Colombia: from failed state to Latin American powerhouse

[Bacchus4.0]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/globalbusiness/11441732/Colombia-from-failed-state-to-Latin-American-powerhouse.html

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In the Americas, Colombia's reputation as a gateway to the South and launch pad to the North is becoming cemented in a country that has long lived in the shadow of the drugs lord Pablo Escobar.


More than two decades after Escobar was shot dead by police on a Medellín rooftop, the stereotype of a country ridden by drugs, cartels, kidnapping and violence is finally starting to fade.
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Meanwhile, Colombia's middle class is on the rise, climbing from 16pc of the population in 2002 to 27pc in 2011. In the streets of Bogotá, Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Armani line up next to high street names Zara and Mango.

The poverty rate – defined by the World Bank as anyone living on less than $1.25 (81p) a day – has fallen from almost 50pc to 34pc over the same period. While policymakers have more to do, Colombians are lifting themselves out of poverty.

[COLGATE4]

1. Proof positive about how the evil

Alvaro Uribe screwed up the country!

[Bacchus4.0]

2. and don't forget about Judi's guy, Santos nt