DOWNLOAD PDF CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA (7TH AUGUST, 1886)

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1 Chapter 1 : President World: List of Presidents of Colombia Book digitized by Google from the library of the University of California and uploaded to the Internet Archive by user tpb. Skip to main content Search the history of over billion web pages on the Internet. Since Colombia adopts the representative, republican, and democratic form of government, it is governed by representatives of the people, who are elected through direct vote. The country embraces a system made up of governmental powers mainly an Executive Power, a Legislative Power, and a Judicial Power, and also has a written Constitution. The Constitution is the source and origin of all Colombian laws and it overrides them all. There have been relatively few constitutions since the country finally became an independent nation in The first constitutions promulgated in,, and recognized a degree of local autonomy, but after the civil war of, the charter firmly established the unitary form of government. This constitution underwent major amendments in,,, and Finally, in a new charter was promulgated; it has also been amended virtually every year until The Constitution is divided into thirteen sequential titles subdivided into chapters and articles devoted to the political organization of the country and the formal acknowledgment of liberties and freedoms. Full recognition is given to basic principles, such as the preeminence of human rights, national sovereignty, division of powers, and the representative system. The Constitution also has transitory provisions. Brief descriptions of the three branches of the government: Executive Power The Executive power dominates the other branches of government and is vested mainly in the President, the Vice-President, the Ministers, and the directors of administrative agencies. The President both head of government and chief of state is in charge of the general administration of the country and the protection of the National State interests, and is also the Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces. The President is also empowered to direct foreign relations of the State, to declare a state of emergency and suspend liberties, and to convene extraordinary sessions of Congress. The term of office is 4 years, and the President may be re-elected to a single consecutive term. The President appoints the Ministers and directors of administrative agencies. In the administrative area, the President is officially empowered to organize public credit, recognize national debt and arrange its service, and regulate international exchange and foreign commerce, customs duties, tariffs, and charges. Exercise of these powers, however, is subordinate to laws passed by Congress. The Vice-President is elected along with the president by popular vote for a four-year term eligible for a second term. No specific function is constitutionally assigned to the Vice-President who is, nonetheless, empowered to succeed to the Presidency on the death, incapacity, resignation or removal of the President. Ministers are in charge of Ministries devoted to domestic affairs and justice, foreign affairs, defense, finance, education, energy, commerce and industry, culture, environment, communications, transportation, agriculture, and social welfare. Ministers endorse and authenticate, by virtue of their signatures, certain presidential actions that would not be effective otherwise. As head of a ministry and a member of the cabinet, a minister holds a position that is simultaneously administrative and political. The most important function of the Ministers and directors of administrative agencies are to set national policy in all areas of governmental activity. An important task of the President and Ministers is to issue regulations reglamentos to specific laws. The approval of these regulations requires that the President and one or more Ministers act jointly. Individually, the President may issue decrees decretos on any governmental activity and the Ministers may issue resolutions resoluciones regarding specific topics of their competence. Whether it is a regulation, a decree or a resolution, the instrument must be published along with the most important documentation from the executive branch in the official journal Diario Oficial before it becomes binding. Senators and representatives are elected by direct popular vote for four years. Legislative sessions begin annually on Independence Day July A special session may be called in by the Executive. For election purposes, the country is divided into districts and each district elects its members roughly proportional to their population. Each department is considered an electoral district and elects at least two representatives. Others are added to each district on the basis of population numbers. Up to five additional house seats will be Page 1

2 reserved for ethnic groups, political minorities, and Colombians residing abroad. Currently, there are seats in the House. There are a constitutionally established number of seats in the Senate and 2 more have been added in representation of indigenous communities. Each senator represents the entire country rather than just one department. Besides its legislative tasks, the House has budgetary responsibilities; it is also empowered to elect the General Ombudsman Defensor del Pueblo or to indict the President and other high officers, and to handle complaints submitted by the Prosecutor General Fiscal General and individual citizens against high officers. Legislative Process The law-making process is comprised of seven steps: Legislation on any subject can be initiated by: Legislation on matters related to their respective functions may be initiated by: Bills are submitted to the office of the secretary general of either chamber or to members of either chamber meeting in plenary session. A number is assigned to them before submission to a technical, material, and formal analysis by a standing committee of the chamber where the bill was introduced. Bills are distributed among the committees according to subject matter. Each chamber counts with 7 standing committees specializing in different fields: Bills are sent at this point to the government printing office for publication in the congressional gazette Gaceta del Congreso. Members of the committee in charge of the bill will then submit a report also published in the congressional