Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0089/00892.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 28KB | 441 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00892}
$Pretitle{226}
$Title{Colombia
Chapter 1.    General Character of the Society}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Howard I. Blutstein}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{economic
political
national
colombia
church
nation's
social
ch
states
latin}
$Date{1977}
$Log{}
Country:     Colombia
Book:        Colombia, A Country Study
Author:      Howard I. Blutstein
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1977

Chapter 1.    General Character of the Society

     A nation strongly affected by its topography, the Republic of Colombia
is a country of remarkable contrasts in climate, terrain, cities, population,
and living conditions. It is situated in the northwest corner of South
America and is the only country on the continent with both Pacific and
Atlantic coasts.

     Among Latin American countries it is the fifth largest in size and has
the third largest population, approximately 25 million people in 1976.
Colombia is divided by three ranges of the Andes mountains and has two large
rivers, two coastal lowlands, and a large, sparsely populated interior plain.
The nation's diverse geography was responsible for colonial settlement
patterns that are reflected in present-day ethnic divisions and for regional
loyalties and perspectives that often transcend national values and
attitudes. The climate varies from temperate in the highlands and plateaus
to tropical in the jungle regions of the Amazon. The varied climate,
elevation, and soil allow for a wide range of agricultural pursuits-from
livestock raising to banana growing. Coffee has been the leading export, but
dependence on it decreased in the 1960s and 1970s, reflecting the
government's export diversification policy. The nation has abundant metallic
and mineral resources, some petroleum resources, and the largest coal
reserves in the region (see ch. 2).

     A majority of the population was urban by the mid-1970s, and the massive
urban migrations that had characterized the previous two decades continued.
The capital, Bogota, experienced the greatest growth, although urban
migration also reflected geographic regionalism. Ten cities had populations
over 200,000, but no single metropolitan area dominated the nation as in
most Latin American states.

     The population was divided into five major ethnic groups. Notions of
class and ethnic group were closely correlated to produce a system that
elevated whites and downgraded blacks and Indians. Whites, who constituted
about 20 percent of the population, were found in the upper and middle
classes in positions of power and prestige. In contrast blacks, 4 percent,
and Indians, 1 percent of the population, were found in the lower class and
among the masses (see ch. 4). Mulattoes, 15 to 25 percent of the population,
and mestizos, 50 to 60 percent of the population, were distributed
throughout the class structure. Nevertheless the majority of people of mixed
origin were among the lower status groups, which some sources estimated to
be three-fourths of the population.

     The structure of the society is heavily dependent on traditions and
culture inherited from sixteenth-century Spain and is characterized by a
stratification system that is clearly bounded, having limited vertical
mobility between the strata and a stereotyping based on notions of color,
class, and culture. The territory that was explored and settled by the
Spanish was ruled by them for 300 years, and the influence of traditional
Hispanic culture, attitudes toward authority, political values, and Roman
Catholicism on the social and political systems is even more marked in
Colombia than in other countries where the Spanish ruled. Even after
independence in the early nineteenth century, the nation's governing elite
retained many of the sociopolitical values and institutions that it had
inherited from Spain. The democratic philosophies of France and the United
States affected such founders of the republic as Simon Bolivar, but these
philosophies were filtered through the cultural prism of the nation's
Hispanic heritage and traditions. Throughout the nineteenth century limited
immigration and limited contacts with other nations served to preserve
cultural traditions.

     No radical changes have taken place in the structure of the society, but
improvements in transportation and communication systems and expanding
economic opportunities have opened up some avenues of social mobility.
Although the upper class remains closed because of patterns of intermarriage,
economic alliance, and political cohesion, the other classes are open to some
degree, and individuals who are able to improve their education and occupation
may improve their status. Lower class persons commonly see education and
urban migration as the most important steps in moving up, although these
avenues have not proved particularly effective because the educational system
is tradition oriented and inadequate and the urban infrastructure cannot
support the great numbers pouring into the cities each day. Some migrants do
improve their status, but the majority merely exchange rural for urban
poverty.

     Although weakened by urban migration and modernization, the patrilineal
extended family remains an important part of the social system, and Hispanic
Catholic tradition continues to dominate most family and marital matters.
Kinship affects political and business activities and is further extended by
a complex godparent arrangement that may provide social and economic security
for children from birth. Women have acquired equal civil and property rights,
and such customs as chaperones for unmarried women have broken down. The
great majority of women retain a traditional outlook on their role in the
family and the society; however, an increasing number of upper class women
are becoming active participants and leaders in the national decisionmaking
process. In 1976 Colombia surpassed other Latin American countries in the
number of women who held elective or appointive political office.

     Shortly after independence differences among the elite over the nature
of the government and the role of the church resulted in the creation of the
Liberal and the Conservative political parties-two of the oldest parties
in Latin America. The political loyalties of most of the people are extremely
intense and have remained divided between these two parties for well over
a century. Originally the Liberals were advocates of a federal governmental
system with strong regional administrations. The Conservative Party argued
for a unitary government and a strong executive. On the issue of the role of
the church in Colombia the Liberals argued for religious tolerance, and the
Conservatives countered by advocating Catholicism as an official state
religion. Civil disorders, insurrections, and violence by members of the
parties over these issues became commonplace. Although the 1886 Constitution
resolved the questions of government and religion in a centralized and
proclerical manner, clashes by the parties over political power increased.
The War of a Thousand Days (1899-1902) cost over 100,000 lives, and la
violencia (see Glossary) of the late 1940s and 1950s resulted in 100,000 to
300,000 deaths (see ch. 3; ch. 10; ch. 15).

     The civil disorders of la violencia were sufficiently pronounced that in
1953 the armed forces under the direction of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
staged a coup d'etat and seized power. Rojas Pinilla remained in power until
1957-the longest military reign in the nation's history-during which time
he attempted to organize the lower classes in support of his populist-style
dictatorship. The political parties responded by engineering his ouster and
agreeing to form the National Front, under which they would share power for
the next twenty years, the first sixteen of which they would alternate the
presidency. Thus traditional political power was preserved by the parties
against the emerging political and social forces that Rojas Pinilla had
attempted to mobilize