Carchi
40% of Ecuador's potatoes; Rumichaca bridge closures cost $1.9M/day in 2024. December 2025 restrictions left 9,000 people crossing on foot. By 2026, binational relations determine whether border enables or strangles economy.
The Rumichaca bridge connects Ecuador's potato capital to Colombia's Nariño department—a 568km border that defines Carchi's economy. The province supplies 40% of Ecuador's potatoes; Julio Andrade crowns a "King of the Potato" annually. But this agricultural abundance depends on trade flows that politics regularly disrupts.
When Colombia's Cauca region protests block highways (50 strikes in 2024 alone), Carchi's export trucks stack up at Rumichaca. Daily losses hit $1.9M during closures: $700,000 in exports, $1.2M in imports. Governor Lucía Pozo negotiated passage for 52 stranded trailers with perishable cargo. The province exists in permanent border fragility.
The December 2025 border restrictions intensified vulnerability. Rumichaca remained the only open crossing with Colombia; communities like Urbina, Tufiño, and El Carmelo (9,000 people) lost vehicular access. Workers who live in Colombia but farm in Ecuador now cross on foot, goods carried on shoulders.
2026 trajectory: Border politics determine prosperity more than any internal policy. The Tulcán-Ipiales corridor (capital to Colombian counterpart) either flows freely or becomes economic chokepoint. Agricultural diversification beyond potatoes offers some resilience, but Carchi's fate remains tied to binational relations it cannot control.