Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T15:29:45.533Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Business Versus Business? Grupos and Organized Business in Colombia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Angelika Rettberg
Angelika Rettberg*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science at the Universidad de lós Andes
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article examines business political behavior in Colombia during the scandal-ridden presidency of Ernesto Samper (1994-98), highlighting the mechanisms by which grupos (diversified economic groups) undermined the ability of organized business to present collective political positions. Evidence that the presidential campaign had been funded by drug traffickers prompted business associations to demand Samper's resignation. But grupos, the firms of which are affiliated with associations, supported the president. This division weakened the position of organized business regarding the resignation, as well as its own political legitimacy. This study argues that grupos face strong incentives to act outside business associations to advance their particular interests. Scholars assessing the strength of organized business in Latin America will increasingly encounter the impact of grupos on business institutional responses to policy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 47 , Issue 1 , Spring 2005 , pp. 31 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Asociación Colombiana de Exportadores de Flores (Asocolflores). 1999. Former President. Author interview. Bogotá, March 17.Google Scholar
Asociación Colombiana de Fabricantes de Autopartes (Acolfa). 1999. President. Author interview. Bogotá, March 2.Google Scholar
Asociación Nacional de Cultivadores de Caña de Azúcar (ASOCAÑA). 1998. Aspectos generales del sector azucarero 1997–1998, informe anual. Cali: ASOCAÑA.Google Scholar
Associación Nacional de Industriales (ANDI). 1998. Former vice President. Author interview. Boston, December 9.Google Scholar
Asociación Nacional de Medios de Comunicación (Asomedios). 1998a. Former President. Author interview. Bogotá, July 15.Google Scholar
Asociación Nacional de Medios de Comunicación (Asomedios). 1998b. President. Author interview. Bogotá, July 15.Google Scholar
Baer, Werner. 1996. Changing Paradigms: Changing Interpretations of the Public Sector in Latin America's Economies. Public Choice 88: 365–79.Google Scholar
Baer, Werner, and William, Maloney. 1997. Neoliberalism and Income Distribution in Latin America. World Development 25, 3: 311–27.Google Scholar
Bejarano, Jesús Antonio. 1985. Economía y poder. Bogotá: Sociedad de Agricultores de Colombia/Fondo Editorial CEREC.Google Scholar
Caballero, Carlos. 1996. Perdimos dos años. Estrategia Económica y Financiera 240 (August 15): 10.Google Scholar
Cambio (Bogotá). 1999. Habla Santo Domingo. January 18: 22.Google Scholar
Cárdenas, Mauricio. 1998. Situación actual y perspectivas de la economía colombiana. In Colombia, su economía: dónde estamos? hacia dónde vamos? ed. Arturo, Tangarife. Santafé de Bogotá: Ecoandinos. 23–67.Google Scholar
Cepeda Ulloa, Fernando, and Diana, Umaña. 1994. Dirección política de lareforma económica en Colombia. Santafé de Bogotá: Fonade/Departamento Nacional de Planeación.Google Scholar
Colombia. 1998a. Economic Adviser to the President of the Republic. Author interview. Bogotá, July 13.Google Scholar
Colombia. 1998b. Former Minister of Finance. Author interview. Bogotá, August 6.Google Scholar
Consejo Gremial Nacional. 1996. Press Release. January 23.Google Scholar
Crandall, Russell. 2001. Explicit Narcotization: U.S. Policy toward Colombia during the Presidential Administration of Ernesto Samper (1994–1998). Latin American Politics and Society 43, 3 (Fall): 95–120.Google Scholar
DeCórdoba, José. 1996. Colombian Paradox: Embattled President Has Powerful Friend. Wall Street Journal, February 6: A1, A9.Google Scholar
Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística de Colombia (DANE). 1999. Indicadores sociales: tasa de desempleo en 7 áreas metropolitanas [Social indicators: unemployment rate for seven metropolitan areas]. http:www.dane.gov.co Accessed June 12,1999.Google Scholar
Dinero (Bogotá). 1996. Andi o no Andi. March: 50–54.Google Scholar
Durand, Francisco. 1998. Collective Action and the Empowerment of Peruvian Business. In Organized Business, Economic Change, and Democracy in Latin America, ed. Durand, and Eduardo, Silva. Coral Gables: North-South Center Press. 253–80.Google Scholar
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). 2002. Colombia: principales indicadores económicos. http:www.eclac.orgDEproyectoseeeeee2001xlsCOL00-01.XLS Accessed June 10, 2002.Google Scholar
Edwards, Sebastian. 1995. Crisis and Reform in Latin America. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Federación Nacional de Cafeteros. 1999a. General Manager. Author interview. Bogotá, March 11.Google Scholar
