1. Juan Pablo Poch
Colombia: 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

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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.
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