Jueves 22 de Enero de 2026

·1 hr 3 min·5 clips

Of 722 properties the FARC reported in their inventory, the Colombian state received only 8 — 1.11%; of 24,000 head of cattle, only 229 — 0.94%.

1. Lo más Caracol, directed by Carlos Castro Arias, presents the main news stories of Thursday, January 22, 2026 from Colombia. 2. Four main voices drive the episode: Andrés Velasco (president of Asofondos), Virginia Torres (former SAE president), José Manuel Restrepo (former Finance Minister under President Duque), and Bogotá Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán. 3. The episode covers a range of high-stakes economic and political developments: pension fund regulation, FARC peace deal non-compliance, Colombia-Ecuador trade conflict, and a major infrastructure tender failure. 4. On the pension decree, Velasco explains that the government's draft would cap foreign portfolio investment by pension administrators at 30%, down from the current 50%, to be reached within five years — a requirement he calls a 'bad idea' because diversification is 'at the heart of any portfolio.' 5. Velasco warns that the government's proposed domestic infrastructure projects are not yet in the investment stage that pension funds require — operational and revenue-generating — making it practically difficult to deploy the nearly 100 trillion pesos of repatriated capital effectively. 6. He says the probable outcome for workers is lower pensions, higher contributions, or lump-sum refunds instead of regular pension income, and urges the government to use the open comment period to reconsider. 7. On the FARC asset segment, Virginia Torres presents figures from her July 2020 exit report as SAE president: of 722 reported immovable properties, only 8 (1.11%) were received; of 24,000 head of cattle, only 229 (0.94%); of 12 billion pesos in cash, only 17.52%; of 440,000 grams of gold ingots, only 57%. 8. The only category fulfilled at 100% was 450,000 US dollars — monetized at the December 2020 rate of 3,216 pesos per dollar — though 1,500 of those dollars were counterfeit. 9. Torres describes logistical absurdities: the FARC inventory included a ear surgery and a penile surgery (which prompted her and the host to ask how asset forfeiture applies to a surgical procedure); 50 silver chains and 50 silver rings from Frente 21 that had 'disappeared' by the time agents arrived to collect them. 10. She explains that assets were difficult to trace because FARC held most property illegally — in others' names, on national park land, or undocumented — and recovery depended entirely on the FARC's own cooperation in pointing to locations on digital maps. 11. When Pastor Alape was asked about the Comptroller's findings, he said 'what was delivered is all there is' and accused those asking the question of 'stigmatizing the peace agreement.' 12. On Ecuador, Restrepo says the 30% tariffs target 4% of Colombian exports worth nearly $1.9 billion annually, affecting the plastics, chemicals, pharma, and electrical equipment sectors, with particular impact on small and medium exporters in Nariño, Cauca, and Valle departments. 13. He argues the measure is 'absolutely illegal' under the Cartagena Agreement that governs the Andean Community of Nations, which has no provision for punitive tariff measures between members, and urges Colombia to file a complaint with the CAN Secretary General before February 1, 2026. 14. Restrepo frames the tariff as part of a global trend of weaponizing trade measures for political leverage — calling it the 'Trump model' applied to Latin America — and distinguishes it from legitimate border security concerns that should be handled through diplomacy. 15. He notes Colombia had been generous to Ecuador during a severe 2025 drought by supplying energy worth more than $311 million, making the tariff response 'very sad.' 16. On the Metro Line 2, Mayor Galán explains that of four originally pre-qualified bidders, two were excluded for conflicts of interest identified by the multilateral banks; the Chinese consortium withdrew in October 2025 citing exchange rate risk; and ACCIONA's withdrawal from the Spanish consortium made the remaining group non-viable. 17. Galán argues the tender failure is an 'opportunity' because the project is now far more mature — with 3,300 observations answered and ten addendums issued — making it more attractive to a wider pool of international bidders including Japanese, Korean, European, and North American firms. 18. He insists the 34-billion-peso co-financing agreement with the national government cannot be dissolved unilaterally and that the Inter-American Development Bank and European Investment Bank have approved and signed credit agreements, providing financial certainty for a new tender. 19. The episode is aimed at informed Colombian listeners who follow current affairs — it assumes familiarity with institutional actors such as the CAN, SAE, Asofondos, and the Metro de Bogotá — and proceeds at a fast, news-radio pace with minimal background explanation. 20. Listeners outside Colombia or without knowledge of the country's peace process, pension system, and regional trade relationships will need significant context to follow the detailed institutional and legal discussions.

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