Colombia: Pyramid money scams fall down and take people’s savings

By Rocio Arango Giraldo

LatinaLista

COLOMBIA:In Colombia, there are pyramids but they weren’t built by the Chibchas or natives. The discovered pyramids are financial pyramids.
Because of them, the country is in shock — from the President and every government minister to all the citizens.
The pyramids are non-legal organizations that receive money and promise a lot in return but later disappear. They leave “investors” asking what happened to their money. These people sold their houses to “invest” in these pyramids. Nowadays, the government has decided to take control of pyramid organizations to get people’s money back to them and to imprison the owners.

Sadness. After the collapse of the pyramids in which people invested their savings, hundreds of people reported to Colombian authorities they had been victims of the scam.
(Source: Jorge Orozco / El Pais)
But people are protesting the government’s decision to take control now instead of doing something when the problem first surfaced. This situation is an example of politics going too far into citizen’s lives. What about freedom of choice? If the government controls the economic activities of the people, it is very bad because it doesn’t permit people to take the liberty of making their own decisions.
At the same time, if the government doesn’t take control, that’s terrible too because it’s not providing regulations on the flow of money.
But that isn’t everything: the police discovered supposed links between the owner of one of the pyramid organizations and political leaders. It’s another case of corruption and provides further evidence of how ethics is lost in political practices.

When you read about the French Revolution and the start of the European States, in every case, it is mentioned the role of the Bourgeoise as an illustrious class. In today’s reality, this role corresponds to the educated professionals. One more time it is evident that these aren’t illustrious people because they are too busy thinking how to get money, no matter what it takes to get it or where it comes from.
It then falls on us citizens to ask, “What are our needs as citizens?” Liberties without opportunities have no meaning. The citizens are building a new society and the government should offer the framework for it through education, and credit and social investments like housing or healthcare. Yet, who manages the government’s services?
Is our government permitting the strengthening of the family unit that is responsible for the building of good citizens or creating a critical mass of illustrious academics who are reminiscent of a revolutionary army?
Learn more about Rocío:
Rocío Arango Giraldo is 22-years-old and lives in Medellín Colombia. She studied Political Science at the National University of Colombia, Public Management in the Technology Institute of Monterrey in México and Policy Networks at National University of Litoral (Argentina).
She is a member of the Colombian Conservative Party, and has written for such prestigious Colombian publications as El Colombiano, El Tiempo and others. But something she is most proud of is her advocacy for people with disabilities: “I fight for the rights of disabled persons like me.”
Rocío works in the Technology Science Park of Antioquia.