gazette to the full committee. If the bill survives debates within the committee, it will be sent for a general or article by article discussion in a plenary session of the chamber. Although there is room for modifications, the chamber may decide to send the bill back to the committee whenever its text becomes significantly different from the one originally submitted. Once the bill is approved by one chamber, it will undergo the same treatment by the pertinent standing committee and plenary sessions of the other chamber. The President has a number of days which varies on the basis of the length of the statute to sanction or promulgate any bill approved by both chambers, propose amendments to it or ask for a reconsideration of any of its provisions. The President may ask Congress to reconsider any statute or parts of it found objectionable. The laws become mandatory as of the date of their publication in the Diario Oficial, or at a date indicated in the respective text. A special procedure is required for constitutional reforms. The purpose of a constitutional reform is to effect a partial revision of the Constitution and a replacement of one or more of its provisions, without modifying the fundamental principles and structure of the constitutional text. The initiative for a constitutional reform may proceed from one of the following: Constitutional reform bills must be processed in two ordinary and consecutive terms. The final bill approval requires a majority vote in both chambers. Once approved, the bill may be submitted to a popular vote in order to determine if a constitutional assembly will be organized. A positive vote of a third of registered voters will be sufficient to call the convention. The assembly members will be elected by direct vote in a separate election. Types of Legislation The hierarchy of Colombian norms is fairly typical of civil law jurisdictions. The supreme set of norms is the Constitution. Under this scheme, Congress should pass the laws or statutes leyes with an internal hierarchy: Most statutes are ordinary acts or ordinary laws leyes ordinarias. These are common laws, in the essential meaning of the word, originating from Congress, in exercise of its primary legislating function. They deal with all subjects, except those which will be specifically dealt with by other categories of laws. Approval requires the vote of a simple majority, and sanction by the President of the Republic. Enabling laws leyes habilitantes are those enacted by an absolute majority of the membership of both chambers to establish the guidelines, purposes and framework for matters that are being delegated to the President, so that decrees with the rank and force of law may be issued. These decrees are issued by the President by means of that delegation of competence from Congress. The President the delegate would not normally have competence to sanction that law, but has acquired the power to do so. Most of these decrees deal with economic or fiscal regulation, support and control of enterprises, scarcity of natural resources, and politically related issues; the decrees may not be used to enact codes or organic laws, or to levy taxes. At all times and on its own initiative, the Congress may amend the decrees issued by the Executive while using its extraordinary powers. Organic laws are those regulating the exercise of legislative activity to establish the internal rules of Congress and of each chamber, concerning the preparation, approval, and execution of the Budgetary Revenues and Appropriations Law, the Page 2

3 execution of the general development plan and the regulations concerning the assignment of regulatory responsibilities to the territorial entities. The enactment of organic laws will require an absolute majority vote in both chambers. Statutory laws are enacted by Congress to regulate the following subject areas: The approval, amendment, or repeal of statutory laws also requires an absolute majority vote in both chambers and must be completed within a single legislative term. Any citizen may intervene in defense or opposition to the bill. The Colombian court system is headed by four roughly coequal, supreme judicial organs: The Supreme Court of Justice Corte Suprema de Justicia decides appeals on errors of law and for that purpose funcions as a court of cassation to quash lower court decisions through three chambers specializing respectively in civil, criminal, and labor matters. It also has original jurisdiction in certain proceedings against high functionaries, in certain admiralty matters, in controversies between departments and in controversies relating to government contracts; it is also the highest court having jurisdiction over civil, family, labor, agrarian, commercial and criminal cases. Its 23 judges are selected by their peers from nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms. The Council of State Consejo de Estado is the highest court of administrative law. The Council has original jurisdiction over certain admiralty cases and river navigation matters; jurisdictional conflicts between the departments and the municipalities and between any of them and the national government; public lands concessions; cancellation of naturalization papers; appeals from certain decisions of the national government; etc. It also takes appeals from departmental administrative courts and some national officials. The 27 judges forming the Council are selected by their peers from nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms. The Constitutional Court Corte Constitutional reviews the constitutional validity of laws approved by the legislative branch and some decrees issued by the executive branch; and it is also responsible for procedures related to actions created to protect the rights of those accused of criminal offenses, or actions against abuses of public administration officials, including members of the judiciary. The 9 judges forming the Court are selected by the Senate from nominees of the President, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State for eight-year terms. Its 13 members are selected by the three sister highest courts and by Congress from nominees of the Executive for eight-year terms. The lower court system consists of: The ordinary courts include trial courts with jurisdiction in civil, criminal, labor, family, land among other specialized areas; and superior district courts, which decide appeals from judges of judicial districts and circuit judges, and have original