La Misión Kemmerer y los intereses financieros británicos en Colombia durante la década de 1920

Abstract

In 1923 the Colombian government employed a norteamerican Mission to study the countries monetary, banking and fiscal matters. The Mission entrusted with this task was the Kemmerer Mission, headed by Edwin W. Kemmerer. This paper examines the Mission's results, in relation to British interests in Colombia, during the twenties. It aims to investigate if The Mission’s recommendations modify British financial interests in Colombia and, particularly, what was the British reduction to the engagement of a North American Mission? Were the existing British banks, in Colombia, affected by the changes in banking and monetary legislation, introduced as a result of this Mission? To this effect, the author analyses the main features regarding the Colombian economy, during the 1920 decade; the specific aspects of Kemmerer's proposed reform; the country's foreign debt, during this period and the diplomatic climate, which encompassed the relationships between Britain and Colombia and North America and Colombia.