ABSTRACT
Many colombians assume that economic conditions are a cause of the country's problems. The Colombian economy has been a dependent one, responding more to economic conditions outside the country than to those inside it. The growth of the Colombian economy can be classified into five periods. These are 1830-1880, classic dependency with no stable export crop; 1880-1930, classic dependency with a stable export crop; 1930-1967, dependent development with emphasis on import substitution; 1967-1988, dependent development with emphasis on export diversification; and 1988 to the present, neoliberalism. To continue exploitation of the area after Colombian capitalists had been offered the opportunity and refused it, the government of Laureano Gomez founded the Colombian Petroleum Enterprise. Perhaps all Colombian politicians since the National Front have agreed on the need for "economic development," but there have been recurrent debates about what economic development is and how to achieve it.