Federación Nacional de Cafeteros. 1999b. International Adviser. Author interview. Bogotá, February 12.Google Scholar
Fernández-Riva, Javier. 1995. Adquisición de empresas y grupos económicos. Bogotá: Asociación Nacional de Instituciones Financieras.Google Scholar
Fundación Social. 1998. President. Author interview. Bogotá, July 14.Google Scholar
Gereffi, Gary. 1990. Big Business and the State. In Manufacturing Miracles: Paths of Industrialization in Latin America and East Asia, ed. Gereffi, and Donald, L. Wyman. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 90–109.Google Scholar
Giacalone, Rita. 1997. Asociaciones empresariales, integración y estado: Colombia y Venezuela. Nueva Sociedad 151 (September-October): 152–67.Google Scholar
Granovetter, Mark. 1994. Business Groups. In The Handbook of Economic Sociology, ed. Neil, J. Smelser and Richard, Swedberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 453–75.Google Scholar
Grupo Empresarial Bavaria. 1998a. Judicial vice President. Author interview. Bogotá, July 7.Google Scholar
Grupo Empresarial Bavaria. 1998b. Company executive. Author interview. Bogotá, July 22.Google Scholar
Grupo Empresarial Bavaria. 1998c. Chief Executive Officer. Author interview. Bogotá, August 12.Google Scholar
Grupo Empresarial Bavaria. 1998d. Vice President for Economic Affairs. Author interview. Bogotá, July 22.Google Scholar
Hallberg, Kristin. 1990. Colombia: Industrial Competition and Performance. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Hardin, Russell. 1982. Collective Action. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Hartlyn, Jonathan. 1985. Producer Associations, the Political Regime, and Policy Processes in Contemporary Colombia. Latin American Research Review 20, 3: 111–37.Google Scholar
Hartlyn, Jonathan. 1988. The Politics of Coalition Rule in Colombia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hommes, Rudolf. 1997. Regulation and Deregulation in Colombia: Much Ado about Nothing Desarrollo y Sociedad 40: 134–84.Google Scholar
Kline, Harvey. 1996. Colombia: Building Democracy in the Midst of Violence and Drugs. In Constructing Democratic Governance: South America in the 1990s, ed. Jorge, I. Domínguez and Abraham, Lowenthal. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 20–41.Google Scholar
Londoño, Fernando. 1996. La parábola delelefante. Bogotá: Editorial Planeta.Google Scholar
Losada, Rodrigo. 2000. Los gremios empresariales en Colombia. Bogotá: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.Google Scholar
Maxfield, Sylvia, and Schneider, Ben Ross, eds. 1997. Business and the State in Developing Countries. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Newsweek . 2002. Hugo's Close Call. April 29: 10–11.Google Scholar
New York Times . 1996. To Punish Colombia, U.S. May Revoke Air Route. August 4.Google Scholar
Nota Económica (Bogotá). 2002. Detrás del personaje. May 15: 10.Google Scholar
Ocampo, José Antonio, ed. 1994. Historia económica de Colombia. Bogotá: Tercer Mundo/Fedesarrollo.Google Scholar
Olson, Mancur. 1965. The Logic of Collective Action. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Olson, Mancur. 1982. The Rise and Decline of Nations. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Olson, Mancur. 1995. The Varieties of Eurosclerosis: The Rise and Decline of Nations Since 1982. Jean Monnet Chair Papers #32. Florence: Robert Schumann Centre at the European University Institute.Google Scholar
Olson, Mancur. 1997. The Exploitation of Agriculture. In Coffee, Institutions, and Economic Development, ed. Diego, Pizano and José, Chalarcá. Bogotá: Federación Nacional de Cafeteros. 25–34.Google Scholar
Organización Ardila Lülle. 1998a. Adviser. Author interview. Cali, July 28.Google Scholar
Organización Ardila Lülle. 1998b. Official. Author interview. Bogotá, August 18.Google Scholar
Orrú, Marco, Nicole Woolsey, Biggart, and Gary, Hamilton. 1997. The Economic Organization of East Asian Capitalism. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
Peres, Wilson, ed. 1998. Grandes empresas y grupos industriales latinoamericanos: expansión y desafios en la era de la apertura y la globalización. Mexico City: Siglo Veintiuno.Google Scholar
Poveda, Gabriel. 1984. Andi y la industria en Colombi, 1944–1984. Medellín: Asociación Nacional de Industriales.Google Scholar
Prospección. 1998. Director. Author interview. Medellín, August 27.Google Scholar
Rettberg, Angelika. 2000. Corporate Organization and the Failure of Collective Action: Colombian Business during the Presidency of Ernesto Samper (1994–1998). Ph.D. diss., Boston University.Google Scholar
Rettberg, Angelika. 2001a. Dos crisis, dos desenlaces: retos y realidades del empresariado organizado colombiano en los años 50 y 90. Revista de Estudios Sociales 8: 85–92.Google Scholar
Rettberg, Angelika. 2001b. The Political Preferences of Diversified Business Groups: Lessons from Colombia (1994–1998). Business & Politics 3, 1: 47–63.Google Scholar
