Colombia is emerging as one of Latin America's key economies thanks in part to a 2012 trade agreement reached with the United States, the country's President Ivan Duque said Tuesday.
"The rise of foreign direct investment in the last semester, which was above 24%, is one of the triggers of Colombia's high growth this year," Duque told Fox Business' Maria Baritromo, while noting the U.S. is a strategic partner. "We compared it to Latin America that is going to grow by 0.5%. Colombia is going to grow above 3%, which is above the region on the world average. So we have to keep the investment going."
The United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement eliminated duties on 80% of the United States' industrial and consumer product exports to Colombia. Fox Business reports that the U.S. trade balance with Colombia has shifted from a goods deficit of $244 million in 2017 to a surplus of $1.2 billion in 2018, according to data from the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
Duque also spoke about Venezuela and its President Nicolas Maduro, commenting that like the United States, Colombia believes democracy must be defended.
"Maduro has independent powers," he said. "He has destroyed free media, any economic development. In Venezuela, you know, now people are so impoverished that people want to go out of the country. [They have] lost 4 million people in less than three years."
He added that when he compares his country with Venezuela, Columbia demonstrates that it can make a difference "through sound policies, lower deficit, more investment, and supporting the private sector."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.