jurisdiction over special matters in which the Government and the departments are parties. The departmental administrative courts hear cases regarding departmental ordinances, municipal resolutions, decisions of departmental and municipal executives; tax matters; etc. Although it belongs to the judicial branch, the Constitution confers upon it an independent role so that it can better perform its functions. The Prosecutor General is designated for a four-year term by the Supreme Court which selects one of the three candidates presented by the President The Office of the Attorney General Procuraduria General de la Nacion is appointed by the Senate from a list of candidates selected by the President and the highest courts, the Attorney General acts as guardian of constitutional rights and liberties, democratic principles, public interests, and the rule of law in general. The Attorney General shall also file any appropriate action to hold liable public officials who have incurred civil, labor, military, criminal, administrative or disciplinary liability in the course of their official duties. The Office of the Defender of the People Defensoria del Pueblo is an independent body whose mission is to defend and protect human rights and other liberties and interests protected under the Constitution and the laws, in the face of deeds, acts or omissions of the administration. The Defender of the People is appointed for a four-year term by Congress which selects one of the three candidates presented by the President. The Office of the Comptroller General Contraloria General de la Republica is headed by a Comptroller General appointed for a four-year period at the beginning of each presidential term by Congress, which selects one of the three candidates presented by the highest courts. Page 3

4 Chapter 2 : Constitutional history of Colombia - Wikipedia Constitution of the Republic of Colombia (7th August, ) [microform] by Colombia and a great selection of similar Used, New and Collectible Books available now at blog.quintoapp.com During Colonial times, the Spaniards were supposed to behave according to the Laws of Burgos of that defined the rights of the indigenous people but most importantly legalised the right of the Spaniards over them. These were replaced by the New Laws of Indies of At present, the modern version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights forms the core of the political constitutions of many countries. The Constitution of Canada, for example, is quite short and is limited almost exclusively to human rights and basic freedoms. Those rights and liberties were not an integral part of the initial Colombian constitutions, but some were slowly introduced until they were definitively and explicitly included in the Constitution of The first written constitution as such with jurisdiction in Colombia was the Spanish Constitution of The Spanish Constitution of also had theoretical jurisdiction during the Reconquista of Spanish America until Independence in During colonial times, the Catholic Church was the most powerful institution after the Monarchy of Spain. The Church had control over the press, education, literacy and access to professions. It was the decisive authority in matters of public and private morality and the government would turn to it to obtain civil servants when laymen were not available. During the fight for independence, and after, the Church was losing its influence, but it continued take a decisive part in the decision making process. In particular, the federalists wanted to create a constitution without clerical influence, whereas the centralists leaned towards the Church not only to preserve the faith but as a political body. The minimum geographic area able to send members to the congresses were the parishes. In larger urban areas there could be several parishes. Memorandum of Offences Memorial de Agravios: It commissioned Camilo Torres Tenorio to draft the document known in Colombian history by the name " Memorandum of Offenses ". For reasons that are unknown, the Cabildo did not accept this document. On July 20,, Colombia declared independence from Spain. The "Memorandum of Offences" was kept unpublished until It shows the attitudes that Criollos locally born people of pure or mostly Spanish ancestry had towards assuming a role in the government within the domains of Ferdinand VII of Spain. Some were royalists and others favored independence. The document demanded the same level of representation for Criollos in the American provinces as that of residents born in Spain known as Peninsulares. This demand was based on the claim that Criollos were "descendants of Conquistadors " and the "legitimate heirs of the Spanish hegemony" which the conquistadors had established over the native populations of America, at whom they looked with some contempt. The Constitution of the Free State of Socorro in was the first of these. It was simultaneously federalist, democratic, liberal and catholic. The Constitution of the state of Cundinamarca on April 4, The document was inspired by the United States Constitution. On the second Sunday of October the first elections were held in Tunja. For each inhabitants there was a representing elector, and one for each municipality even if it did not have a population of this size. Any man 20 years old or older or anybody 15 or older and with "a modest occupation" could vote. The first name for the republic was established officially on November United Provinces of New Granada. At the meeting of October 4,, the United Provinces elected Camilo Torres Tenorio as president a position he held until October 5, and declared the union to be federalist as opposed to centralist. He remained so until Congress of Angostura Although in some large areas were still under Spanish control, the urge for independence energised the political climate. This meeting, called the Congress of Angostura, worked on the development of a "Fundamental Law" constitution. Representatives from Quito were few since that province was still under Spanish control. These were the decisions taken initially: The Capital of the province of Quito would be the city of Quito. The Capital of Venezuela would be Caracas. The Republic of Colombia was created. In order to differentiate this period from present Republic of Colombia, historians have customarily called it Gran Colombia. The Republic would be governed by a president. There would be a vice president who would replace the president in his absence. The governors of Page 4

