00:00Do you know how much the Colombian government spends on contracts each year?
00:03In 2025 alone, 179 trillion pesos were spent on 1.2 million contracts.
00:10With all that money you can buy 55 billion Chocorramos.
00:14which would leave each Colombian with a thousand of each of these.
00:17To understand how government contracting operated in Colombia,
00:21The viewer analyzed nearly 13 million contracts over a decade
00:26and found growth patterns between administrations and peaks
00:29at certain times of the year.
00:31While Gustavo Petro was proposing the growth of contracting as a state policy,
00:36The current government of Abelardo de la Espriella was elected on the opposite basis,
00:40the beginning of a state cutback.
00:42From January 1, 2016 to September 30, 2026
00:4513 million 427 thousand public contracts had been signed.
00:50Only those registered on SECOP2, the platform that allows them to add up their value,
00:53They pledged 882 trillion pesos,
00:56the same as building the first line of the Bogotá Metro 40 times,
01:00distributed across more than 4,900 entities at the national and territorial levels
01:04and in regional autonomous corporations.
01:07Of the 13 million contracts, 80% were for the provision of services.
01:13about 10 million contracts in a single decade.
01:16Then come the works, supplies, among others,
01:19which average 104,000 signatures per month.
01:21The regions hire more, but the nation has more expensive contracts.
01:25Despite the fact that territorial entities handle 80% of the operations,
01:29These spent slightly more than half of the money transferred
01:32with a sum of 458 trillion pesos.
01:35While there are fewer contracts in the nation, they are bigger.
01:39With only 2 out of every 10 firms, they retain 46% of the resources.
01:44411 trillion.
01:45In other words, with the money that is spent in the regions,
01:47The new campsite can be done 190 times, spread across the 32 departments.
01:53Meanwhile, with what is spent in the nation, 171 times over could be done.
01:58But most would stay in Bogotá, where the national entities have their offices.
02:03Between administrations, a change in the hiring pattern was observed.
02:06especially during Gustavo Petro's government.
02:08Between 2017 and 2022, under Santos and Duque,
02:11National entities signed between 15 and 17% of the country's contracts.
02:16But the highest peak was during Gustavo Petro's era,
02:20when in 2024 national tenders were 25 out of every 100.
02:25Between their second and third year, they went from 218,000 to 309,000 contracts,
02:3042% more.
02:32Despite the fact that Petro signed more contracts at the national level,
02:34during Iván Duque's four years,
02:35More were signed in the territorial order.
02:37During Gustavo Petro's 48 months in power,
02:40The percentage of OPS increased by 9 points compared to those contracted by Iván Duque.
02:45By going from 75% of contracts in 2019 to 84% in 2025.
02:52This type of connection has acquired enormous magnitude
02:55in the labor costs associated with the functioning of the State within public finances.
03:00In 100 state entities analyzed by El Espectador,
03:03The number of permanent staff grew by 39%.
03:06while its service contractors increased by 64%.
03:10This year, 56 of them already have more contractors than employees.
03:15In Colombia there is a season of life in the Colombian State
03:18which does not respond to the climate, but to the electoral calendar.
03:22It is called the Guarantee Law,
03:23which prohibits casting the nets of direct contracting
03:26during the four months prior to the presidential election.
03:29In January 2018, 397,000 contracts of all types were signed.
03:34which totaled between 16 and 22 trillion pesos.
03:37The same month, but in 2022,
03:39There were 502,000 contracts that amounted to a total of 25 trillion pesos.
03:44And this year 41 billion was spent on 570,000 contracts.
03:48In those months, between 316% and 456% more contracts were signed.
03:54than the average for January in each government.
03:56Now let's talk about the new president.
03:58In De las Preya's first 55 days at the helm,
04:02The national entities signed 23,538 contracts,
04:06almost the same as at the start of Petro's term, which was 23,615.
04:10And a little more than in Duque's, which started with 20,237 contracts.
04:1783 out of every 100 contracts signed these days were for the provision of services,
04:22more than the 70 out of every 100 that Petro signed
04:24and more than the 78 out of every 100 that Duque signed.
04:27Although the president has made it clear that in his development plan
04:30will cut the budget of several entities to reduce state contracting,
04:34after a decade of changes in the State,
04:36Contracting became the very backbone of each administration,
04:39both nationally and locally.
04:41It talks about how not only the entities work,
04:43but the Colombians who depend on them.
04:45Understanding the scope of each of those firms is essential
04:47when an administration talks about reinforcing or checking the State.
04:50Read the full investigation in the Spectator's political section
04:53And don't forget to follow us on all our social media channels.
