While the Trump administration’s “America first” policies are aimed primarily at giving higher priority to national security and economic growth for the United States, the White House’s approach will have impacts on energy relations with the rest of the hemisphere that should also be considered.
Lisa Viscidi, Director of the Energy, Climate Change and Extractive Industries Program, testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs on the subject of “Energy Opportunities in Latin America.”
Providing reliable, clean energy to Colombia’s growing population will be a tremendous challenge in the coming years, especially in light of the peace process with the FARC.
In spite of a steady economic recovery, low inflation and improving fiscal balances, Latin America is seeing weak private investment in energy and other sectors.
Under President Juan Manuel Santos, the Colombian government has vastly expanded protected areas, creating new national parks and providing land titles to indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities in the Amazon, Chocó and other important forest regions. However, many challenges remain. National parks and indigenous and Afro-Colombian lands continue to be threatened by illegal occupation, coca cultivation and illegal gold mining.
Latin America faces many challenges in developing its energy resources and providing clean, affordable and reliable energy. With presidential elections in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia next year, there is considerable uncertainty about future energy policy, as potential candidates in these countries have presented widely varying energy and economic policy platforms.
The less than 3 percent of Colombia’s population that lacks electricity lives mainly in areas of the country that have long been controlled by the FARC and other armed groups, such as Chocó in the Pacific, La Guajira on the Caribbean coast, and Putumayo in the Amazon. Not coincidentally, Colombians without access to electricity also have higher rates of poverty, fewer basic public services, and lower education levels than the rest of the country.
Lisa Viscidi
Articles & Op-Eds ˙
˙ Peace in Colombia's Countryside? First, Turn On the Lights.
¿Cómo responder al éxodo de miles de venezolanos a otros países de la región? ¿Aceptarlo, controlarlo o rechazarlo? CNN analiza la situación con Manuel Orozco, director del programa de remesas, migración, y desarrollo del Diálogo Interamericano.
El presidente Donald Trump participará en la Cumbre de las Américas en Perú el 13 y 14 de abril. Después viajará a Colombia, en una visita que según la Casa Blanca resalta el compromiso del mandatario con la región. Juan Carlos López de CNN en Español analiza esta agenda con Michael Shifter.
President Trump’s trip to the Summit of the Americas in Peru will mark his first visit to Latin America. After Peru, the president will travel to Colombia, where he will meet with outgoing president Juan Manuel Santos. To provide insight and analysis prior to this visit, the Inter-American Dialogue and the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center assembled a private press roundtable of leading analysts and journalists on April 4.
In a conversation with CSIS, Lisa Viscidi explains the potential implications of this year’s elections in Latin America’s top oil producing countries. Political changes in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela will affect oil output, with effects felt both domestically and in the United States.
Lisa Viscidi, Richard Miles
Interviews ˙
˙ Center for Strategic & International Studies
Although electric mobility is at an early stage in Latin America, several cities have made significant advances. This new report addresses a number of critical questions about electric transportation in Latin America, drawing on case studies of six urban electric car and bus markets that have seen among the fastest growth in the region.