REALITY BITES: NEW COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT FACES BACKLASH OVER REFORMS

THE DAILY DOSE
DEC 12 2018
By Gideon Long

When Iván Duque was sworn in as Colombia’s president in August, hopes for his government were high. A fresh-faced 42-year-old with years of experience at the Inter-American Development Bank, Duque was one of several pragmatic center-right leaders to win power in Latin America as the leftist “pink tide” of the past decade retreated.

He pledged to cut taxes and red tape, invigorate the country’s creative industries, tackle a rise in cocaine production and take a tough stance against the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro in neighboring Venezuela.

But three months on, and despite a relatively steady economy — with inflation within the central bank target at 3.3 percent and growth of about 3 percent expected next year — Duque is finding governing the country far harder than winning the election. His tax reform plan has been ripped apart in Congress, students have taken to the streets calling for more money for higher education and, like other countries in the region, Colombia is struggling to deal with a massive influx of immigrants fleeing Venezuela.

In September, Duque backed a referendum on proposals aimed at combating corruption, but low turnout meant it failed to garner enough votes for approval. Since then, he has struggled to push alternative anti-graft measures through a fragmented Parliament composed of more than a dozen parties. The president’s conservative Democratic Center (DC) party commands only about a fifth of the seats and relies on other center-right parties for support.

More:
https://www.ozy.com/fast-forward/reality-bites-new-colombian-president-faces-backlash-over-reforms/91127