and protest in support of him and his initiatives. As of 5pm most marches have been reported as peaceful, though the Medellín branch of the National University has been evacuated as a small explosive device was detonated. Several major thoroughfares have been blocked in different parts of Colombia. In Barranquilla, the Defensoría del Pueblo, which is a government body charged with defending human rights, has confirmed that it is protecting journalists who were intimidated by marchers in the city.

The scandal has already caught Washington’s attention as Congresswoman Maria Salazar grilled the US State Department’s Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols on the Biden administrations response, asking Nichols to facilitate Benedetti’s admission to the US to testify on the hinted campaign irregularities that Benedetti mentioned in the recordings. Of course, no one from the US has asked or summoned Benedetti, and he has not said anything at all about going to the US for anything. In fact, he was spotted on a commercial flight this very afternoon leaving Panamá headed to Istanbul Turkey. Salazar, a representative from Miami, has been a vocal critic of Gustavo Petro.

? La crisis política en Colombia llega al Congreso de Estados Unidos: esto se discutió ▶️ https://t.co/F8JDcDz3lQ pic.twitter.com/q76379IUhA

— EL TIEMPO (@ELTIEMPO) June 7, 2023

Benedetti has an appointment with Colombia’s National Electoral Commission next Tuesday to explain his accusation about the $3.4 million USD / $15 billion COP that he bragged illegally entered the Petro Campaign that he managed. This has echoes of the $3.75 million in illegal money that went into the campaign of former Colombian President Ernesto Samper (1994-1998), sponsored by the Cali Cartel cocaine traffickers. Samper was so tainted that the US revoked his visa and temporarily cut off economic aid to Colombia while he was president. Despite his reputation, less than a decade later, President Alvaro Uribe offered Samper the ambassadorship to France, which amidst the ensuing uproar, Samper did not accept.

One unanswered question: Who recorded the audio? Who released the audio? Why was Sanabria’s voice left out?

¿Qué Sigue? (What comes next?)

If it turns out that Sarabia ordered or “encouraged” the police or presidential security operatives to wiretap, polygraph, detain, or seize the telephone data of Marelbys Meza, she would be in serious violation of Colombian criminal law, even if it turns out that Meza was in fact guilty of theft.

If the Petro campaign, managed by Benedetti, did in fact receive massive illicit revenues, it will have grave consequences for Benedetti, as well as Petro.

It remains to be seen whether Benedetti returns to Colombia from Turkey in time for his appointment with investigators next Tuesday.

Even though the two countries are physically distant, Australia and Colombia enjoy a friendly, growing relationship. Australia already hosts a significant Colombian community, and Colombia has become the number one source for English-language students studying abroad in Australia, even surpassing geographically closer Asia-Pacific countries. Australian businesses are making their mark in Colombia, and just a few years ago, Australia expanded from just having a trade office to opening a full diplomatic mission in the Andean country. To further understand this, Finance Colombia’s Loren Moss sat down for a conversation with The Honorable Bernard Unkles, who recently moved to Colombia from México to lead Australia’s diplomacy in the country.

Finance Colombia: We are here with Ambassador Bernard Unkles, the newly appointed ambassador to Colombia from Australia. How long have you been here in Colombia now?

Ambassador Unkles: I’ve been here two months. I arrived just at the end of end of November. I need to clarify that I’m the acting ambassador. I’m here for a year. I’ve come directly from Mexico City, where I was previously deputy ambassador, and I’m here for a year until such time as the permanent ambassador is able to commit.

Finance Colombia: The Australian embassy to Colombia, if I’m not mistaken, is relatively new. It’s just a few years old. Am I correct?

Ambassador Unkles: That is correct. We started in about, I think it was July 2017, was when we opened, we’ve had diplomatic relations with Colombia for nearly 50 years. But the fact that we opened an actual embassy in July 2017 demonstrates just how our bilateral relationship is growing at a whole heap of different levels. People to people, investment, and in particular in education. That’s testament to the fact that where we see Colombia as a really important partner in what we are doing, we have had a responsibility here for a little while, AusTrade, which is kind of like the equivalent of ProColombia, has been here for a number of years longer. I think from memory, they started in about 2013 or 2011, something like that. But yeah, the fact that we upgraded it and turned it into an actual diplomatic mission, it is relatively recent. And of course, with the Pandemic, two years where we were still here, still operating, still completely functional, but not as difficult, not as easy to be able to engage, wouldn’t have been meeting. Of course, Australian borders were closed most of that time for two years, which means deeply for students, Colombian students, it was a challenging time, but we’ve bounced back and we’re kind of bigger and better than ever.