5 the three Departments would also be called Vice Presidents. The presidents and vice-presidents would be elected with an indirect vote, but in the interim, the Congress chose them, as follows: President of the Republic: In August, Bolivar continued his mission of liberation and left for Ecuador and Peru, with Santander remaining in charge of the country. Bolivar was given the title of "Liberator" and his picture with the motto "Bolivar, Liberator of Colombia and father of the Motherland" was exhibited in the congress assembly hall. This has been considered the first Constitution of Colombia that was effective in Gran Colombia until its dissolution in It consisted of 10 chapters and 91 articles, but the most important points are: It also created a fund to ensure that released slaves would have means to subsist. The fund was collected from a percentage of inheritances that varied from 0. This happened 42 years before slavery was abolished in United States. It ended the Inquisition and made reforms regarding bishops, archbishops and church property. The Government of Colombia was declared popular and representative. It confirmed the division into three great departments: Cundinamarca, Venezuela and Quito. These departments were divided in 7 normal departments not counting Panama and Quito; their fate was still in the future ; three of Venezuela: Orinoco, Venezuela and Zulia, and four of Cundinamarca: Each departament was divided into provinces, the provinces into cantons, cantons into cabildos and municipalities, and then into parishes. Venezuela consisted of ten provinces, Cundinamarca thirteen to which the two Panamanian provinces would later be added, and Quito had seven provinces. Each parish would have an Assembly that would meet the last Sunday of July every four years. The members of these Assemblies would designate the voters of the cantons. Voters were required to be 25 years old and should have more than piastras in real estate or in rent. Men age 21 or older with one hundred piastras or an equivalent income from an occupation and who after knew how to read and write could also vote. These would constitute the provincial Assembly of voters who would meet the first day of October every four years, in order to elect the president and vice-president of the Republic, the senator of the Department and the representative or representatives of the province. These departmental civic employees would serve terms of four years. The Congress would be formed by two chambers: The senators would be appointed for a period of eight years and the representatives for a period of four years. Each department would have 4 senators: These differences were incorporated with the aim of renewing the Senate every four years. Senators should be 30 years old, Criollo by birth, have real estate worth piastras or a rent of piastras per year, and practising a liberal profession. Foreigners were also allowed to be senators if they had been established in the country for twelve years and owned real estate worth piastras. The Chamber of Representatives would be made up of Deputies: Delegates must be 25 and possess property worth piastras or a rent of piastras, or be a professional. It was necessary to reside in the country two years before election. Foreigners had a residence requirement of eight years and had to have real estate worth piastras. The House of Representatives would have the exclusive faculty to accuse the president, the vice-president and the ministers of the High Court of Justice before the Senate. The Constitution established that sessions of both chambers be public; that the main civil servants be excluded from legislative functions; that their members enjoy immunity during their term, and that they receive pay. The Executive authority was to consist of a president and a vice-president, chosen for 4 years, who could not be re-elected and who, in case of death, would be replaced by the president of the Senate. The president would have a pay of piastras per year, and the vice-president Each department would be administered by an intendant and a governor, the former appointed by the president and the latter under the orders of the intendant. It established the positions of ministers, council, and supreme court, and regulated each position. Separation of Ecuador and Venezuela: Quito did not have a real representation in the constitutional deliberations and it was not until that joined the Gran Colombia. In spite of support for the constitution in Quito, and more specifically in Guayaquil, the people of Venezuela and Quito longed for a federalist constitution, one that would allow them to have regional freedom and control without strong central impositions. The Venezuelan military, in particular, wanted to exert more power in their region. In the congress decided to reduce that right and made a constitutional change to exclude the ranks below sergeants, since excluding higher ranks was considered too bold. The Santanderists federalists formed a large contingent. Page 5

6 The displeasure of the Bolivarians centralists was such that they decided to leave the deliberations, thus not allowing a quorum to be obtained. This unwillingness to behave democratically and solve problems with dialogue, negotiation and vote, deciding on abandonment of the process instead, was a behavior that the political parties of Colombia would maintain during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and it would generate violence. Nevertheless, the members in the elections of July 1, were appointed. Bolivar was eager to see Colombia united and decided to impose his will in a dictatorial fashion as a last resort. In August, he presented a constitution in which he included Peru and Bolivia by then, Bolivia had already separated from Peru, with a strong central government and a presidency for life in which the president could have the faculty to appoint his successor. That was the final spark that set afire the Santanderistas because they saw in that proposal a backward movement towards monarchy; on September 25 there was an assassination attempt on Bolivar. They let this be known at the convention of January The Inhabitants of Quito, knowing that Venezuela had separated and that Bolivar was retired, decided to separate as well. Thus The Gran Colombia vanished after 11 years of existence. Page 6

