2024-01-17 01:36:10
08:33 PM
President Gustavo Petro was received with great fanfare at the controversial “Casa Colombia” set in Davos, Switzerland, while criticism and questions continue to rage in the country over the money spent on “the showcase of the country of beauty.” at the World Economic Forum 2024.
In that space of a little more than 50 square meters, the country brand and tourism will be promoted between January 15 and 19. Those five days of rental cost 1 million Swiss francs, regarding 4,588 million pesos, (a little more than a million dollars), and although the president and Procolombia have tried to defend the expense as an investment, more and more details emerge that leave badly done to the Government.
The house is located on the main street of Davos, and its facade was suitable to illustrate the Colombian oceans.
That location, however, allows you to have better visibility and attract people to the “stand.” The entire assembly was carried out by the Ministry of Commerce and ProColombia.
The house was adapted with several spaces in which culture and products of Colombian origin are promoted. In addition, there is a traditional Jeep vehicle to represent the country’s coffee culture under the “Colombia, the country of beauty” campaign.
At the time, and in order to appease criticism, President Petro said that “Davos has a very high profitability per square meter.”
However, the house exceeds the price of other establishments that are rented for the Economic Forum events.
For example, the radio station, La FM, spoke with the owner of a store on the same street, with almost the same conditions, although less area, and he indicated that it costs regarding 150 thousand dollars per week.
In a quick calculation, the country would be paying close to 900 million Colombians per day, regarding 40 million per hour.
Even on social networks, information circulates that medieval mansions and castles have a lower cost than what the Petro Government has to pay.
Meanwhile, the president maintains his position that it is not a waste, but rather an “investment” to highlight the beauty of the country.
He says that important businessmen, journalists and ordinary people with high incomes will come to that place, which would be a unique opportunity to show Colombia.
“The investment in the rental is more than recovered with the expenses of international luxury tourism that may arise to come to the country,” he highlighted.
It is true that the Colombian government wanted to push hard to promote the country, since it was the only nation on the American continent that made this million-dollar investment, since there are no houses adapted to this style from the United States, Brazil or Mexico.
But this massive audience is actually another reason for questioning, since Petro shared a video with the legend that “tens of thousands of people” are watching the campaign, although in the images only a few of them are seen walking through the streets of Davos .
And Petro has not been the only squire of the proposal. From ProColombia, which promotes tourism and foreign investment, they supported the initiative under the argument that it is the first time that Colombia participates and that there is no doubt that it will bring more benefits than harm to the country.
María Antonia Pardo, manager of International Affairs and Government at Procolombia, explained that “it is not a house for the president to sleep in. It is a space where the most representative of the country is exhibited.”
Among those who criticized the initiative is the former Minister of Commerce and former president of Procolombia, Luis Guillermo Plata, who assured that “Casa Colombia” is expensive and useless within the framework of the World Economic Forum. “No one important leaves there to go see Petro,” said Plata.
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