Juan Pablo PochColombia: In the Limbo of Success and Catastrophe

The historical development of the Republic of Colombia has endured a significant component of

a long-lasting political violence. Ever since independence in July 20th, 1810, the former Spanish colony

has been engulfed into an ideological struggle over the state’s governance. After the altercation between

royalists and separatists, another one arose between supporters of centralism and federalism. The

Spaniards ceased the opportunity and re-conquered the incipient republic in 1816. Yet, this downfall

lasted only until Simon Bolivar’s liberation campaigns banished the Spanish permanently in 1819.

Unfortunately, after the Liberator’s death, Colombia became once again internally divided between

liberals and conservatives. In the remainder of the 1800s and the early 1900s, Colombia went through

eight civilian wars and changed constitutions another seven. Consequently, the persistent impairment of

the central government led to the secession of Venezuela in the east (1829), Ecuador in the south (1830)

and Panama in the northwest (1903). By the end of the 19th century, despite the persistent absence of

political consensus, the country experienced a significant population growth and a series of economic and

technological reforms (e.g. the railroad system). As a consequence, these allowed the amplification of

agricultural activity and the modernization of the main cities.

In the late 1920s, liberals and conservatives no longer aimed to cease the government through

arms, but by gathering a larger follower base. The nature of political violence evolved as the parties began

to support insurgent groups of fanatics (called Pajaros and Chulavitas) that mobilized around the national

territory. These first paramilitary armies assaulted and massacred populations with different ideological

postures with the sole purpose of increasing support for their respective parties through terror. The

unceasing political violence during the 20th century left a vast death toll, from farmers to presidential

candidates, and resulted in the creation of numerous guerrilla groups that still prevail – the most important

one being the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). In addition to the enduring political

rampage, the drug cartels intensified the conflict during the 80s and 90s and left a scar in society from

which other insurgents would profit. At the beginning of the millennium, the government enacted an

exhaustive military offensive against the guerrilla groups and seriously abated them throughout the last

decade. Nowadays, the undermined rebels have decided to establish peaceful negotiations with the

administration to end the historical conflict once and for all.

The contemporary Colombian politics work according to a representative democratic republic.

The roles of head of state and head of government are merged into the office of the president, which

yields a relatively strong executive. The president is elected directly by the people for periods of four

years, but the cabinet of ministers is designated by the chief executive officer. The legislature works

under a bicameral system: the Senate (upper house) and the Chamber of Representatives (lower house).

Each of the 102 senators and 166 representatives are appointed through popular vote from a multiple

parties’ lists of candidates – two of the senate seats are occupied by members of indigenous communities.

A particular feature of the Senate is the power to designate the Constitutional and Supreme Court justices,

and the nation’s Inspector, who oversees public officials. Finally, the judiciary is made up of the

Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Justice. The former is in charge of protecting the

constitution and ensuring the accordance of law and processes with the constitution through judicial

review. The latter serves as the highest level of appeal in civil and penal cases, yet it cannot rule over the

constitutionality of a law or verdict. Additionally, the Supreme Court holds the power to designate the

nation’s Attorney General, which investigates penal matters and prosecutes culprits before a judge.

Even though Colombia remains a less developed country (LDC), it has experienced a stable

economic growth over the last 15 years. According to the

World Bank 2013 data, the Colombian GDP stands at US$

378.4 billion, with a growth rate of 4.7% from the previous

year. Most of the country’s revenue derives from primary

activities, specially the mining of coal and hydrocarbons (oil

and natural gas). Colombia has taken great advantage the

“commodity lottery”, which attributes the Colombian

economy’s significant profits to the elevated world prices of

oil and coal, the country’s main exports, until the beginning of 2014 (The Economist 2014). Both growth

and resilience have brought upon Colombian territory increasing foreign direct investment, which has not

only boosted primary activities, but also expanded the service industry that surrounds these commodities.