Rettberg, Angelika. 2002. Administrando la adversidad: respuestas empresariales al conflicto colombiano. Colombia Internacional 55: 37–54.Google Scholar
Rettberg, Angelika. 2003a. Managing Peace: Private Sector Involvement in the Peace Processes of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Colombia. ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America (Spring): 66–68.Google Scholar
Rettberg, Angelika. 2003b. The Business of Peace in Colombia: Assessing the Role of the Business Community in the Colombian Peace Process. Paper delivered at the 23rd Meeting of the Latin American Studies Association, Dallas, March 27–29.Google Scholar
Revéiz, Edgar. 1997. El estado como mercado. Bogotá: Fonade/Carlos Valencia Editores.Google Scholar
Sáenz, Eduardo. 1992. La ofensiva empresarial: industriales, políticos y violencia en los años 40 en Colombia. Bogotá: Tercer Mundo/Uniandes.Google Scholar
Sáenz, Eduardo. 2002. Colombia años cincuenta: industriales, político y diplomacia. Bogotá: Universidad Nacional de Colombia.Google Scholar
Samper, Ernesto. 2000. Aquí estoy y aquí me quedo: testimonio de un gobierno. Bogotá: El Ancora.Google Scholar
Samper, Ernesto. 2001. Author interview. Bogotá, August 21.Google Scholar
Sánchez, Rubén, and Dora, Rothlisberger. 1989. Formas de organización, representación y participación política de los gremios. In La democracia en blancia y negro: Colombia en los años ochenta, ed. dePatricia Vásquez, Urrutia. Bogotá: Uniandes/CEREC/Departamento de Ciencia Política.Google Scholar
Schamis, Héctor. 1999. Distributional Coalitions and the Politics of Economic Reform in Latin America. World Politics 51, 2: 236–68.Google Scholar
Schamis, Héctor. 2002. Re-Forming the State: The Politics of Privatization in Latin America and Europe. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Schneider, Ben Ross. 1998. Elusive Synergy: Business-Government Relations and Development. Comparative Politics 31, 1: 101–22.Google Scholar
Schneider, Ben Ross. 2002. Why is Mexican Business so Organized Latin American Research Review 37, 1: 77–118.Google Scholar
Schneider, Ben Ross. 2004. Business in Colombia: Well Organized and Well Connected. In Business Politics and the State in Twentieth-Century Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chap. 5.Google Scholar
Semana (Bogotá). 1992. Duelo de titanes. November 24.Google Scholar
Semana (Bogotá). 1994. Crece el país. April 26: 80–86.Google Scholar
Semana (Bogotá). 1995a. Los cuatro grandes. May 2: 52–60.Google Scholar
Semana (Bogotá). 1995b. Las cien empresas más grandes de Colombia. April 25: 84–95.Google Scholar
Semana (Bogotá). 1996a. Las cien empresas más grandes de Colombia. April 30: 104–16.Google Scholar
Semana (Bogotá). 1996b. Los cuatro grandes. May 7: 56–64.Google Scholar
Semana (Bogotá). 1997a. Los cuatro grandes. May 5: 72–91.Google Scholar
Semana (Bogotá). 1997b. Las cien empresas más grandes de Colombia. April 28: 90–228.Google Scholar
Semana (Bogotá). 1998. Los cuatro grandes. May 4: 83–124.Google Scholar
Semana (Bogotá). 1999. Los cuatro grandes. May 10: 59–97.Google Scholar
Sociedad de Agricultores de Colombia (SAC). 1999. President. Author interview. Bogotá, February 23.Google Scholar
Suramericana de Seguros. 1998. Vice President. Author interview. Medellín, August 27.Google Scholar
Thorp, Rosemary. 1991. Economic Management and Economic Development in Peru and Colombia. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Thorp, Rosemary, and Francisco, Durand. 1997. A Historical View of Business-State Relations: Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela Compared. in Maxfield and Schneider 1997. 216–36.Google Scholar
El Tiempo (Bogotá). 1995a. Gremios divididos por decisión de la Comisión. December 19: 6A, 12.Google Scholar
El Tiempo (Bogotá). 1995b. Respaldo de empresarios. December 19: 1.Google Scholar
Transparency International. 1996. Report 1996: Sharpening the Responses Against Global Corruption. Berlin: Transparency International.Google Scholar
Transparency International. 1997. Report 1997: The Fight Against Corruption: Is The Tide Now Turning? Berlin: Transparency International.Google Scholar
United States Senate. Committee on Foreign Relations. 1996. Corruption and Drugs in Colombia: Democracy at Risk, A Staff Report. Washington, DC: GPO.Google Scholar
Urrutia, Miguel. 1983. Gremios, política económica y democracia. Bogotá: Fondo Cultural Cafetero/Fedesarrollo.Google Scholar
Wilde, Alexander. 1978. Conversations Among Gentlemen: Oligarchical Democracy in Colombia. In The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes, Vol. 3, Latin America, ed. Juan, Linz and Alfred, Stepan. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 28–81.Google Scholar
Zeile, William. 1991. Industrial Policy and Organizational Efficiency: The Korean Chaebol Examined. In Business Networks and Economic Development in East and Southeast Asia, ed. Gary, Hamilton. Hong Kong: Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong.Google Scholar