President Petro intends to force the District to choose to build the Bogotá metro underground, regardless of the increase that this decision would imply in its value and construction time, experts warn. However, these are not the only two areas of its consequences. Since the award of the tender, the best economic conditions offered by the Apca Transmimetro consortium, which won, have been highlighted. But this financial vision ignores the plans of the People’s Republic of China in Latin America.
The Chinese are making investments around the world to realize what some media have called the Marshall Plan of the 21st century. Under the excuse of cooperation and the strengthening of international trade, they finance the seaports and land infrastructure of a kind of great Silk Road of the contemporary world. However, what appears to be the materialization of the idea of economic development in all corners of the Earth, is actually a traditional way of establishing dependency relationships.
Some will say that it is a classic technique used by every empire since ancient times. A part of the Chinese even consider that they have the right to do so as a result of their exponential economic growth, and they reply that the opposition from the West is due to a kind of nostalgia. “We make nice and cheap products so they could redecorate their houses and change cars. This is how you benefited from our growth”, are expressions that are frequently heard.
However, what could the silenced voices of the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have to say about it? What might Taiwanese democracy advocates think? They would tell us that their investment does not come only with yuan, that they are not cheap, if one takes into account that their methods of labor exploitation and political authoritarianism are part of their export basket.
In Europe, workers at companies in the electronics sector denounce the implementation of policies and practices similar to those used in Chinese factories. Likewise, as a result of the risks to privacy and national security, the US vetoed Huawei from building 5G infrastructure in that country. At the same time, Germany is expected to rethink its relationship with China, which has invested heavily in seaports and rail routes.
Would we want to become allies of the world’s authoritarian rulers? Our president does not care about international lessons regarding the dependence on this type of regime, so it seems.
What a nightmare! The Bogotá metro is like a goal that recedes every time you think you are close to it. If you will, it’s like the will-o’-the-wisp: it tends to disappear when we get closer. In Bogotá, we need the metro to be built quickly, respecting the advanced plans that have already been contracted and taking into account how changes can subject us to the autocrats of the world.