|
Colombia Economic and Social Change
As a result of domestic policies and the international
situation, the Colombian economy diversified and developed
at the
turn of the century. In the early 1900s, the industrial
sector
became an increasingly important part of the economy.
Between 1900
and 1910, textile industries developed in Bello and
Medellín,
pottery plants in Caldas, and breweries in Itagüi and
Bogotá. New
economic groups emerged with the development of
import substitution industrialization (see Glossary)
and of a larger financial
sector.
During the 1910s and 1920s, the Colombian economy
became more
integrated into the global financial and commercial
markets.
Renewed relations with the United States during the
administration
of Marco Fidel Suárez (1918-21) opened the door for
foreign
exchange and investment. The United States replaced
Britain as
Colombia's key financial and commercial partner. Most of
the
foreign exchange came from the coffee trade, which at this
time
represented nearly 80 percent of exports. Foreign exchange
also
came in the form of loans and an indemnity paid by the
United
States for Colombia's loss of Panama. Money coming into
the country
was invested in industry, consumption goods, and public
works and
enterprises. Public works, such as building communication
networks,
accelerated under the Conservative Pedro Nel Ospina
administration
(1922-26). Investment in industry came primarily from the
private
sector, including foreign interests. By 1929 private
foreign
investment totaled US$400 million, with some US$45 million
having
been invested by oil companies. The Nel Ospina
administration also
oversaw the reorganization of the banking and financial
sectors,
creating the Bank of the Republic (Banco de la República).
The growth in industry and construction, supported by
both
public and private funds, led to the emergence of a
genuine working
class that soon learned to unionize. In 1918 Colombia
experienced
its first major strikes. The union movement also came to
be
influenced by European syndicalism and socialism; in 1919
the first
workers' conference, which was fostered by socialist
ideas, was
held. These activities were a backdrop to the launching of
the
Colombian Socialist Party. During the 1920s, the union
movement
expanded and stimulated the growth of socialist-oriented
groups. In
1928 a strike against the United Fruit Company was put
down
violently by armed forces. In the following year,
Congressman Jorge
Eliécer Gaitán criticized the rough handling of the strike
and
became a prominent speaker for the working class
(see The Labor Movement
, ch. 3).
Growing popular discontent with the Conservative
governments
and divisions within Conservative ranks eventually
resulted in the
rise of the PL to power. The growth in the industrial and
construction sectors that fueled the union movement also
drained
the countryside of agricultural workers, encouraging rural
workers
to petition for higher wages. In 1928 the government began
importing food and as a result drew protests from
agriculturists.
Workers and artisans protested the rise in inflation that
resulted
from the influx of foreign loans and protectionist trade
policies.
Social tensions increased throughout the Conservative
administration of Abadia Méndez (1926-30) and ultimately
led to the
fall of the PC after its forty-five years in power. The
Liberals
gained the upper hand in the political arena and retained
it during
the fifteen years (1930-45) of global crisis.
Data as of December 1988
|
