COLOMBIA

 

 

NAME:                                  República de Colombia

POPULATION:                    37,500,000 (1997); 47,500,000 (2014)

ETHNIC GROUPS:             Mestizo (58%); white (20%); mulatto (14%); Amerindian (1%)

CAPITAL:                            Bogotá (8,000,000); complete name: Santa Fe de Bogotá

                Other cities:           Cali (1,900,000); Medellín (1,800,000); Baranquilla (1,300,000)

LANGUAGES:                     Spanish (official)

RELIGION:                          Roman Catholic (90%); Other (10%)

LIFE EXPECTANCY:        men (68); women (76)

LITERACY:                         93%

GOVERNMENT:                 democratic republic

PRESIDENT:                       Juan Manuel Santos

INDEPENDENCE DAY:  July 20 (1810)

MILITARY:                         146,400 active troops

ECONOMY:                         textiles, coffee, cocaine, petroleum, gas; 50% of world’s emeralds

POVERTY RATE:               49%

INTERNET TLD                 .co

MONEY:                               peso (1,080 = $1.00 US; 1997)        

GEOGRAPHY:                    Pacific and Atlantic Oceans; 3 ranges of the Andes; Magdalena River from Andes to Caribbean; There are more than 19 active volcanoes within the borders of Colombia, three of which are over 17,000 feet high. The tallest Colombian volcano is Nevado del Ruiz at 17,457 ft. (5,321 m) high.

 

HISTORY:

            10,000 bce    Major pre-Columbian civilization settled near present-day Bogotá: Chibcha people of Funza and Tunja kingdoms

            1498                Discovered / encountered by Columbus

            1525                Pedro de Heredia founded Cartagena

            1536-1538       Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada subdued the Chibchas and founded Bogotá

            1549                Audiencia  of Nueva Granada created (Gran Colombia, Venezuela, Quito)

            1740                Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada created (Colombia and Venezuela).

            1808                Fernando VII was proclaimed king of Spain by creoles in Bogotá.

            1811                Cartagena declared independence from Spain; Bolívar began war of independence.

            1813                Bolívar virtual dictator of Nueva Granada.

            1819                Bolívar liberates Nueva Granada.

            1825                Bolívar returns to Bogotá after concluding independence for Perú, Ecuador, and Bolivia; Bolívar leaves Colombia returning to Venezuela.

            1830                Bolívar, Venezuelan, dies in Colombia.

            1831                Nueva Granada declared a separate nation.

            1837                Civil wars begins in Colombia.

            1846                Treaty with U.S. allows U.S. transit across Isthmus of Panamá.                

            1852                Slavery Abolished.

            1861                Civil war

            1863                Country renamed Estados Unidos de Colombia; new constitution

            1861-1880       Civil war

            1865-1896       José Asunción Silva (modernist poet)

            1900-1903       La guerra de los mil días (civil war).

            1903                Panamá declared independence

            1928-present   Gabriel García Márquez, greatest novelist of magical realism (lo real maravilloso) and the Generación del Boom.

            1948-1958       Period of civil strife called “La violencia” (200,000 dead)

            1964-2003       Guerrilla war by Popular Liberation Army (M-19; pro-Cuban)

            1967                Cien años de soledad published by García Márquez.

            1977-present   Shakira (Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll), one of Latin America’s greatest popular musicians and singers, was born and raised in Baranquilla, Colombia. She is a world famous singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer; plus, since starting in 1994, she has been deeply engaged in charitable work.

            1978-1982       Julio César Turbay Ayala, president

            1981                Pres. Ayala breaks diplomatic ties with Cuba because Cuba was supplying arms to M-19

            1982-1986       Belisario Betancourt, president

            1985                M-19 guerrillas seize Supreme Court; 42 killed

                                    Nevada del Ruiz volcano erupts; 20,000 dead

            1986-1990       Virgilio Barco Vargas (Liberal) president

                                    Pope John Paul II visits Colombia

            1989                Jan. 13: Carlos Pizarro (M-19) and government sign peace treaty

                                    Aug.:   Carlos Pizarro assassinated

                                    Aug 18: Luis Carlos Galán, principal presidential candidate, assassinated

            1990                May 27: César Gaviria elected president (Liberal)

            1992                Pablo Escobar, head of Medellín drug cartel, escaped from prison

            1993                Escobar killed by police

            1994                Ernesto Samper Pizano elected president, indicted, but allowed to remain in office

            1998                Andrés Pastrana elected president

            2002                Álvaro Uribe elected president

            2006                Álvaro Uribe re-elected president.

2007                Shakira led other Latin American, Spanish, and Portuguese artists to form ALAS, a “loose union of Ibero-American singers … which would use the power of their fame to mobilize fans, and the politicians fans vote for, to advance the cause of early-childhood development” (New York Times Magazine, June 7, 2009, p. 25). For the New York Times article, click on either of the following New York Times photos:

 

 

 

2010                Juan Manuel Santos (Social Party of National Unity) elected president

2014                Juan Manuel Santos was re-elected president

GOVERNMENT: Federal Republic; representative democracy

 

MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES and GROUPS:

            Liberal Party (Barco, leader)

            Conservative Party (Alvaro Gómez Urtado, leader)

            Partido Nacional (blancos )

            Unión Patriótica (Communist Party):  Bernardo Jaramillo, 1987- (Jaime Pardo, assassinated in 1987 by right wing death squads)

            Drug Traffickers (los extraditables)

            SIMON BOLIVAR (guerrilla umbrella organization for:)

                  M-19 Guerrilla organization: outside official politics (Movimiento 17 de abril)

                        leader: Carlos Pizarro

                  Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC: guerrilla organization)

                  Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN, National Liberation Army: guerrilla organization, leader: Manuel Pérez, Spanish priest)

                  Ejército Popular de Liberación (EPL, People's Liberation Army: guerrilla         

                        organization)

 

PRINCIPAL MEMBERS OF INTELLIGENTSIA:

            José Asunción Silva, Modernist poet

            Manuel Zapata Olivella, Afro-Colombian novelist

            Gabriel García Márquez, magical realist novelist and journalist:

                                                 Cien años de soledad  (1967)

                                                La increíble y triste historia de la cándida Eréndira y su abuela desalmada (1972)

                                                El otoño del patriarca  (1975)

                                                Crónica de una muerte anunciada  (1985)

                                                El amor en tiempos del cólera  (1988)

                                                El general en su laberinto  (1989, Mondadori & La Oveja Negra)

                                                Del amor y otros demonios (1994)

                                                Noticias de un secuestro (1996)