What Jumps Out: Dad’s On the Way Home

We all remember when our parents were out of town, and we took advantage to invite friends over and always, somehow, red wine or a cigarette butt ended up on the carpet. Then there was the anxious wait to see what the parents would say and for how long you would be grounded. Well, in Colombia’s case, it was the Labor Reform Referendum that fell on the rug, and father Gustavo Petro is on the way home; that said, such is the need; he is visiting Pope Leo XIV in Rome on the way home for some spiritual guidance.

After the 49-47 vote there were immediate demands for a revote or for those who weren’t in the chamber, allegedly the hostile head of senate switched up the order of the day, to be allowed to vote. Petro called on his supporters to take to the streets once again. Whatever side you are on, it’s a total embarrassment, but there again Colombian politicians don’t have much shame.

The ANDI – Asociación Nacional de Empresarios de Colombia after years of simply bitching and moaning about any reform that might lower their members profits by 0.000001% have suggested looking for middle ground and even publically agreeing to some proposals. This feeds into an attempt to revive the Labor Reform itself in congress, ironically by some who were opposed to it. Quite clearly, both the corporate lobbyists in congress & the ANDI are getting nervous and are trying to find the cheapest way out of the current impasse.

Lots of headlines about the New Silk Road and even more speculation about the impact on both Chinese trade and relations with Washington. In reality, few know. China already has $100s of millions invested in Colombia, a lot of it in loans, but it remains to be seen what comes next. As for the US of A? Well, DT (Donald Trump) has spent so much time backing down and performing the dog with no bite trick, perhaps it isn’t as much of a worry as some think.

We will have the import data for March from the Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística – DANE Colombia. Whilst exports were more robust than recently, driven by agriculture, domestic demand remains strong and another lumpy size deficit is likely to be reported.

About it from the tropical island of Mucura in the Caribbean…..check it out.

Have a great week.

Roops.

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Photo credit: Gustavo Petro/X.