The Possibilities of Development Keep on Sailing the Canal del Dique : A case study of the difficulties of achieving post development in Santa Lucía Colombia
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2012
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en
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The human made Canal del Dique, a branch of the Magdalena River located in the north of
Colombia is the protagonist of this research; through it the underdevelopment lived by the
neighbouring population of Santa Lucía will be unbraided. The Canal has been the reason of
implementation of many government technologies since the birth of the state of Colombia
because of being an advantageous path for transportation of exportable natural resources due
to the connectivity it offers between the port of Cartagena de Indias and inner country. By
arguing economic development a large quantity of resources has been spent in a promotion of
the navigability of the Canal, these government tactics for a capitalization of nature have not
only been poorly executed but have also proven to leave a side the important social
component within their planning. The consequence of these deficient governmentalities in the
integration of the medium and the population has been situations as the overflow of the Canal
del Dique in 2010 and the consequent tragedy lived by Santa Lucía. Moreover, the rise of the
drying of wetlands and the expansion of the African oil palm with the excuse of promoting
local agricultural development have been proven to alter the natural balance of the region and
consequently influencing the causes of the overflow. In addition to this, Santa Lucía has also
affronted other situations that have actively affected its development; it is situated in what
until a few years a go used to be paramilitary territory. The Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia
(AUC) had control of the Canal del Dique for the transport of coca that would later be
trafficked, meaning that Santa Lucía was also under their rule of terror. Furthermore the
power of the AUC achieved a Captured Reconfiguration of the State as their appointing of
political clerks and their involvement within the health system has proven. This unbraiding of
the reasons of underdevelopment lived by the population of Santa Lucía allows a fertile
ground for a reconceptualization of a successful development within a post development
perspective argued by Arturo Escobar (1995). This means that development should come
from a local understanding of what they believe should be achieved and through a self
planned path of action. After visiting Santa Lucía and performing semi structured interviews
was concluded that the scarcity of the town and the lack of completion of a basic level of
capabilities means that the citizens are not able to develop elaborated strategies for post
development; they want education, health, infrastructure, all basic capabilities for a
development of basic rights included within Nussbaum list (2000). Therefore a post
development strategy is only possible within communities that have their basic rights and
capabilities met. What this research has achieved is recognition of the reasons of
underdevelopment in Santa Lucia in the hope that this acknowledgment of the truth could be
converted into fertile ground for change cultivated by the population of the town.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen