Modern Countries of Northern South America

The Countries of the North

The Guianas

Image of a Waiwai person

Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana are collectively known as "The Guianas." Located along the northern coast of South America, The Guianas were the only South American countries that were not settled by Iberian invaders. Reflecting their heritage, the official languages of these countries are as follows: English for Guyana, French for French Guiana, and Dutch for Suriname.

The main interior regions of the Guianas are largely uninhabited due to the dense forests which host a variety of animals and plants not found elsewhere and many unrecorded. The interior regions remain more than 80 percent pristine, but this could change if logging, mining, and deforestation are not managed appropriately. To protect its unique biodiversity, large areas of the Guianas have been designated as public owned conservation areas and national parks. In Guyana, land has been placed in the Konashen Community-Owned Conservation Area (COCA) to help preserve the natural environment and provide a sustainable economic relationship with local Amerindian Waiwai people.

With the increasing global awareness of the importance of the forests in South America, partnerships and agreements to conserve the forests have increased. In 2010, Norway agreed to pay Guyana for limiting greenhouse gases from deforestation. In May 2012, Guyana also entered into a voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) with the European Union (EU). The agreement is a legal one and it aims to ensure that timber and timber products are only legally harvested and traded between Guyana and EU countries. Both Guyana and Suriname are members of ACTO (Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation) which works to create jobs in sustainable places and industries. The hope is that through government policy and awareness, proper steps will be taken to have economic prosperity without depleting the Amazonian spaces of their important forests and natural resources.

All three of the Guianas are dominated by the mining industry with gold as a major export. Suriname and Guyana are also major exporters of rice and shrimp. With sugar as a major export, Guyana's economy is similar to that of many islands of the Caribbean, a relationship exemplified by its membership in CARICOM (the Caribbean Community). CARICOM's headquarters is in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana.

Kaieteur Falls has the largest single-drop waterfall by volume in the world. A national park has been created in this area to include the falls.

Ariane 42P rocket: The Ariane 42P carrying the topex/poseidon spacecraft. The Ariane 42P was launched from the European Space Agency's Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana on August 10, 1992.

French Guiana

French Guiana is still a sparsely populated colony (department) of France. The majority of the people live near the coast and are predominantly Creole, a combination of African and French. The people work in subsistence agriculture or for the French government. Economic activities often include fishing, agriculture (bananas and sugar), and logging. A noted feature of the colony's heritage is the former off-shore prison on Devil's Island, which France used to secure its most undesirable prisoners.

The European Space Agency maintains a launch center in French Guiana because of its favorable climate and launch conditions. Roughly a quarter of the population is employed by the Space Agency or an industry that supports it. France maintains the facility and has highly subsidized French Guiana's economy. This European support provides the population with a higher standard of living than in many other South American countries.

Venezuela

Venezuela is an urban country with most of the Venezuelan population living along the northern coast where a strong Caribbean cultural flavor is evident in the region's music and lifestyle. The interior of Venezuela is undeveloped and is home to many Amerindian groups that live along the river. Although the official language is Spanish, more than thirty indigenous languages are still spoken in the country.

Much of Venezuela's wealth is generated from the export of oil. The country even has vast oil reserves beneath Lake Maracaibo. Venezuela's national oil company, CITGO , has made extensive inroads into the US gas station market. The country was one of the founding members of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), which is usually associated with the oil-rich states of the Persian Gulf. In the past decade, Venezuela has exported oil to the United States. This relationship has not automatically led to a friendly political relationship between the United States and Venezuela. Over the last decade, the Venezuelan presidents have frequently blamed the U.S. for the failing economy.

Since Venezuela does not have extensive agricultural production areas, most food goods are imported. In recent years, the country has been plagued with food and medicine shortages. This is a result of a deep recession and government actions that have not alleviated the problems. Other countries and organizations have continued to offer aid, but the Venezuelan government has not been very receptive to receiving the help. President Maduro has encouraged the now predominantly urban population to begin growing some of their own food and raising chickens. People have also been encouraged to buy food from the rural farmers that bring crops to the urban markets.

Colombia

Colombia is a country that clearly reflects the impact that geography can have on a country. Its oil and coal make it an important source of fuels. Its tropical climate has made it an excellent coffee and cocaine producing area. The coca plant grows throughout the slopes of the Andes making Colombia the number one producer of cocaine. It must be noted that the short, leafy coca plant that cocaine comes from is not the same as the cacao tree that produces the beans that chocolate or cocoa comes from. They are two completely different plants with separate processes.

Historically, locals have chewed coca plant leaves or brewed it into tea. Coca can alleviate elevation sickness and act as a mild stimulant. Using modern methods and strong chemicals, the coca leaves can be converted into coca paste and then into cocaine hydrochloride, a powerful narcotic. Once the process is completed, most of the chemicals are discarded and frequently find their way into nearby rivers and streams, which are the same water supplies that local people drink, clean with, and bathe in. Birth defects have become a problem in coca-growing regions because of the high levels of chemical pollution in water supplies.

Even though agriculture has been a mainstay of the country's economic activities, most of the population lives in urban areas removed from the mountainous terrain. The Colombian government has had difficulties controlling and extinguishing the production of cocaine because the plants are typically grown in remote areas that the government lacks control over. Part of the problem is also related to the farmers not having a substitute crop to grow. When crops are destroyed, many return to growing them rather than starting to farm a different type of crop. This has made the elimination of the drug cartel industry particularly challenging. The effect of the drug industry on the people of Colombia is extensive—from the gunfire on the streets to the corruption of government officials. Although the United States is the largest cocaine market, Brazil and several European countries have expanding markets. The US government has supported the Colombian government in the fight against the drug cartels and the trafficking of illegal drugs out of Colombia.

Columbian Coffee and Oil

Colombia's two main legal exports to the United States are coffee and oil. Coffee is only grown in the tropics, since coffee trees must be grown in a frost-free environment. Coffee trees can grow in elevations from sea level to six thousand feet, but most of the best specialty coffee is grown at elevations between three thousand to six thousand feet. Colombia has ideal conditions for growing coffee and was once the world's largest coffee producer.

In recent years, there has been growing concern about how climate change will affect the region's coffee production. In the past century, parts of Colombia experienced average temperature increases and up to a 25 percent increase in precipitation. These climate changes have negatively affected coffee output and reduced coffee production.

With reduced coffee sales, oil has now become Colombia's number one legal export. Oil is found in fields in the northern and central regions of Colombia. Immense quantities of coal are also found in the same regions, but oil is more valued on the export market. Pipelines connect the interior oil fields of Colombia with the northern ports. The US market size and population make it the world's largest oil consumer.

Since the United States is a consumer of Colombian oil, it is easy to understand why the United States has a vested interest in the stability of the Colombian government. For much of the country's recent history, sizable portions of Colombia have been controlled not by the government but by drug cartels or other insurgent groups. Dozens of guerilla organizations also control portions of Colombia. Some insurgent groups support the government and are against the drug lords. Others fight the government and work independently or with the cartels. Drug sales, kidnappings, human-trafficking, and extortion of legitimate businesses provide income to these groups. The most powerful insurgent group is FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), which controlled entire regions the size of many US states. FARC is a recognized political entity by neighboring countries but is not given the same recognition by the United States and many countries in the region. In December of 2016 FARC and the Colombian government signed a peace agreement. Many hope that this agreement will lead to a significant decrease in illegal activities and improved living conditions for the people of Colombia.

The relationship between Colombia and the United States is often conflicting. The largest consumer market for Colombia's export of oil, drugs, and coffee is the United States, which is also the largest contributor of foreign aid. U.S. drug consumers support the Colombian drug cartels by being consumers of illegal drugs. The U.S. government, under the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), often supports the Colombian government with billions of dollars in foreign aid to fight the war on drugs. The U.S. is both contributing to and trying to alleviate many of Colombia's problems.

Bus system in Colombia

A relatively recent source of pride for Colombia has been the changes that were made in Bogota, the country's capital, to turn the former homicide ridden city into a sustainable city that provided an improved lifestyle for all its residents. Over the past decade, the city has attracted city planners from all over the world. The leaders come to view the libraries, greenways, parks, and the modern public transportation system named TransMilenio, that has reduced the number of cars on the road. The design principles that transformed Bogota have been taken and applied to cities as far away as New York City and bustling cities in China. The task that lies ahead of Colombia's current leaders is to sustain the sustainable city design through continued growth.

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