Colombia: Reforms bode well for investors, but social opposition to mining remains the biggest hurdle
President Duque's challenge is to find a legislative solution that satisfies the requirement for popular consultation and consensus, while also maintaining an open investment environment. This will entail gaining a two-thirds legislative majority in Congress to approve any bill clarifying popular consultations.
However, we expect push-back from indigenous groups. Any attempts to water down current legislation will spark legal challenges based on the potential infringement of indigenous rights, which may well be supported by the constitutional court. This would trigger a domino effect by slowing down passage of the bill and negatively impacting the legislative schedule on popular consultations too.Plans to reduce bureaucracy will improve the investment climate.