Colombia
Introduction Colombia has suffered a great deal of violence in the past 50 years as a consequence of the on-going civil war. Colombia’s current government has made little progress to stop the fighting, resulting in murder, torture, rape, and desecration of property. ... ” (Weißbeckerhaus, 2002) The civil war has created an environment of fear and mistrust in Colombia, causing the economy to falter through lack of investors. ... Adding to this problem is the lack of government in some areas; “About 10% of counties have no police force…the only law in chunks of Colombia is either the guerillas or the paramilitaries. ... Exploration and settlement of the interior of Colombia came as a result of the Spaniards searching for "El Dorado," the Gilded Man. ... Bogotá was to be the future capital of Colombia, however Quesada called it New Granada in memory of his native province in Spain. ... By the time the Thousand Days War ended in 1902 Colombia, formerly known as New Granada until 1863, faced new beginnings. After many plans, representatives of Colombia and the United States signed a treaty in 1903 in which Colombia granted the U. ... The Colombian Senate later rejected the treaty, and Panama revolted and declared itself independent of Colombia. ... It was not until 1922 that Colombia and the U. ... Government Colombia is governed by a president, a congress of senators, and by representatives. ... The senators, who are elected by the departmental assemblies, serve four years (Colombia Government, 2002)). ... The executive branch is composed of the current president of Colombia who is Alvaro Uribe Velez and the Vice President is Francisco Santos Calderon. ... There are also numerous political parties that make up the Colombian government such as Political Parties the Democratic Alliance (AD/M-19), Liberal Party (PL), and the New Democratic Force (NDF) (Colombia Government, 2002). ... Economy There are numerous factors in Colombia that support the tumultuous events in its history. ... 7 million (Colombia Population 2002), of that 55% (21.8 million) (Colombia: Economy 2002) are below the poverty line. ... Exports outweighed imports for Columbia with coffee, bananas, sugar cane, and flowers the major exports and machinery, chemicals, and transport equipment the leading imports (Colombia: ECONOMY 2002). Colombia despite having its unique position of coastal access both on the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea cannot overcome the reality of labor problems, unsafe work environments, and corruption to fuel the economy. ... It is for this reason that Colombia must rely so heavily on the United States and IMF/World Bank for support. ... The budgetary balance sheet of Colombia, while not in crisis is of concern with a deficit of $2 billion (Colombia Economy 2002). Colombian economic planners are stressing the importance of diversification to reduce its dependence on coffee so that future downswing will not have severe consequence and increase the deficit (Colombia: Growth and Structure of the Economy 2002). ... Religion Colombia has a wide array of backgrounds living in it’s country, but despite the difference in backgrounds, more than 95% (DuBois, 2002) of Colombians share the same religion: Roman Catholic. ... Roman Catholicism has been the main religion in Colombia since the 1500’s. Catholic churches in Colombia are known to be some of the most conservative in all of Latin America. ... But previously in 1853 Colombia was one of the first to pass a law separating state and church in Latin America, however the constitution and Concordat remained in effect until a new one was passed. ... Demographics Colombia is located in the northwestern part of South America. ... Colombia is the only country in South America that has coastlines on the Pacific and Caribbean Ocean, which make the fishing villages, and harbors along the coastline thrive. ... The total surface area of Colombia is 439,736 square miles, about the size of Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico combined. In terms of size, Colombia is the fourth largest country in South America. ... The feature that distinguishes Colombia from other countries is the Andean mountain chain. ... The longest mountain range is called Cordillera Oriental, the mountain range that is the biggest is called Cordillera Central, which runs in the center of Colombia, and the mountains that have the highest peak is called Cordillera Occidental. ... However, Colombia is also employing a lot of people at 16. ... Due to the various elevations and terrain of Colombia, it makes it very difficult for children to get to school, which makes the education that is offered through television and radio very popular. The river basins, which are located which in the mountain ranges, are the place in which one can find the most famous rivers of Colombia: the Magdalena, Atrato, Sinu, Amazon and Orinoco rivers. ... Sunday is Family Day in Colombia. ... This day is usually the center for all personal, social and business dealings in all areas of Colombia (Bosrock, 1997) Colombia does not spend much money in the area of education. ... ” (Fitch, 1998) While this brief description of European colonization and slavery bears a similar background to the United States, the social system as it stands in Colombia is far more rigid, with upward mobility from the lower classes practically impossible. ... The women in Colombia lucky enough to be part of the upper class enjoy far more freedoms then their lower class counterparts. (See Appendix B) Originally in Colombia, elite status was based on “distinguished lineage and a respected family name, together known as abolengo, and on the ownership of large tracts of land.” (Upper Class, 2002) Today’s upper class membership is determined more by financial longevity, as a result of the economic hardship being experienced in Colombia.