Colombia (1983: Doomsday)

In September 1983, Colombia was in the middle of a negotiation process and a fragile truce between the government and the up to 19 years old guerrilla groups. Distrust by the military and the Muerte A Secuestradores (MAS: Death To Kidnappers) drug-sponsored paramilitaries were leading the way to a Dirty War.

Colombia had some levels of industrialization and is beginning to export manufactured good, however most of the economy is still based on the first sector of economy. Most of the exportations included mining products (nickel, emeralds, platinum, some oil and coal, mainly from the newly opened coal mines in Cerrejon, world's largest open coal mines) and crops, mainly coffee, but also flowers, banana and other fruits.

Drug based economy was growing. Colombia was one of the top producers of Marijuana, however declining as Mexico and Hawaii were increasing their porduction and new varities of hemp were acclimatized for the Continental USA. Hemp was being replaced by coca, however. Colombian entrepreneurs had been trading Peruvian and Bolivian coca and processing it into cocaine to sell it in the first world, chiefly the USA.

Colombia's main markets were in the First World: The USA and Europe. Manufactured goods where also bought by Venezuela using their oil-dollars, and by other neighboring countries. However Colombia usually bought more from their trading partners than selling to them.

But now!

The first world has practically disappeared! So has de Warsaw Pact countries! Nobody is now buying Colombian goods, or selling manufactured goods to Colombia! Neither the State Department is supporting the Colombian military to content the comunist threat, neither is Cuba nor Moscow supporting the comunist guerrillas. Survivors over there har by far greater concerns than to wave a proxy war in the corner of South America.

Owe and awakening
The news cables begun transmitting the first alarms in the USA, the USSR and their NATO and Warsaw allies. Not much, at the beginning: people should go to shelters before the ICBMs begun hitting their targets. Then, all news agencies became silent, and radio-amateur frequencies became full of statics.
 * 25 September, 1983. 3:00 PM

There was confusion in Colombia. It seems that the World's Second Worst Scenario had happened: the total annihilation of the Super Powers. At least is not the World's really Worst Scenario: annihilation of mankind. Not yet at least. But news agencies are not transmitting anything, neither the ambassadors or attachés. Radio-electric statics is beginning to hinder also national communications. The first confirmation came from radio-amateurs. Over-the-noise code morse transmissions from yet unaffected cities were confirming the bad news. The nuclear holocaust has happened.

President Betancur called his ministers and top military officials. The first concern was to keep public order, and the second was to secure communications lines with the world, whatever were left, and internally. Third: to project the consequences to the country. Forth: a very hearted plight to the military not to break the truce and to avoid any provocation by the guerrillas, while information were being gathered.

A estado de sitio (temporary suspension of some constitutional provisions, to allow presidential decrees a status of law without being first approved by Congress) was decreed, and the President asked national television networks and radio stations to transmit a speech. The government was in charge, a estado de sitio was issued, people should try to go on with their normal lives, and the government was making any efforts to get information on Colombians overseas.

Of course, people was not pretty much willing to go on with their normal lives. Anyone with a short-wave transistor radio were trying to get any news out of the statics. On Monday 26th, only a few, mostly still unaware people, went to their jobs or schools.

Radiation from the initial blasts begun to settle down, allowing better communications. Radio amateurs were still the main source of information, as well as short-wave radio stations from unhit cities. Of course, they did not have either the whole picture, and their main concern was that incoming fallout and the virtual imposibility to escape.

Fallout will affect Colombia as well. Trade winds from Europe (or probably anything else, such a massive energy detonated in the atmosphere would render climate models quite random for a while) would bring radioactive clouds. Probably not in the next few days, but definitively in the next weeks, and it would last for... years. So we could be expecting an increase of cancer, mutations, and radiation induced diseases. But radiation was not the only issue. Some climate changes would be predicted, a probable nuclear winter, which would not freeze Colombia but would lower the seas and affect fishing, but the main concern is the economy.

Most Colombian commercial partners will not be buying for a while. A lot of Colombian funds were saved in international banks and on US Treasure Bonds. Colombian's main partner outside the strike zone, Venezuela, heavily relied from selling oil to the USA. Most Colombian Pesos are being backed by hard currency reserves, and hard currency meant, a days ago: Dollars, Pounds, Marks. Today, neither of them could be counted as hard currency, could they? There were still some reserves in gold backing the Pesos. Probably Colombia is in not worst shape than other countries.