7 Chapter 3 : Colombian Constitution of - Wikipedia Note: Citations are based on reference standards. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. The specific requirements or preferences of your reviewing publisher, classroom teacher, institution or organization should be applied. The Chibchas, who lived in the Bogota region, dominated the various Indian groups. Spaniards first sailed along the north coast of Colombia as early as, but their first permanent settlement, at Santa Marta, was not established until In, the area was established as a Spanish colony with the capital at Santa fe de Bogota. The city became one of the principal administrative centers of the Spanish possessions in the New World, along with Lima and Mexico City. On July 20,, the citizens of Bogota created the first representative council to defy Spanish authority. Total independence was proclaimed in, and in the Republic of Greater Colombia was formed. The Republic After the defeat of the Spanish army, the republic included all the territory of the former viceroyalty. Two political parties that grew out of conflicts between the followers of Bolivar and Santander--the Conservatives and the Liberals--have dominated Colombian politics. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, each party held the presidency for roughly equal periods of time. Colombia, unlike many Latin American countries, maintained a tradition of civilian government and regular, free elections. In the first two instances, civilian rule was restored within 1 year. Two civil wars resulted from bitter rivalry between the Conservative and Liberal parties. The War of a Thousand Days cost an estimated, lives, and up to, people perished during "La Violencia" The Violence of the late s and s. A military coup in brought Gen. Gustavo Rojas Pinilla to power. Initially, Rojas enjoyed considerable popular support, due largely to his success in reducing "La Violencia. Through regular elections, the presidency would alternate between the two parties every 4 years; the parties also would have parity in all other elective and appointive offices. The National Front ended "La Violencia. The National Front government made efforts to resolve problems of inflation, unemployment, and inequitable income distribution while cutting government expenses. Although the parity system established by the Sitges agreement was terminated in, the Colombian constitution in effect until required that the losing political party be given adequate and equitable participation in the government. Although the constitution does not have that requirement, subsequent administrations have included opposition parties in the government. Of the people killed, 11 were Supreme Court justices. The next administrations had to contend both with the guerrillas and with the narcotics traffickers, who operated with relative impunity within Colombia. Narco-terrorists assassinated three presidential candidates before Cesar Gaviria Trujillo was elected in Since the death of Medellin cartel leader Pablo Escobar in a shoot-out in December, indiscriminate acts of violence associated with that organization have abated. President Ernesto Samper assumed office in August Samper vowed to continue many of the economic and foreign policy goals of the Gaviria Administration, while also placing greater emphasis on addressing social inequities and eliminating poverty. Page 7

8 Chapter 4 : List of Presidents of Colombia - Wikipedia Full text of "Constitution of the Republic of Colombia (7th August, ) [microform]" See other formats Given at Bogota, on the i."" day of August, Its total area is slightly less than twice the size of the US state of Texas. Its natural resources include petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds and hydropower. According to estimates, Colombia has a population of 45,,, with a median age of Life expectancy at birth is Ninety percent of the population is Roman Catholic, and Constitutional History Constitution Colombia has had several constitutions. The first constitution which was in force for a significant period was promulgated in after an agitated constitutional period in the 19th century. It remained in force until The Constitution established a strong state with three branches of government, with the executive being the dominant branch. The executive had control over state enterprises, including the banking sector putting public and private credit under its control, electricity, and petroleum. Between and, there were several Constitutional amendments. Most notable was the amendment, which formally established bipartisanship after a long period of violence known as La Violencia, caused by disagreements between the liberals and the conservatives, who were the main political parties. The so-called Frente Nacional National Front, a system of government which called for equal numbers of liberal and conservative delegates in the Congress, and for alternation between liberal and conservative Presidents. The Frente Nacional remained in effect until, when the election of a liberal president coincided with the unilateral decision of the conservatives to terminate the system. Although the Frente Nacional formally ended La Violencia, the rigid bipartisanship it established led to further political violence since it in effect disenfranchised anyone who was not a liberal or a conservative. This disenfranchisement led to the reforms which resulted in the Constitution. The process began with an attempted reform in intended to involve the population in the political process and to counter corruption amidst an ongoing civil conflict. The failed reforms instigated a student movement named Todavia podemos salvar Colombia we can still save Colombia. The students and youths demonstrated on the streets demanding a constitutional assembly to address the ongoing conflict. The movement proposed a constituent assembly for the elections and held a special ballot called the septima papeleta Seventh Ballot during the regular elections. There was a near unanimous positive response to the Seventh Ballot. The Supreme Court validated the Seventh Ballot, and elections for the representatives of the National Constituent Assemblies were held. The Constitutional Assembly was inclusive and representative. Seventy delegates were chosen after a nation-wide election, and included members from every strata of society, including professional politicians, ex-guerillas, Indian leaders, businessmen, social leaders, labor leaders, peasants, clerics and academics. The demand for a new constitution was driven by the need to establish modern democratic institutions that would encourage greater participation in the democratic process, strengthen the rule of law in order to defuse political violence, and to secure human rights by establishing mechanisms for the protection of these rights. The Constitution created three mechanisms to protect these rights: The Constitution was amended by reforms in,,,,,,,,, and December Elections for seventy delegates for the Constitutional Assembly held nationwide. Page 8