According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), “the annual level of foreign direct investment -

notably in the oil and gas sectors - reached a record high of $16.8 billion in 2013, an increase of 7% over

2012”. The open economic policy and the signing of several Free Trade Agreements with crucial trading

partners like the US and China, has allowed Colombia to make the leap to becoming a major Latin-

American economic motor. However, drug trafficking and poverty continue to be major economic

challenges, and have persistently burdened the country to reach its true potential. Although the production

of illicit narcotics no longer reaches that of the 80s and early 90s, it still poses a negative externality to the

market and to society, as drugs stand in the middle of the armed conflict and still generate income to

outlaw groups. Moreover, the internal war against drugs is the main cause of the forced displacement of

more than 4 million people (almost 10% of the total population), which is directly associated with

increasing poverty. According to the World Bank, Colombia’s poverty rate (poverty line set at less than

$4 per day) in 2012 was 32.7% compared to the region’s 26.6%. Both the internal conflict and overall

social inequality are the major causes of poverty in Colombia. One last test for the Colombian economy

is to develop a more robust industrial base that dissuades the burden on primary mining activities – the

Dutch disease –, because, as O’Gorman mentions, “increased crude production causes oil stocks to

rapidly dwindle” (O’Gorman 2012), as has occurred during the last three quarters.

The impact of the Colonial era is imprinted in the most distinct features of the country’s folklore:

language and religion. Spanish and Catholicism are not only Colombia’s official language and religion,

but are also undisputedly the dominant ones in society. Of the total population, 90% adhere to the

Catholic Church. Meanwhile, Spanish has almost effaced other indigenous dialects. However, Colombia’s

cultural heritage has received influence from a variety of sources, which have ultimately led to the

development of heterogeneous demographics. Throughout the Colonial era, the population underwent a

process of miscegenation. The first stage occurred between the European colonizers and the native

indigenous populations. Subsequently, with the influx of African black slaves, another wave of interracial

mixture emerged, not only between whites and blacks, but also between blacks and Amerindians.

Currently, the major ethnic groups are product of these racial mixtures: mestizo (white and indigenous;

58%) and mulatto (white and black; 14%). Nonetheless, whites of European descent, or criollo, make up

20% of the population.

Colombia stands as one of the most commendable cases to analyze domestic security, especially

concerning the defense policy during the last decade. Throughout Alvaro Uribe’s administration (2002-

2010), the government incremented substantially the budget destined to fight the guerrillas, and, thus,

engaged in an all-out counterinsurgent offensive against the guerrillas. With the help of the US

government, the “Plan Colombia” transformed the Colombian military into one of the most adept to

combat guerrillas, and attenuated the FARC to a third of its manpower – according to the journal El

Espectador, from 26,000 combatants in 2002 to 8,000 in 2010. The Colombian military serves as an

example to other countries in counterinsurgent warfare. From the economic perspective, Colombia has

become a leading economic motor in Latin America, standing as the third largest behind Brazil and

Mexico. Moreover, it has led to the creation of blocs of economic cooperation like the Pacific Alliance

and the Andean Community, which have promoted overall growth across the region. Finally, Colombia

provides an example to the world of peaceful coexistence among a variety of culture groups. The richness

of cultural heterogeneity has furnished several UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages like the

Barranquilla Carnival and the Blacks and Whites’ Carnival in Pasto.

Bibliography

O'Gorman, Joey. "Colombia Pursues Shale as Oil Stocks Deplete." Colombia Reports. October 18, 2012. Accessed 3 Apr. 2015. <http://colombiareports.co/colombia-pursues-shale-as-oil-stocks-deplete/>.

"A Las Farc Sólo Le Quedan 8.000 Hombres." El Espectador. 27 Apr. 2010. Web. 4 Apr. 2015. <http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/judicial/articulo200312-farc-solo-le-quedan-8000-hombres>.

"Colombia Demographics Profile 2014." Colombia Demographics Profile 2014. Web. 4 Apr. 2015. <http://www.indexmundi.com/colombia/demographics_profile.html>.

"Passing the Baton." The Economist. August 2, 2014. Accessed 3 Apr. 2015. <http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21610305-colombia-overtakes-peru-become-regions-fastest-growing-big-economy-passing>.

“The World Factbook” 2013-14. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2013. Accessed 3 Apr. 2015 . <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html>.

"World DataBank." The World Bank DataBank. Accessed 3 Apr. 2015. <http://databank.worldbank.org/data/home.aspx>.