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POLITICS
THE COLOMBIAN PEACE PROCESS: A
BIG PROMISE AND BIG CHALLENGES
BY CARLOS MUÑOZ
The Colombian peace process was signed to finish
a long conflict between the Colombian government
and the FARC guerrilla. To finish the conflict, the First, Colombia is one of the countries with the highest
process had the purpose of solving the causes of it income inequality. Colombia is the thirteenth most
(Presidencia de la Republica, 2016). A big promise. unequal country on the planet and the third in Latin
However, the process was designed to solve specific America after Haiti and Guatemala (Central Intelligence
problems like the demobilization of guerrilla, the Agency, 2019). While in Colombia the average income of a
development of rural areas, the elimination of illicit low-income family is less than 150 USD per month, in an
drug production, the creation of a new justice system, egalitarian society such as the Swedish or Belgian the
and the reparation for the victims. Those items are not average income of a low-income family is 3000 USD per
an exhaustive list of the conflict causes but are a good month. The richest people of Colombia earn 87.000 more
start. Now, after the initial implementation, we would times than the poorest. It means that in Colombia there is
recognize that the causes of the Colombian conflict an impressive concentration of the income in a few
are more complex, and any attempt must try to hands. Whereas millions of workers, formal and informal,
improve the economy and social model of the country. struggle with earning more than a minimum salary or
Three principal current socio-economic problems can getting out of poverty, a small portion of the population is
be mentioned: unequal income distribution, static getting plenty of economic resources. Those elevated
economic mobility, and increasing job insecurity. levels of income inequality have carried to a big portion of
Colombian inhabitants to live in a context of poor public
health services, bad education, high proportion of
criminality, and a rising political instability.
Second in Colombia, there is a low proportion of
socio-economic mobility, and it has been at the same
level for years or has been worst. Data provides evidence
that socio-economic condition of the fathers is a strong
predictor of the socio-economic condition of the children
in the future. According to the OCDE (2018), the
persistence of income inequality in Colombia between
parents and children is 76%. To illustrate this, think in the
next case: there are three fathers, the first one earns 40
minimum salaries as a senator, the second one 4
minimum salaries as an engineer and the third one earns
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December 2019