9 Chapter 5 : Colombian Constitution of Constitution of the Republic of Colombia (7th August, ) [microform] [Colombia] on blog.quintoapp.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. This book was originally published prior to, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work. Map showing the United States of Colombia in The Constituent Assembly consisted of 18 delegates, two from each of the nine states. The presidential term was changed from two to six years. The president of the Republic was elected by the Congress. The president of each state was re-titled Governor. Governors were to be appointed by the president of the Republic. Thus the president in effect had control of the executive at all levels. In addition, the re-election of the president for subsequent terms was authorized. The chamber, the departmental assemblies and the municipal councils were chosen by popular vote. The Senate was chosen by the departmental assemblies. The suffrage for elections of national scope was limited: Men must be 21 or older, and had to be literate. The restriction of knowing how to read and to write did not apply in regional elections. The Catholic religion became the official religion. This method of implementing constitutional changes based on the partisan wind of the moment, without having to be the result of agreement by the different political parties or the will of the people, was one of the causes of bipartisan polarization and violence in Columbia for many years. The population began to identify themselves more with the party concept than with the nation concept. The radical liberal segment was never reconciled to the loss of power and on three occasions between to they tried to gain it by force. It took 44 years up to for the Liberal party to regain power. The Constitution of remained effective for more than one hundred years, guiding the mandate of twenty-three presidents of the Republic of Colombia, until the year Separation of Panama Main article: Separation of Panama from Colombia In the Hayâ Herran Treaty, signed January 22,, Colombia would have indefinitely rented a strip of land to the United States for the construction of a canal in the Department of Panama. The proposal was rejected by the Colombian Congress, who considered it disadvantageous to the country, not only because the payments would not last forever, but because conceding the isthmus indefinitely to a foreign country represented a loss of national sovereignty. The Reform of Rafael Reyes in a portrait In December, a few months after being elected president, General Rafael Reyes shut down Congress because of its unwillingness to approve the reforms he desired. At the beginning of, he summoned a National Constituent Assembly consisting of three representatives from each department, chosen by the departmental administrators. The Assembly abolished the vice-presidency, two of the designaturas, and the State Council. It also specified that the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice would serve for life, recognized the right of representation for minorities, and the possibility of reforming the Constitution by means of a National Assembly [1]. The National Assembly demonstrated its support for a government with a dictatorial character when it established a presidential period of 10 years for General Reyes from January 1, to January 31,, with the possibility of directly appointing his successor. If the new president were someone other that Reyes the term would be for four years. This important reform, inspired by the members of the Republican Union a third political party with bipartisan principles of free elections and religious tolerance, banned the participation of the military in politics, and established the direct popular election of the president, departmental assemblies and municipal council. It reduced the presidential period from 6 to 4 years, prohibited the immediate re-election of presidents, eliminated the figure of the vice-president and replaced it by one appointee that would be chosen by the Congress. It established a system of proportional representation for the appointment of members of public corporations according to votes obtained, assuring a minimum of one third for the opposition party. It granted the Congress the faculty to choose the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, consecrating constitutional control of the Supreme Court of Justice. With these reforms the presidential powers were reduced. Before this reform, the president was chosen by intermediation of the electoral schools that represented the electoral districts, and the president who won the elections had the control to ensure he Page 9

10 stayed in power for a lengthy period. This reform kept in force the previous voter qualifications. These were the literacy requirement, and to have an annual rent of at least pesos or to possess real estate with a value of at least 1, pesos. The president retained the power to name governors who in turn would appoint mayors, corregidores, administrators, directors of post offices, heads of jails, managers of banks, and some others. It was not until August 27,, during the government of Olaya Herrera, that the number of seats in Congress was regulated with Law no. This new law set the number of seats for each party to be proportional to the number of votes obtained by each party, with a mumimum of one third of the seats for the opposition party. Guaranteeing one third of the seats for the opposition had indirect undesired effects. During conservative governments, the liberal party boycotted the electoral process as a means of protest in several elections, knowing that in any case it would obtain one third of the positions in Congress. On one occasion, not even the third part was accepted. To begin the period of transition, on July 15 the Constituent National Assembly made an exception to the rule of popular election of presidents and elected the first president of the Republican Union, Carlos Eugenio Restrepo, and also chose the first and second designates. The right of suffrage was