Ivy Leaguers Keep Grip on Colombia Economy Amid Drug Chaos

Earlier this year, a cocaine gang shut down an entire region of northern Colombia, torching cars that defied its orders to stay off the highways. Police officers were assassinated and a truck driver was murdered.

In what might as well be a parallel universe, the country’s finance officials, educated at the world’s most prestigious institutions, are negotiating its expected entry into the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the club of rich nations with the highest standards of governance and transparency. The economy expanded 3.1 percent last year, outpacing every other major country in the Americas except Peru.