Jose Maria Linares
Daniel Toro
Juan Camilo Zuluaga
February 12, 2010
CWW Economics Article
How do they eat? A Glance To A Different Economical Landscape
As one of the key places in terms of geographical location, La Guajira has a great potential to exploit. Its proximity with the Caribbean ocean would allow for it to be a great center for commerce and development, but the nation has failed to see it as such through history. In its variety of resources we find coal, salt, petroleum and other possibilities for industry and development. Not only is it a land rich in resource, but it so equally rich in landscape, which explains its touristic interest. As a place of visit, La Guajira is potentially a touristic heaven in its immensity, but the development and some investment must be made to reach its potential. Not only can tourism bring a great amount of monetary benefits for the area, but as a place to visit it becomes propaganda for the country, a demonstration of what Colombia really is in the midst of horrible perceptions given to us by the wrong interpretations of a civil war that come close to define us. It is in the function of the previous that we shall proceed to explain the economy of the region tied up with its social impact, for it is a source of production great in numbers, but small in popularity.
La Mina El Cerrejon__Picture: Jose Maria Linares
La Guajira’s economy is based 70% in mining, 15% services, 11% agriculture, 4% industry. The population in la Guajira is distributed by being 50% Mestizos and whites, 45% Indian and Natives, and 10% blacks and Afrocolombians (1), hence, making it a territory of varied ethnicity which leads to making La Guajira’s economic grounds varied, as well. The territory of this place changes a lot between its South and its North, which also leads to its natural resources to change. For example, the South is characterized by being a more industrialized and “civilized” area, where the production of coal and industry is predominant. While on the North, where civilization is more absent, the economy relies mainly on agriculture, fishing, and the mining of marine salt.
La Guajira is a huge source of nonrenewable natural resources like salt, coal, natural gas amongst others. In fact its coal is known for its good quality including low sulfur and ash, and the multinational corporation in charge of exploiting this resource is called Cerrejon. This international corporation, including 3 countries, generates 9,000 jobs, but the people are not all from la Guajira, some are from Barranquilla, Bogota or Venezuela. Salt is also a resource that is abundant in la Guajira, and t
The Salt Mine at Manaure is the main salt source in Colombia__Picture: Jose Maria Linares
he government has taken a huge advantage of this resource especially in the city of Manaure. Most of the salt Colombians consume comes from Refisal which derives its salt from this department. The government also left some of the territory to the Indians for them to get salt but they can’t afford heavy machines so their process is slower and only accounts for a low percentage of the salt production. 3% of the working force in la Guajira depends on mining, which is a high number, considering the people from this region are apathetic in terms of their interest for working.
Smuggling is one of the ways in which people make money in order to eat. This is off course something that shouldn’t be done, but unfortunately this region shares a large frontier with Venezuela and it is easy to move goods from one place to another. Maicao is the biggest contraband point in la Guajira and is a commercial hotspot in Colombia. The smuggling done here is not necessarily related to drugs; instead it involves agricultural and industrial products such as technology. Another product that is smuggled in a large quantity is fuel from Venezuela into la Guajira and the difference in price of this is huge, for every gallon you buy in Colombia, you could easily buy 3 or more in Venezuela. Therefore, due to the process of smuggling gasoline from Venezuela, the price of it in La Guajira is within $3000 pesos per gallon, which is about 3 times less than the price of it at any gas station in Bogota or any city in Colombia.
Even though La Guajira is known for El Cerrejon, and it’s noted how people make a living out of mining in La
The Goat is a key item of herding in La Guajira__Picture: Jose Maria Linares
Mina and Manaure, many of the inhabitants in this department rely on subsistence farming, fishing, and herding. Due to the fact most of its population is Native Wayuu, they rely on a living much based in what they cultivate, or gather in a daily or monthly basis. This type of living is most notorious in la Alta Guajira, where most of the Native population is concentrated. In this region, it can be seen how the Wayuus use the extensive plains for herding of cattle, sheep, and goats, and take advantage of the seas for fishing. Taking into account the region is mostly desert, agriculture isn’t a popular activity since it would be practically unproductive. Meanwhile, on the Baja Guajira, the agriculture is a more predominant activity due to the fertility of its soils and the relative closeness to river basins. Therefore, many people make their living through plantations of cotton, and sorghum, amongst others.
