The “Colombian kickstart” in context: Are growth and redistribution mutually exclusive?

Abstract Socialism would economically empower the disadvantaged masses. However, its failure crushed the economic blueprint the liberation movements intended replicating for reconstructing the post-apartheid economy. Furthermore, any attempt to organise the economy along socialist lines would likely be disdained by donor countries, foreign investors and world development agencies. In an attempt to secure their political survival, certain members of the liberation movement have inched closer to more market based alternatives. 1