Finance Colombia: That’s great to see. It’s interesting because there are quite a few Australian companies operating in Colombia. A lot of times people may not even be aware that they’re Australian companies, I think because in many cases they’re global companies. If you look at the success and the importance that Australia has had in the mining sector, for example, a lot of companies, we know them as global operations, and people in the sector know that they’re Australian. But maybe just like the retail or the public hears about a company like “yeah, I know that’s a mining company. I didn’t realize they were headquartered in Australia.” I’ve been at events when, for example, financial firms, companies like private equity and specialty and mining sector firms from Australia have been here. What are some of the example Australian companies that have established themselves here in Colombia.

Ambassador Unkles: Look, we’ve got a lot of Australian companies here. There’s around about 90 Australian companies that are present in Colombia in a range of sectors. Of course, we have a very strong and proud history of being involved in the mining sector. So, we’ve got a number of Australian companies involved in mining, but we’re also involved in a range of other sectors such as infrastructure. The official figures from Colombia don’t tell the true story of just how large our investment is; just with infrastructure alone. There are two companies, Aleatica and Macquarie, both of whom are 100% Australian. They’re involved in building large infrastructure projects, roads that will connect parts of Colombia. We’re talking the investment that is being made here about over two US billion dollars. The issue is that that money, even though it is Australian money, it comes from the US or from Spain or from the UK as the last point of entry into Colombia. And so, Colombia central bank and treasury recognizes that as coming from those countries and not actually being Australian fund, Australian investment. But I can guarantee you that it is a 100% Australian fund. Macquarie and Aleatica are kind of the second and the fourth, I think, largest infrastructure funds in the world.

Ambassador Unkles (left) speaks with a guest at Colombia’s MinExpo mining industry event, where Australia’s trade promotion agency was a sponsor.

And US $2 billion is an extraordinary amount of money, Australian investment that is coming here. As I mentioned, you know, also involved in mining, you know, companies like BHP, South32, Orica. Mining is not just extraction and exploration, it’s also Mets. So, Orica is involved in Mets. Ground Probe is another fascinating Australian company that origins grew in mining. It undertakes really impressive using Australian technology, really impressive ability to detect movement in the earth in order to be able to prevent kind of landslides and things like that. And so of course incredibly important in the mining sector, but also has applications outside of that in the civil sector and they’re increasingly using it in roads and infrastructure in order to be able to prevent landslides from occurring. And so not only does technology like that kind of save money by being preventative, but also it saves lives. So I’m proud to say that there are Australian companies involved in that as well.

There are also companies that are increasingly involved in other sectors such as fintech, which a company like Nextpay is very big here and growing considerably. Nextpay uses Australian technology in the fintech sector to be able to transfer money from basically anywhere around the world, but in particular from Colombia to Australia, and in particular Colombian students using this technology and this service, to be able to quickly, cheaply, economically and securely transfer money to be able to pay for their education in Australia.

So Australian companies are involved in a whole heap of different parts of the Colombian economy of which we’re incredibly proud to be here. And another reason why we’ve opened an embassy back in 2017.

Finance Colombia: That’s great and you touched on something that a lot of people don’t realize, and I didn’t understand until a few years ago, and that is to say that there’s a growing, thriving, successful population of Colombians in Australia, and that the relationship between the two countries is especially strong when it comes to education. Australia has some innovative, both policies and programs when it comes to education, and Colombians are taking advantage of that. Maybe you can speak a little bit about the opportunity and maybe kind of how Australia has become such a destination for Colombian students. And then also, maybe more broadly, I know that they’re thriving Colombian community in Australia. That surprises a lot of people.

Ambassador Unkles: And to be honest, it surprised me as well. I wasn’t, prior to coming here, aware of quite just how large the Colombian population in Australia was. I was aware that a lot of Colombians were electing to go to Australia to study, and I can increasingly see why. Now that I’m here, I can see the kind of—there’s a lot of similarities between Australia and Colombia and Australians and Colombians, as we were discussing before, and as I mentioned in my Australia Day speech recently, Australians are probably about as Latino as you can get in the anglosphere!

