Colombia # 8 in terror risk index
By Manuel Rueda, Editorial Director
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Monday, February 22, 2010
Colombia is the world´s 8th country most at risk for terrorist attacks according to research recently revealed by Maplecroft International.
The risk assessment consulting firm publishes a yearly “terrorism risk index” which is used by multinational companies to assess the likelihood of an attack on their assets in different countries.
The company makes its index by looking at the frequency of terrorist attacks every six months, the number of victims, the proportion of attacks that generated “mass casualties”, and threats made by “terrorist” organizations like the FARC guerrillas or Al-Qaeda.
Maplecroft placed Colombia in a group of nine “extreme risk” countries that includes Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Pakistan.
However, it does not seem like Colombia´s high ranking in the terrorism risk index is dissuading foreign investment in Colombia.
According to figures by Colombia´s Pro Export government agency, Foreign Direct Investment in the country grew five-fold from over 2.1 billion dollars in the first semester of 2002 to 10.6 billion in the first semester of 2008, decreasing only in 2009 due to the global economic crisis.
While it cannot be denied that attacks on infrastructure such as oil wells, railroads,and pipelines occur more frequently in Colombia than in neighboring countries like Venezuela and Brazil – which rank lower in the terrorist risk index – the US State Department reports these attacks have decreased by more than 60% since 2002.
Meanwhile, Colombia´s National Police says the number of yearly kidnappings went from 2,122 in 2003 to 138 in 2009.
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