Despite insisting that it’s at the forefront of sustainability, one of the main staples at the World Economic Forum summit in Davos this year was a gas-guzzling Jeep rented out at exorbitant rates by a country that sent its environment minister to speak about getting rid of capitalism.
The Jeep in question was decked out in the Colombian flag with a driver wearing a poncho and sunglasses.
Often seen driving the streets of Davos and honking at pedestrians, the vehicle would also sit idling as World Economic Forum participants took photos with its happy driver.
According to Colombian journalist Melquisedec Torres, the Colombian government paid the equivalent of a whopping $49,086 CAD in Colombian pesos to rent the vehicle for the duration of the 6-day conference.
At the same time, Colombia was a participant in this year’s summit with Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development Maria Susana Muahamad speaking in a panel on clean technologies.
“There’s going to be huge technological inequality. People in the South depend directly on nature,” said Muhamad.
“Basically this reality of climate, which is produced by development and capitalism. That’s why technologies are not the answer per se but it’s changing the way we live and changing the economic system. Sometimes it’s easier to think about extinction, to imagine extinction than imagine the end of capitalism.”
Muhamad is a member of President Gustavo Petro’s left-wing government. Petro, is a former member of the country’s far-left M-19 guerilla movement which was responsible for politically motivated kidnappings and murders in the past.
The minister’s comments contrast with fellow South American politician and President of Argentina Javier Milei, who denounced socialism at the conference on Wednesday.
“Socialism is an impoverishing phenomenon that has failed wherever it’s been tried, economically, socially, culturally, and it has resulted in the tragic loss of over 100 million lives,” warned Milei.
