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$Unique_ID{COW00925}
$Pretitle{226}
$Title{Colombia
Cesar Gaviria President of Colombia}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Embassy of Colombia, Washington DC}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Colombia, Washington DC}
$Subject{minister
age
president
colombia
gaviria
assembly
reform
elected
international
judicial}
$Date{1990}
$Log{}
Country: Colombia
Book: Colombia Today
Author: Embassy of Colombia, Washington DC
Affiliation: Embassy of Colombia, Washington DC
Date: 1990
Cesar Gaviria President of Colombia
Colombian voters elected Cesar Gaviria, a 43-year old economist and
Liberal Party candidate, as President of the Republic on May 27, 1990.
President Gaviria was inaugurated on August 7, to become the youngest
President of Colombia in this century.
A Finance Minister and Minister of Government in the previous
administration, President Gaviria is promoting the changes, adjustments and
reforms necessary to guarantee that the economy will be dynamic, efficient and
open to international markets. Since taking office, he has introduced measures
to streamline foreign trade regulations and encourage foreign investment. At
the same time he has announced plans to strengthen the judicial system, and
has called for world support in the fight against drug trafficking.
President Gaviria's choice of cabinet ministers projects youth - the
average age is 48 - and a high degree of economic expertise. His appointments
include members of other political parties, and reflect an emphasis on
governing with a broad consensus.
Excerpts from the Inaugural Address
Bogota, August 7, 1990
A Mandate for the Future
Today, we Colombians do not wish to restore the past or to gaze on it
with nostalgia: we want the future. The building of that future for our
children and for coming generations constitutes our mandate.
The triumph of the ideas of reform and changes through the elections of
this year lays the first stone upon which we will build the future. The rest
of the work is yet to be done... This is not an easy task. But Luis Carlos
Galan stated it well: "Change must be earned; it is never free."
Multilateral Action on Drug Matters
Narcoterrorism is today the main threat against our democracy. We have
opposed it without concessions. Though narcoterrorism is our problem, and
narcotrafficking threatens our democratic institutions, the latter is an
international phenomenon that may only be solved with the joint action of all
affected countries.
No success will be possible in this field if consumer countries do not
drastically reduce demand. Repetition of this statement is never unproductive,
because our destiny demands the solidarity of all countries: No nation has
paid as high a price as Colombia in the fight against narcotraffic's criminal
organizations.
Judicial Reforms
We shall raise the level of the judicial branch of public power to
recover its dignity, its legitimacy, and above all, its efficacy... We shall
ensure the autonomy of the judicial by means of appropriate administrative and
directive organizations that will allow greater progress to be made in this
field... Together with the strengthening of justice, constitutional reform
also seeks to consecrate, protect and effectively guarantee human rights.
The Constituent Assembly
We must create new participation and reform mechanisms, such as the
plebiscite, Constitutional Assembly and referendum to involve citizens in the
decision making of the State that most interests and affects them. We need a
vibrant democracy and active citizens... One of the main tasks of the
Constitutional Assembly will be to reform Congress to make it a true
expression of political pluralism and a counterbalance to the Executive
power... The modernization of the fiscal control shall be another great
mission of the Constitutional Assembly... Reform of the political parties is
another of the commitments we have with democracy and change.
The Productive Revolution
My responsibilities, my commitment, is to prevent Colombian youth; so
full of hope and willingness to work, from being trapped in backwardness and
injustice. We shall transform the Colombian economy initiating a true
productive revolution.
Although we have faced the problem of external debt with greater fortune
and are, perhaps, the only country of Latin America where real income of
workers grew each year in this last decade, we can do more.
Labor
We will use contractual mechanisms among workers, entrepreneurs and the
State, along with a total reform in the labor regime aimed at eliminating
obstacles that have been created, in order to modernize our productive sector,
to increase growth and to ensure fair labor conditions.
An International Economy
We should take a step forward in the internationalization of the
Colombian economy. This process includes the reform of the State, modification
of the foreign investment regime, the transformation of PROEXPO into an export
bank, modification in the operation of the foreign trade institutions,
modernization of land transportation and the port system, recovery of the
railroad network, and the reduction of the air and shipping rates. Only
nations that export are able to overcome their crises. The economic opening is
just that: a dynamic modernization process supported by the growth of exports
destined to obtain a place for us in the world market.
Private Foreign Investment
The complement of the economic program is a strategy of encouragement to
private investment. At the same time we shall reform the Exchange Law which
has provided the country with a framework that has contributed substantially
to the development of foreign trade and exchange stability. This change is
required by the development of our foreign trade, as well as of our financial,
commodities and service markets.
International Relations
The internationalization process of our economy also requires that we
expand our view of international policy, taking into account economic and
commercial priorities. Colombia has modified its international role during the
last administrations whereby the country has diversified its relations and
gained autonomy with respect to the principal powers.
We shall maintain this policy and defend the basic principles of peaceful
coexistence: the self-determination of peoples, non-intervention in the
internal affairs of other States, instruments of peaceful solution to conflict
and political pluralism on our continent.
Regional Relations
I would like to reiterate my conviction of the need to create a Latin
American forum to deal with political and economic issues and to act as
interlocutor with respect to the principal figures in international politics.
The formation of blocks as a characteristic of international politics and
growing interdependence among nations requires Latin America to strengthen
its negotiating power vis-a-vis the rest of the world by means of unified
criteria and joint actions.
European Relations
We are confident that the formation of a single market will constitute
an opportunity and not an obstacle to our exports. We likewise trust that the
technical agencies of the EEC will ratify the political decisions of the
Council of Presidents and Heads of State to allow greater access for our
products.
United States Relations
We hope to be able to advance the "Initiative for the Americas"
formulated by President George Bush, which would become the most significant
historical shift in relations between the United States and Latin America.
We also await the submission of the bill announced by President Bush on
matters concerning the special and transitory preference regime for certain
exports from Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.
Protection of the Environment
I would like to express our concern for a subject of undeniable
importance to mankind: the protection of the environment. Our forest reserves
in areas such as the Amazon a