Alfredo Vargas Ortiz Proudly Teaching, Universidad Surcolombiana
Doctor of Law, National University of Colombia
The recent UNDP report on human development, “Colombia: territories between fractures and opportunities”, and the Departmental Competitiveness Index, do not leave the Department of Huila in a good light. We are a department stuck in overcoming poverty and improving competitiveness. This is not necessarily due to a lack of resources or tourist attractions that can attract national and international investment. No, gentlemen, the Department of Huila is a paradise to discover, but you need to prepare for it.
Unfortunately, much of the crisis has to do with regional leaderships, who limit their parliamentary or governmental management to placing friends and family in positions and contracts, taking advantage of their moment of power and neglecting and betraying their constituents. Unfortunately, these leaders are re-elected and perpetuate the announced tragedy of corruption, with leaders imprisoned, dismissed and exposed to the public pillory.
As long as there are no people in the Department of Huila who care about the real problems of the region, such as roads, security and coexistence, the low quality of primary, secondary and university education, and unemployment, we will be condemned to repeat this cycle of poverty in which we are immersed. It is time to shake up this department and generate new leaders who care about the true feelings of the people, about their pressing needs, related to the generation of quality employment and attracting investments for large projects such as the Longitudinal Park of the Magdalena River, to turn your face to the river and not your back and the garbage, as is currently the case.
We cannot leave aside the train that connects us with the center, to promote tourism and true competitiveness, making our coffee producers or tilapia exporters save up to 25% on freight. We must recover the battered public educational system, from the expansion of preschool to specialization levels in universities, in areas such as renewable energy, artificial intelligence, robotics, among other cutting-edge topics. We must support the creation of an international cargo airport that connects us with the world and boosts our economy. We must bet on the recovery of secondary and tertiary roads that are a true disaster and an obstacle to improving competitiveness and tourism.
It cannot be that we spend another 10 billion pesos in Huila on transfer resources without anything improving, and we continue to regress like the crab. Huila needs to be reborn. We young people and people committed to this cause cannot continue allowing a few to fill their pockets, while the vast majority of residents plunge into poverty and misery.
I call upon all business organizations, trade unions, decent politicians, the working class and academics to shake up this department, to think of common goals that unite us and do not divide us, and that with a common cause before the national government and in the Congress of the Republic, we stop being seen as the pariahs of the national budget and social investment.
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