What Should Investors Know About Colombia's Peace Process?

After decades of bloody conflict Colombia's government may finally be close to brokering a peace agreement with the leftist FARC guerrilla army. The peace process is significant both for Colombia's residents and for companies looking to do business in one of South America's biggest economies. After all, companies such as Blockbuster and parastatal oil-giant Ecopetrol have faced attacks in recent years. Most recently a bomb attack in June 2015 forced Ecopetrol to shut down its transandino pipeline. Even though a judge eventually dismissed the case in 2014, Chiquita bananas has seen its reputation damaged over allegations that company employees paid "protection money" to armed paramilitary groups in Colombia. Over the last decade, however, Colombia has seen its macroeconomic performance and reputation improve. The peace process is another positive development. I reached out to Samuel Logan, a Latin America-focused security expert who works at Southern Pulse, a consultancy, to ask him what he thinks about Colombia's ongoing negotiations with the FARC and what the peace negotiations could mean for investors.