A year after Colombia’s debt-busting economic boom, the country’s international isolation is deepening, with the US imposing sanctions on dozens of companies and investors, including hotels, airlines and other multinationals.
The country is also facing a major economic crisis.
A decade ago, the nation of some 10 million people was one of Latin America’s most promising economic engines, fuelled by tourism, high-quality construction, an ambitious public education system and a booming manufacturing sector.
Colombia, which has one of the world’s highest per capita incomes, was emerging from a devastating recession in 2009, when inflation and food prices skyrocketed.
The government was trying to address some of the countrys biggest problems, but many were just as much a cause of the economic crisis as its problems, according to analysts and experts.
The economic crisis of 2010-11 was partly the result of a series of high-profile corruption scandals that began in 2010 and escalated over the next year.
One of the biggest, which implicated former president Alvaro Uribe, led to Uribe being removed from office and eventually charged with corruption.
A year later, the Uribe government agreed to an international debt-restructuring deal, which allowed it to reduce its debt.
The agreement also reduced the country from one of its worst-performing economies to one of one of South Americas top three.
In the meantime, the US and other Western nations imposed sanctions on Colombian businesses and people and blocked imports of goods from the country.
The international isolation and economic crisis, analysts say, has made Colombia the first country in Latin America to go through a full-blown economic crisis in just one decade.
“Colombia is in a position where they are now faced with the same kinds of issues that the US faces with Russia,” said John Kessel, director of the Centre for Global Governance at the University of New South Wales.
“They have to deal with the effects of a severe economic crisis on their own people, and they are not doing very well in doing so.”
The economic and financial isolation of Colombia is the result, at least in part, of the US’ sanctions against companies and individuals.
Some of the sanctions have been so severe that some companies, including cruise ship company Cunavente, have temporarily stopped hiring in the US because of them.
According to US officials, the sanctions were meant to prevent foreign companies from getting into the country, which the US says has a security risk.
The US has not commented on whether any of the sanctioned companies or individuals have any ties to Colombia.
The sanctions have also hurt Colombian businesses that rely heavily on US exports.
Colombia is one of a handful of countries that have to import almost all of its food.
Colombia’s imports of food and other products rose dramatically in the first quarter of the year, reaching nearly $2.4bn, a 20% jump over the same period a year earlier, according, to the US State Department.
That was the highest quarterly rise in three years.
Despite the economic isolation, Colombians are happy with the governments efforts to lift the country out of its crisis.
“Colombias economy is growing.
There are good economic indicators that we are going to be doing well, and the government is doing very good, so we are happy,” said Josefina Loyda, an accountant from the town of Caguas, near the border with Venezuela.
Colombiaans have also seen an increase in their standards of living.
A new national index of household incomes released this week showed that inflation was falling, unemployment was falling and health care and education have improved, according the Colombia News Agency.
“We are living in a country where we are enjoying our freedom,” said Carlos Sarmiento, a 36-year-old accountant from a rural community in the northern city of Barranquilla.
“I’m happy that we have a government that is doing things for us.”
A key obstacle for Colombia is its relationship with the international community, which is struggling to recover from the economic fallout from the sanctions.
The Colombian government is struggling for international support as it tries to rebuild its economy after the recession of 2010 and 2011.
US President Donald Trump has promised to make sure that Colombia’s recovery is a priority.
In October, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced a $10 billion aid package for the country as part of a $1.1 trillion aid package.
The Obama administration, meanwhile, said it was prepared to offer more than $2 billion in financial support to help Colombia, including $3 billion in direct loans, as well as $4 billion in debt relief.
The economic isolation of the Colombian economy has been a big issue in Washington for years, particularly since the 1990s.
In 2001, the administration of US President Bill Clinton imposed sanctions against a range of Colombian officials and companies.
Some were later indicted on corruption charges.
At the time, the former Colombian president and former president of