extended to all men 21 or older, eliminating the literacy condition. This rule was implemented for the first time in the presidential election of, which the liberal Eduardo Santos won. Although they were not considered citizens for the purposes of suffrage, women were granted the right to occupy most public positions, and began to attend university. Control of the Catholic Church over education started to wane. The Reform of File: Women exerted this right for the first time during the plebiscite of December 1,, to approve the constitutional change that would allow both traditional political parties, Liberal and Conservative, to co-govern as the National Front. Three attempts to recognize the right of women to vote had failed: First in during the government of Alfonso Lopez Pumarejo where a law was presented to the Congress which failed to pass, and voting rights for women did not appear in the constitutional reform of that year. The second attempt was the proposal presented by liberal Alberto Lleras Camargoin ; it was postponed under the excuse that this regulation could not be approved before The third attempt was the proposal presented by the liberal Alfonso Romero Aguirre in, which was slated to be implemented in a gradual fashion, which in reality was another postponement. The Reform of In October the temporary Military Junta that succeeded Rojas Pinilla authorized with the agreement of the traditional political parties constitutional reform by means of the Legislative Act No. This legislation fixed the parity of the parties with the stated purpose of finding a solution to the problems of the country. This agreement and the corresponding period was called National Front. It was determined that the elections for President of the Republic, Congress, Departmental Assemblies, and Municipal Councils would take place during the first semester of The Reform of The first Congress elected by popular means within the National Front made a constitutional change to extend the term of the National Front from 12 to 16 years, and decided that the first president would be Liberal and not Conservative as agreed before. The Reform of Although the National Front ended in, the constitutional reforms preparing for the transition began in during the government of Carlos Lleras Restrepo, the next to last President of the National Front. With the purpose of regulating the electoral competition between parties, the reforms eliminated the distribution by halves for departmental assemblies and municipal councils. Also included were some measures to recognize minority parties. Some required reforms were postponed, in some cases indefinitely, such as the ordinal one of article of the Constitution granting "the right and fair participation of the second party in voting". Article had the unintended effect of limiting the participation of minority parties and therefore limiting citizen participation. It established that later reforms to the constitution could be made by the Congress, as long as the reform was approved by two thirds majority of the members of the Senate and the in camera voting of two consecutive ordinary legislative sessions. The Reform of On November 21,, during the government of Belisario Betancur, the Congress established popular voting for mayors and governors, with the aim of reducing or eliminating central control of the parties over nominations and of improving regional democracy. Page 10

11 Chapter 6 : History - Colombia - located, problem, area, system, future, power, policy Constitution of the Republic of Colombia: 7th August, (Classic Reprint) [Colombia Colombia] on blog.quintoapp.com *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Excerpt from Constitution of the Republic of Colombia: 7th August, All doubtful dividing lines shall be determined by Commissions of surveyors to be appointed by the Se nate. Map showing the United States of Colombia in The Constituent Assembly consisted of 18 delegates, two from each of the nine states. The presidential term was changed from two to six years. The president of the Republic was elected by the Congress. The president of each state was re-titled Governor. Governors were to be appointed by the president of the Republic. Thus the president in effect had control of the executive at all levels. In addition, the re-election of the president for subsequent terms was authorized. The chamber, the departmental assemblies and the municipal councils were chosen by popular vote. The Senate was chosen by the departmental assemblies. The suffrage for elections of national scope was limited: Men must be 21 or older, and had to be literate. The restriction of knowing how to read and to write did not apply in regional elections. The Catholic religion became the official religion. This method of implementing constitutional changes based on the partisan wind of the moment, without having to be the result of agreement by the different political parties or the will of the people, was one of the causes of bipartisan polarization and violence in Columbia for many years. The population began to identify themselves more with the party concept than with the nation concept. The radical liberal segment was never reconciled to the loss of power and on three occasions between to they tried to gain it by force. It took 44 years up to for the Liberal party to regain power. The Constitution of remained effective for more than one hundred years, guiding the mandate of twenty-three presidents of the Republic of Colombia, until the year Separation of Panama from Colombia In the Hayâ Herran Treaty, signed January 22,, Colombia would have indefinitely rented a strip of land to the United States for the construction of a canal in the Department of Panama. The proposal was rejected by the Colombian Congress, who considered it disadvantageous to the country, not only because the payments would not last forever, but because conceding the isthmus indefinitely to a foreign country represented a loss of national sovereignty. The Reform of Rafael Reyes in a portrait In December, a few months after being elected president, General Rafael Reyes shut down Congress because of its unwillingness to approve the reforms he desired. At the beginning of, he summoned a National Constituent Assembly consisting of three representatives from each department, chosen by the departmental administrators. The Assembly abolished the vice-presidency, two of the designaturas, and the State Council. It also specified that the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice would serve for life, recognized the right of representation for minorities, and the possibility of reforming the Constitution by means of a National Assembly [1]. The National Assembly demonstrated its support for a government with a dictatorial character when it established a presidential period of 10 years for General Reyes from January 1, to January 31,, with the possibility of directly appointing his successor. If the new president were someone other that Reyes the term would be for four years. This important reform, inspired by the members of the Republican Union a third political party with bipartisan principles of free elections and religious tolerance, banned the participation of the military in politics, and established the direct popular election of the president, departmental assemblies and municipal council. It reduced the presidential period from 6 to 4 years, prohibited the immediate re-election of presidents, eliminated the figure of the vice-president and replaced it by one appointee that would be chosen by the Congress. It established a system of proportional representation for the appointment of members of public corporations according to votes obtained, assuring a minimum of one third for the opposition party. It granted the Congress the faculty to choose the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, consecrating constitutional control of the Supreme Court of Justice. With these reforms the presidential powers were reduced. Before this reform, the president was chosen by intermediation of the electoral schools that represented the electoral districts, and the president who won the elections had the control to ensure he stayed in power for a lengthy Page 11

12 period. This reform kept in force the previous voter qualifications. These were the literacy requirement, and to have an annual rent of at least pesos or to possess real estate with a value of at least 1, pesos. The president retained the power to name governors who in turn would appoint mayors, corregidores, administrators, directors of post offices, heads of jails, managers of banks, and some others. It was not until August 27,, during the government of Olaya Herrera, that the number of seats in Congress was regulated with Law no. This new law set the number of seats for each party to be proportional to the number of votes obtained by each party, with a mumimum of one third of the seats for the opposition party. Guaranteeing one third of the seats for the opposition had indirect undesired effects. During conservative governments, the liberal party boycotted the electoral process as a means of protest in several elections, knowing that in any case it would obtain one third of the positions in Congress. On one occasion, not even the third part was accepted. To begin the period of transition, on July 15 the Constituent National Assembly made an exception to the rule of popular election of presidents and elected the first president of the Republican Union, Carlos Eugenio Restrepo, and also chose the first and second designates. The right of suffrage was extended to all men 21 or older, eliminating the literacy condition. This rule was implemented for the first time in the presidential election of, which the liberal Eduardo Santos won. Although they were not considered citizens for the purposes of suffrage, women were granted the right to occupy most public positions, and began to attend university. Control of the Catholic Church over education started to wane. Women exerted this right for the first time during the plebiscite of December 1,, to approve the constitutional change that would allow both traditional political parties, Liberal and Conservative, to co-govern as the National Front. Three attempts to recognize the right of women to vote had failed: First in during the government of Alfonso Lopez Pumarejo where a law was presented to the Congress which failed to pass, and voting rights for women did not appear in the constitutional reform of that year. The second attempt was the proposal presented by liberal Alberto Lleras Camargoin ; it was postponed under the excuse that this regulation could not be approved before The third attempt was the proposal presented by the liberal Alfonso Romero Aguirre in, which was slated to be implemented in a gradual fashion, which in reality was another postponement. The Reform of In October the temporary Military Junta that succeeded Rojas Pinilla authorized with the agreement of the traditional political parties constitutional reform by means of the Legislative Act No. This legislation fixed the parity of the parties with the stated purpose of finding a solution to the problems of the country. This agreement and the corresponding period was called National Front. It was determined that the elections for President of the Republic, Congress, Departmental Assemblies, and Municipal Councils would take place during the first semester of The Reform of The first Congress elected by popular means within the National Front made a constitutional change to extend the term of the National Front from 12 to 16 years, and decided that the first president would be Liberal and not Conservative as agreed before. The Reform of Although the National Front ended in, the constitutional reforms preparing for the transition began in during the government of Carlos Lleras Restrepo, the next to last President of the National Front. With the purpose of regulating the electoral competition between parties, the reforms eliminated the distribution by halves for departmental assemblies and municipal councils. Also included were some measures to recognize minority parties. Some required reforms were postponed, in some cases indefinitely, such as the ordinal one of article of the Constitution granting "the right and fair participation of the second party in voting". Article had the unintended effect of limiting the participation of minority parties and therefore limiting citizen participation. It established that later reforms to the constitution could be made by the Congress, as long as the reform was approved by two thirds majority of the members of the Senate and the in camera voting of two consecutive ordinary legislative sessions. The Reform of On November 21,, during the government of Belisario Betancur, the Congress established popular voting for mayors and governors, with the aim of reducing or eliminating central control of the parties over nominations and of improving regional democracy. Page 12