In this article, an overall review is made of Colombian’s foreign commercial and financial evolution, in relation to the economic policies of the last three governments (Alfonso Lopez Michelsen s: 1974-1978, Julio César Turbay Ayala's: 1978-1982, and Belisario Betancur Cuartas up to the presente), with a view to explaining the origin and characteristics of the crisis which began in its external! sector in mid 1980 and subsists today (June 1985). Although this crisis involved external causes (wakening of the world coffee market and difficulties in the international money market], there has also been a domestic cause, namely, the inadequate economic policies of the last three governments on various occasions, they have adopted measures e/early contrary to the stabiliTY of the foreign sector, have failed to take anticiclical measures or when having taken the correct measures, these have been lacking or too late. Nevertheless, and due to conditions not related with government's recent measures, Colombia’s external sector presents a promising outlook for the period: 1986-1990. Based on this reasoning, the author shows some of the lessons, to be learned, on the kind of government intervention that should be adopted in the near future, for Colombia’s foreign economic front.
