Colombia-Venezuela Relations: Between Politics and the Economy

The last decade has repositioned Latin America in the world, not only by the recovery of its economies, but fundamentally by the conquest of the political spaces required in order to achieve its independence. Two processes make that triumph concrete. The first is the consolidation of governments identified with the intention of developing and reclaiming the sovereignty of their nations. The other is a process of regional integration based on strong principles of defence of self-determination and the strategic potential of the region confronting the rest of the world.

As US hegemony tries to survive, it will follow an agenda of threats against those who dare to defy the instituted order. Today, those threats turn into disciplinary actions against the ALBA [Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America], and reveal themselves as the new forms of "institutional harassment" which try to make disappear the current of transformation that lifts Mestizo America in the dawn of rising social conscience and social change.

In Honduras, the masks have melted away, and the Honduran fascist faces smile together with continental fascism. Diplomatic missions dressed in brotherhood justify the violation of sovereignty and the annihilation of hope. The threat of the military coup returns to the stage like honey in the perverse mouths of those who dream of handing over the wealth of the region in a renewed feast of exchange of "democracy" for oil, gas, biodiversity, water and other resources that belong to us.

It hasn't been possible to dissuade us with fear or with propaganda, so it is necessary to initiate a real counter-offensive against the rebelliousness, and nothing is better for this than a military presence. In addition to Honduras, there is the situation in Colombia.

From Dissuasion to Action

The military occupation of Latin America by the United States has been historically linked to the objective of protecting what the Monroe doctrine called "America for the Americans," the territorial space that extends from Mexico to Argentina. This occupation has allowed it to guard the principal sources of raw materials and guarantee the operations of the US businesses in the region. In the last three decades, the war against drugs and the war against terrorism have been added as arguments in order to advance the counter-insurgency work that allows political control. In agreements between governments, the US military has been allowed to have a presence on military bases in the Latin American nations, and in perfect coincidence, each time that a military coup took place in the region, it always had the open or veiled support of that opportune guest. The constitutional and political changes that have taken place in Latin America limit the relationship between the regional military forces and the US forces, based on the destabilizing experience of military interference. The new constitutions of Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia prohibit foreign military bases on national territory and reduce military relations to technical and security cooperation directed by the nation-states.

Colombia: Guardian of Subordination

The Latin American integration consolidated by political integration has shown itself to be successful in the face of the coup d'état in Honduras. For the first time, regional organisations articulated themselves in solidarity with a country violated by a military coup, obliging a worldwide reaction that condemned the military and institutional violence. ALBA showed its negotiating power and its capacity to initiate regional action. The hazard lights of the empire came on immediately. It appeared insufficient to discipline Central America; the major political problems are in the South. Hugo Chávez, Rafael Correa, Evo Morales, Cristina Kirchner, Fernando Lugo, all have one referent: Fidel Castro. The empire relies upon a disciple disposed to unconditional collaboration in the South: Álvaro Uribe. His contribution is exchanged for more Plan Colombia and a United States-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

The closing of the military bases in Panama and Ecuador is compensated by new bases in Colombia. They are the five principal bases of the Air Force and the Navy in the country: Apiay, Malambo, Palanquero, Cartagena and Bahía de Málaga, military installations strategically located on the borders of Venezuela and Ecuador, with strategic coverage of the Andean and Caribbean fronts.

Venezuela Revises Relations with Colombia

Without a doubt the continental leadership of Venezuela in the process of regional integration, and the impetus that President Chávez gives to it, constitutes one of the objectives of control by North American interests. Venezuela considers the increase of the United States military presence in Colombia to be a threat to its security as it tries to make the U.S.'s geopolitical vision prevail, therefore Venezuela has proposed the evaluation of relations with Colombia.

The traditional assessment of bilateral relations that favours commercial relations over political relations has criticised this presidential decision. Nevertheless, it is good to establish that commercial relations will never be possible without the political convergence of the States that define the conditions of those relations.

Who Benefits from the Bilateral Relations between Venezuela and Colombia?

At the start of the 1990's, Colombia and Venezuela established a free trade zone in the framework of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN). Bilateral trade has developed since the creation of the free trade zone. Venezuela registered consecutive surpluses in its trade with Colombia from the year 1993 until 1998. From this year until 2003, the countries alternated having the trade surplus. In the most recent period from 2004 to 2008, the bi-national trade balance was a great deficit for Venezuela due to the significant increase in imports, while exports to Colombia decreased.

Colombia has been ranked between first and second as the destination of Venezuela's non-oil exports. The products sold to the neighbouring country are iron and steel products, aluminum and chemical substances. There has been a greater concentration in a few products since 2004.

With regard to imports, a strong increase was observed in imports coming from Colombia since 2004. The neighbouring country has occupied second place as a supplier of foreign goods in the majority of the years since the free trade agreement was passed, and it has been particularly important in the supply of agricultural goods and semi-manufactured goods, categories that represent 78.4% of the total supplied to Venezuela. The most relevant agricultural and agro-industrial items were beef, cocoa, chocolate, confectionary products and unprocessed milk. With regard to semi-manufactured goods, 24.6% of the total imported by the country was of Colombian origin, highlighting textile goods such as dress garments, fabrics, leather and spun articles, knitted goods, as well as footwear, soaps and detergents, plastics, chemical substances, among others.

Relevant characteristics of bilateral trade between Venezuela and Colombia that could be highlighted are:

• An important tendency toward a deficit trade balance for Venezuela

• A high concentration in a few export products from Venezuela

• An accelerated increase of Colombian imports

• Recurrent surpluses in the Colombian trade balance

• An expansion of the exportable supply from Colombia to Venezuela

Seeing the balance of the trade relations, it is evident that it clearly benefits Colombia. This is demonstrated in a favourable balance of trade of $US 5.8 billion in the year 2008.

When asked about the consequences of dispensing with this volume of trade and the possibility of substitution, one could affirm, without rejecting the inconvenience involved in the substitution of a close provider with transport facilities and traditional trade, that it is no less important to evaluate the political significance of the bilateral relationship and the consequences that are derived from it.

The success of the Bolivarian government is sustained by the strategic positioning of the political over the economic. If we postulate trade diversification and an opening to new business partners and markets, and the political situation demands it, Colombia should be substituted as a trade partner.

Translated by Sean Seymour-Jones for Venezuelanalysis.com