And there’s this kind of warmth and perspective that we have—but also our weather—is there’s a lot of comparison between our climate and our geography and our weather. And I think that kind of makes us very accessible and familiar as well as a destination. I mean, the numbers really do speak for themselves. Colombia is now #1 in terms of our source country for international students that are choosing Australia to learn English and overall, across all of the sectors. So English vocational education and training, university, undergraduate, university, postgraduate and high school. Columbia is now #3 in the world in terms of our outsourced country. But to be #1 in in English let people wanting to go to Australia to learn English rather than to the US or Canada or the UK other English…

“Australians are probably about as Latino as you can get in the anglosphere!”-Ambassador unkles

You know, that they’ve overtaken, Colombians have overtaken countries like China, countries like Indonesia, countries like Vietnam. And that really is testament to, you know, both the quality of the education that they’re learning, but also the experience that they get when they come to Australia. They feel welcomed. They feel safe and secure. They feel like there are opportunities available for them, something that they’ll be able to take with them when they come back to Colombia, or you know a lot of them are increasingly staying on and moving into other sectors.

We hope the IT and you know, vocational, educational, training or even heading into to the university sector as well. So…and that then translates and transfers through into you know recent census figures. Colombians now are our largest Latin American community in Australia. Well and having recently in the last census overtaken Chile and that is a you know it’s really you know a testament to the fact that young Colombians have discovered that Australia has a phenomenal education system and a great lifestyle and great opportunities. And word of mouth is spreading, as I say, you know they are the best ambassadors for Australian education. This might be my…technically my professional job, but I can’t promote Australia better than they can, their own very personal experiences and they’re doing a phenomenal job kind of getting the word out about Australia is a destination.

Finance Colombia: That’s really impressive. So there’s a thriving kind of community. What do you know about the Australian expat community here in Colombia?

Ambassador Unkles: That’s a really good question. So, it’s nowhere near as large as Colombian expat community in Australia, but a lot of the Australians that I’ve met here have come here because they’ve fallen in love with a Colombian in Australia, they’ve come to meet the family in Colombia and then in turn have fallen in love with Colombia and moved here, relocated here on a permanent basis.

Just in Medellin alone, I’ve earlier this week on Monday I met with Simon Kutchner, who works for the World Mosquito program. The World Mosquito program originated from Australian research. At Monash University. They were successful in one of Bill Gates’s, you know, challenges. Yeah, they have, you know, received funding and they’ve more than 10 years ago, a long time ago.

That they discovered this crazy little thing where through the Wolbachia [bacteria}, if you breed mosquitoes that kind of have the Wolbachia within them, when they breed, they don’t have the ability to be able to transmit dengue. They don’t have the ability to transmit Zika, they don’t have the ability to transmit—I can never pronounce it…

Finance Colombia: Chikungunya?

Ambassador Unkles: That’s the one. Alright, so basically, you know, it’s better than taking the vaccine. It’s better than taking you know, anything and it’s so much cheaper and it does it in a way that has no impact on the local environment, and mosquito population which is required and essential for maintaining ecosystems. But we’re able to kind of change that ecosystem so that they do not have the ability to translate dengue to humans. And so, the World Mosquito Program has set up a quite a large office here in Medellin and so you’ve got an Aussie that’s heading that up.

Another Aussie that I’ve met here, Jess Schroder’s classic story, she fell in love with a Colombian, came, met, the family fell in love with Colombia and has moved, relocated here and she’s created her own business called The Ideas Factory, and she’s essentially working kind of like marketing and is able to, you know works with a lot of businesses and a lot of communities and on those kind of things. She’s a member of the Australia Colombia Business Council, the business chamber as well. But others that I’ve met in Bogota, very similar story, fell in love with the Colombian and then fell in love with Colombia relocated here, a number of them are working.

You know the NGO sector, some are working in mining, some are working in education. You know the most popular Hostel in Bogota, I think it’s called the Cranky Croc, was established by an Aussie, you know, a number of years ago. I think he’s been here for nearly 20 years. Then there’s another guy, Travis who’s relocated to Medellin. He’s based here now, but he started in Bogota. He created a local business which is all surrounded, surrounded around, centered around language exchange. OK, it’s called Gringo Tuesdays. It doesn’t sound very Australian, right? Yeah, but it’s got your name, catchy name, and it works. You know, I went recently in Bogota. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it [in Medellín] last night.
There is a chapter in Medellin. It’s also in Cali. It’s also in Cartagena, I think from memory, and that’s it’s all centered around language exchange, Walk up from 4 until 8:00 PM you can elect to sit at whatever table you want. They operate in six different languages, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and German. Whatever you want to practice or help someone practice, you sit at a table with that you know a flag representative of that language and it’s a great way to be able to kind of in a very casual, very informal setting. Be able to you know, to practice and a you know a second language and also to be able to make friends. And then after, from 8:00 PM onwards, it’s kind of extreme party. So, yeah. So there’s just a handful of some of the interesting Australians that have moved here because they love Colombia as much as Colombians love Australia.

