"Recovering the notion of the internal market"

This is an article on a topic near and dear to me, the focusing on Colombia's internal market for our economic development, as opposed to focusing on exports. The author rightly points out that Uribe framed things as if exports were the only way to favor Colombia's economy. He focused on a free trade agreement with the US, and the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Both of these projects failed. Colombia is still heavily dependent on exports though, and as our mining and oil drilling sector grows, we'll become more so.

Nevertheless, the author feels that Santos, the new president, has a healthy appreciation for farming, infrastructure construction, housing construction, and innovation as important sectors that should be strengthened and encouraged. That is to say that he realizes that meeting the needs of the national market is a viable source of economic growth. Mining exports will continue to be an important source of foreign exchange and taxes, but the internal sector is the key for job creation and generalized prosperity. I think this analysis is dead-on, and I hope that Santos and the government really will try to create a healthy, balanced economy based on strong internal dynamics, while continuing to recognize the unavoidable importance of the export sector.