On the other hand, tourism, as in most of the historical landscapes around the world, is a driving force in the local economy. Thrilled by its northernmost position and its beautiful beaches, people from all around the world travel to said place and the thrill it poses. Many locals, taking advantage of the mentioned, have gone into building Rancherias to host these visitors, making their investment in our territory a positive business. Others, as the case of the Wayuu Indians, find in these tourists the market for their crafts which have a nation-wide fame. In short, tourism has been driven by the unexplored territories of this beautiful landscape, it in turn driving local and national economy in a positive manner. But the area of tourism has a focus in ecotourism, this means travelling to natural areas supporting flora, fauna, and the local economy, trying to make no negative impact in the environment itself. Therefore, due to the fact La Guajira enjoys a unique atmosphere, tourism takes an ecological approach in order to make profit from the beauties present, but also avoid damaging them.
Daniel Toro
Juan Camilo Zuluaga
February 12, 2010
CWW Economics Article
How do they eat?
A Glance To A Different Economical Landscape
As one of the key places in terms of geographical location, La Guajira has a great potential to exploit. Its proximity with the Caribbean ocean would allow for it to be a great center for commerce and development, but the nation has failed to see it as such through history. In its variety of resources we find coal, salt, petroleum and other possibilities for industry and development. Not only is it a land rich in resource, but it so equally rich in landscape, which explains its touristic interest. As a place of visit, La Guajira is potentially a touristic heaven in its immensity, but the development and some investment must be made to reach its potential. Not only can tourism bring a great amount of monetary benefits for the area, but as a place to visit it becomes propaganda for the country, a demonstration of what Colombia really is in the midst of horrible perceptions given to us by the wrong interpretations of a civil war that come close to define us. It is in the function of the previous that we shall proceed to explain the economy of the region tied up with its social impact, for it is a source of production great in numbers, but small in popularity.
La Guajira’s economy is based 70% in mining, 15% services, 11% agriculture, 4% industry. The population in la Guajira is distributed by being 50% Mestizos and whites, 45% Indian and Natives, and 10% blacks and Afrocolombians (1), hence, making it a territory of varied ethnicity which leads to making La Guajira’s economic grounds varied, as well. The territory of this place changes a lot between its South and its North, which also leads to its natural resources to change. For example, the South is characterized by being a more industrialized and “civilized” area, where the production of coal and industry is predominant. While on the North, where civilization is more absent, the economy relies mainly on agriculture, fishing, and the mining of marine salt.
La Guajira is a huge source of nonrenewable natural resources like salt, coal, natural gas amongst others. In fact its coal is known for its good quality including low sulfur and ash, and the multinational corporation in charge of exploiting this resource is called Cerrejon. This international corporation, including 3 countries, generates 9,000 jobs, but the people are not all from la Guajira, some are from Barranquilla, Bogota or Venezuela. Salt is also a resource that is abundant in la Guajira, and t
Smuggling is one of the ways in which people make money in order to eat. This is off course something that shouldn’t be done, but unfortunately this region shares a large frontier with Venezuela and it is easy to move goods from one place to another. Maicao is the biggest contraband point in la Guajira and is a commercial hotspot in Colombia. The smuggling done here is not necessarily related to drugs; instead it involves agricultural and industrial products such as technology. Another product that is smuggled in a large quantity is fuel from Venezuela into la Guajira and the difference in price of this is huge, for every gallon you buy in Colombia, you could easily buy 3 or more in Venezuela. Therefore, due to the process of smuggling gasoline from Venezuela, the price of it in La Guajira is within $3000 pesos per gallon, which is about 3 times less than the price of it at any gas station in Bogota or any city in Colombia.
Even though La Guajira is known for El Cerrejon, and it’s noted how people make a living out of mining in La
On the other hand, tourism, as in most of the historical landscapes around the world, is a driving force in the local economy. Thrilled by its northernmost position and its beautiful beaches, people from all around the world travel to said place and the thrill it poses. Many locals, taking advantage of the mentioned, have gone into building Rancherias to host these visitors, making their investment in our territory a positive business. Others, as the case of the Wayuu Indians, find in these tourists the market for their crafts which have a nation-wide fame. In short, tourism has been driven by the unexplored territories of this beautiful landscape, it in turn driving local and national economy in a positive manner. But the area of tourism has a focus in ecotourism, this means travelling to natural areas supporting flora, fauna, and the local economy, trying to make no negative impact in the environment itself. Therefore, due to the fact La Guajira enjoys a unique atmosphere, tourism takes an ecological approach in order to make profit from the beauties present, but also avoid damaging them.
Sources:
http://www.laguajira.gov.co/joomla/