Finance Colombia: We had a we did a small advertising campaign for an Australian company wealth management company called Visis and you know, we were glad to do it but I was curious and I asked the partner, “you know this is great but I’m just curious why” because he was coming to—there was some kind of investment event taking place here in Colombia and I said: “I’m just curious as to what the linkage is? you know we’re glad to have you, but why?” And so he said, “oh, my wife is Colombian.” Yep. And so like you mentioned, that’s kind of a classic, classic story. You know, you see a lot of them.

Ambassador Unkles: Yep, fall in love. Fall in love with a Colombian, fall in love with the country.

Finance Colombia: So where are the areas of growth? I mean we look at you know there we’ve talked about some of the traditional areas, infrastructure, mining that Australia is well known for.
If you think about the commercial mission, what are the areas for a potential for bilateral trade between—whether that’s Colombia exporting to Australia or Australia exporting to Colombia, where are the opportunities?

Ambassador Unkles: So I mean. We both have new governments: the Petro administration and the Anthony Albanese government as well. They both have a very strong focus on the environment and on ensuring sustainable development. And these are areas where Australia has great success and companies like Fortescue are looking to invest significantly in Latin America including in Colombia. Fortescue is heavily involved amongst other things, in green hydrogen, which is a really clean, safe and green way of being able to provide energy.

So I see that as being an area of mutual interest and mutual benefit, but also of course a lot of the technologies that are required in order to be able to create green sustainable new industries. They do require mining, they require mining of critical minerals and of course Australian companies are you know are here already doing that and some are even telling me that they’re looking to invest even to reestablish or to start up their presence again in in Colombia such as Rio Tinto.

You know we might speak a different language, but you know I really do believe that you know “somos parceros, somos bacanos.”

So another area where I think we’ve got a real opportunity for collaboration, to be able to learn from each other is in areas relating to indigenous issues. We both have our own indigenous populations.They’ve both had their difficulties and their challenges and we’ve got governments that recognize that and are working actively to try and address it with some of the inequities that exist. And I think that’s an area where there’s a real opportunity for us to be able to learn from each other in terms of what policies have worked, and how can we work collaboratively to be able to invest back in in that.

I mean I think we could potentially learn from Colombia in terms of language, you know Australian indigenous languages is something that we’re working very hard now to try and make sure that these are languages that are important for, culture and the maintenance of cultural heritage, ways in which we can establish that, formalize that as a part of our education system. And there are ways in which we can work together on that.

But also, one of the things that the Australian government is doing well I think, and I think my understanding from before I got here, there’s been an opportunity to work with is the promotion of indigenous businesses, the promotion of indigenous tourism and the promotion of indigenous foods. And that’s an area where there was an event last year held in Colombia where a business delegation from Australia came. It was a it was a global event, a world forum, and we were able to share and an exchange information and ideas on ways in which we can showcase to the world our respective indigenous cultures and the knowledge that they have and the skills that they have and the you know and the enterprises that they’re that they’re growing. So, I think that’s another really interesting and exciting area for potential collaboration as well.

Finance Colombia: Absolutely. You know, the cultural exchange isn’t necessarily the first thing that comes to mind, but maybe it should be. I mean, if you think about it, Australia has…the indigenous population has a certain degree of global fame. Everybody knows what a didgeridoo is, but even beyond that, just the whole ancient culture going back dozens of thousands of years.

Ambassador Unkles: Agree entirely, you know the Australian indigenous culture is the longest, the oldest living indigenous culture in the world, of over 60,000 years, you know, they know how to use the land, to be able to what…you know, fruits, what spices, what herbs…

Finance Colombia: What a challenging land, too!

Ambassador Unkles: It is a challenging landscape, but you know, produce what flavors, what ingredients and how they can be incorporated into innovative Australian cuisine. And I’m seeing very similar things occurring here in Colombia as well. I mean when you’ve got biodiversity, a rainforest and down in the Amazon jungle, you like what exists here and really long-standing indigenous knowledge of what fruits and what flavors you know work well and looking to be able to incorporate that into to cuisine. I think that’s a wonderful way with which we can exchange and learn from each other as well as in terms of tourism and tourism promotion as well.

