Colombian President Gustavo Petro has pitched the country’s Caribbean coast as a potential base for clean-energy bitcoin mining, framing the idea as an economic development opportunity for cities including Santa Marta, Riohacha and Barranquilla. In a May 5 post on X, Petro linked the proposal to a broader regional debate over whether surplus renewable power in Latin America can be monetized through mining without increasing fossil-fuel emissions.
Petro Pitches Caribbean Coast for Bitcoin Mining
Petro, Colombia’s president, argued that the energy source behind mining matters as much as the activity itself. “If virtual currencies are based on fossil energy, global warming explodes and climate collapse ensues. Today, countries with abundant clean energies locked away, like Venezuela and Paraguay, manage to attract investments in bitcoin mining. Bitcoin mining is the method by which a person, with powerful computers, can accumulate bitcoin through virtual transactions,” he wrote on X in a translated post.
The president said the same approach “could be the case for Santa Marta, Riohacha, and Barranquilla,” calling it “an immense boost to the development of the Caribbean.” Colombia already has a comparatively renewable-heavy electricity mix: a 2024 World Bank report found the country generates as much as 75% of its electricity from renewable sources, more than twice the global average. The Caribbean coast is also widely viewed as one of Colombia’s most promising regions for wind and solar development, although much of that capacity remains commercially underused.
Petro’s comments came in response to a detailed X thread by Sultán, a bitcoin-focused commentator, on Paraguay’s emergence as a major mining jurisdiction. “Paraguay has three dams. Itaipu on the Paraná River, with 14,000 MW of total capacity. Half belongs to Paraguay by treaty: 7,000 MW that alone covers 86% of the entire national electricity demand of a country of 7 million people,” the thread said. The post added that Paraguay now accounts for about 4.3% of global bitcoin hashrate, or roughly 43 EH/s as of Q2 2026, after miners used the country’s hydroelectric surplus to scale operations.
Wayúu Co-Ownership Floated for Clean Energy Push
Petro also tied the mining idea to local participation by the Wayúu, Colombia’s largest Indigenous group, whose communities are concentrated in La Guajira on the Caribbean coast. “That’s why a dialogue is needed between the president and the Wayúu community so that they can be co-owners of this project,” Petro wrote. The comment suggests that any mining push, if developed into policy, could involve community ownership rather than only private data-center investment.
No formal project structure, tariff regime, licensing process or timeline was included in Petro’s post. Those details would be central for miners assessing whether Colombia could compete with existing low-cost jurisdictions, particularly as Paraguay’s economics have become more complex. Sultán’s thread noted that Paraguay’s mining tariff has risen from about $0.03 per kWh five years ago to $0.051 per kWh and is moving toward $0.06 per kWh, while state utility ANDE now requires a security deposit equivalent to three months of energy costs before operations begin.
The regional comparison also included Venezuela, where the thread argued that stranded hydroelectric capacity and gas flaring could theoretically support mining if regulatory and political barriers ease. “What has kept Venezuela out of the market isn’t its energy. It’s the political and regulatory barrier that has made private capital entry impossible, especially American capital. That barrier isn’t as absolute as it once was,” Sultán wrote. For Colombia, Petro’s post places the country in the same conversation: whether surplus clean power can be turned into dollar-generating digital infrastructure while addressing local development and community ownership concerns.
Petro’s proposal remains at the idea stage, but it adds Colombia to a growing Latin American debate over bitcoin mining, renewable energy and industrial policy. The key test will be whether the government can translate a social-media pitch into bankable rules on power access, community participation and long-term operating certainty.
AI Transparency Note: This article was prepared with the assistance of an AI system based on the sources listed and was reviewed, edited, and approved by a human editor before publication. All quotes, data points, and factual claims are intended to be grounded in the cited source material; however, errors cannot be ruled out entirely.