The conversation about Venezuela often gets caught up in politics. Today it is convenient to change the lens: for Colombia it is, above all, an economic opportunity. Entrepreneurs from industry, commerce and logistics are already talking about signs of reactivation and a gradual return of investment and binational value chains.
The Venezuelan market continues to have potential and, although the recovery will be slow, it is beginning to open spaces for growth. Another sign is added to this reality: the world is rereading Venezuela in a strategic key.
In Washington there is talk of critical minerals and the need to secure supplies in an economy increasingly defined by energy, technology and geopolitics.
If Colombia finds it difficult to see the opportunity, other global actors will not hesitate to capture it. And meanwhile, Guyana is accelerating. Its oil boom already projects it as one of the fastest growing economies in the hemisphere and in a few years it will have considerably surpassed Colombia in per capita income.
Ignoring that neighbor would be giving up an economic frontier that will soon be decisive for the Caribbean and the Atlantic. The point is not to choose sides or reduce the discussion to political sympathies between governments. The point is to build a market. Colombia exports little for its size and ambition. It barely exceeds US$1,000 per inhabitant in exports, very far from countries like Costa Rica or Chile, which easily exceed US$4,000 due to more consistent strategies of productive integration and trade openness. Here appears a lesson that Latin America often forgets.
There is a lot of talk about political diplomacy, ideological affinities or disputes between governments. But in the history of nations, the diplomacy that truly transforms countries is another: economic diplomacy, that of investment, that of joint productive development. It is this that creates value chains, integrates labor markets, mobilizes capital and builds lasting relationships between societies. Venezuela and Guyana can be the lever for Colombia to correct its export weakness.
But it is achieved with serious regional rules: interoperable customs, common technical standards, financial mechanisms to facilitate payments and investment, legal security for contracts and labor frameworks that allow human talent to move efficiently between countries. It involves infrastructure and logistics that make formal commerce competitive and digital systems that reduce costs and times. Without these conditions, integration will continue to be a political concept and not an economic reality.
If Colombia accompanies its companies to return to Venezuela and connect with the rise of Guyana, not only will exports grow. Formal employment, productive sophistication and the ability to attract investment will grow. Venezuela, if it manages to stabilize its economy in the next decade, can once again be a fundamental trading partner.
Guyana, for its part, will be one of the most dynamic markets on the continent. Colombia has clear advantages: solid business fabric, financial institutions with regional experience and a location that connects the Caribbean with the Pacific. If we choose well and accompany the private sector in this opening, the country could be facing the next twenty most prosperous years in recent decades.
The window is open. The question is whether we are going to lead this new economic map of northern South America or whether others will draw it for us.
JAIME PUMAREJO HEINS
japuma@portafolio.co
Instagram: jaimepumarejoheins
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