Centered around how indigenous communities can own it and can reap the benefits in terms of investment back into their own community through the money that they’re able to make from people from all around the world coming to understand and see both in Australia and in Colombia and then being able to educate the world and reinvest that back into their local communities. I think that’s something we’re there’s lots of opportunities and we’re both on a journey to kind of make that happen.

Finance Colombia: Last question, you’ve been generous with your time. You know, you’re relatively new here in Colombia. I think you’ve been here just a few months. What’s your impression of Colombia, and what’s your experience been like so far?
Ambassador Unkles: I’d say it’s a similar kind of observation to Mexico. I mean Mexico, I was there for three years and it’s got 32 states. We visited 24 of them and I used to say that Mexico isn’t one country, it’s 32 different countries! And, you know? Colombia has 32 departments. I haven’t visited anywhere near as many departments yet as I have in Mexico, but my observations are as far as that, it looks like at face value, Colombia is also 32 different countries. It’s—the weather plays a part of that, and the surroundings the geography as well, but that then impacts language, that impacts lifestyle.

And so, yeah, from my time in Bogota to my current time in Medellin, I’ve been to Cartagena, I’ve traveled around the outskirts of Bogota as well. You know, it really does…You do feel like you don’t have to travel very far by plane or by car to have a totally different experience and a totally different environment. But the one thing that I would say is you know, consistent throughout is that wherever you go, Colombians are always incredibly welcoming. They are incredibly friendly, they’re incredibly generous with their time. They’re always curious. They’re fascinated to know “why.” What’s an Australian doing here?

But we share this kind of you know we’re both kind of you know pretty laid back, we both love a good joke especially at our own expense.And so, I really do feel very much at home. It does not feel in terms of culture shock, really there isn’t it really doesn’t feel like there is any. You know we might speak a different language, but you know I really do believe that you know somos parceros, somos bacanos.
Really, there’s far more similarities, I feel than there are differences. And they’re just…you know, Colombia and Colombians have welcomed me with open arms and I couldn’t be more thankful.

The majority of flower exports normally go to the United States, but they also tend to be exported to other countries like the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, and the Netherlands.

While the flowers that come from Colombian growers are well-regarded for their  quality, many problems plague the industry, especially the escalating costs of shipping the products from places like Antioquia and Cundinamarca to  North American and European countries, costs that have largely increased due to inflation.

The planning of the logistics to get the flowers from point A to point B includes a massive amount of coordination from multiple actors, who have to transport truckloads of refrigerated flowers to airports safely. The costs have been affected by the higher price of airplane fuel in the market, as well as the added costs of labor and other equipment being affected by inflation.

“In 2022, there was a challenging environment throughout the industry that is believed to continue throughout 2023. This was marked by the rise in the price of aviation fuel, added to the increase in the dollar and inflation. We continue to advance our plan to become more cost-efficient through various initiatives to contain some of the fuel impact,” Avianca Cargo CEO Gabriel Oliva said.

Beyond that are the increasing costs of keeping the operations going in the first place. Augusto Solano, the leader of floral trade association Asocolflores, said that inflation has aggravated the costs of running a flower business, one that has already been suffering from an aging workforce.

“The sector expects to export between 700 and 800 million stems during the season. This year’s consumption could be affected, although we do not know to what extent. Inflation can impact the pocket of consumers. Already in December, we saw a drop in exports. This situation is going to require an additional effort to promote the entire chain,” Solano said.

“Inputs such as fertilizer, the plastics to cover the greenhouses or the meshes for the hoods have increased. In the sector there are practices to hedge against volatility with exchange hedges. Even so, the dollar has been a relief [for these operational costs],” José Antonio Restrepo, manager of the Ayurá farm, said.

Despite these problems, industry analysts like BASF Colombia marketing manager Carlos Sepúlveda continue to be optimistic about the future trade viability, especially as the country’s flower exports stand out from competitors like Ecuador and Kenya.

“In addition to the important contribution in generating foreign exchange for Colombia and the generation of a sector with a high reputation in the world, the cultivation of flowers has a positive impact on economic and social development in the country. In this way, competitiveness is essential, especially to maintain the commercial qualities of the flower, whose market price is determined by its aesthetics at the point of sale and not at harvest,” Sepúlveda said.

Above photo of Medellín’s “Feria de las Flores” (Flower Festival) courtesy of Medellín Convention & Visitors Bureau.