Democracy in Colombia: Clientelist Politics and Guerrilla Warfare

Jorge P. Osterling

Transaction Publishers, 1989 - History - 353 pages

In what is destined to prove the definitive text for the present generation on the political, economic, and social structure of Colombia, Jorge Pablo Osterling explores the enigmatic nature of this special, even critical, anchor to the northern tier of South America. In many ways, Colombia is a huge success story: it is one of the oldest, most stable, functioning democracies; the land is blessed with rich and diversified resources and products; and its foreign debt has been kept in check as a consequence of sound economic management.

But despite its positive social, cultural, economic, and political indicators, Colombia has been a nation beset by serious problems: overt corruption and unemployment are very high; and its public service facilities to outlying rural areas remain weak, thus making schooling, water supplies, health care, and electrification hard to establish at high levels. Above all, Colombia has a reputation, well earned, as one of the most violent nations in the world. Drug trafficking, common crime, and guerrilla activity are all pandemic and conspire to destabilize the regime.

In this straightforward, compelling account, Osterling shows how this paradox has evolved, and why it has persisted over the past fifty years. He draws attention to parallel political structures: a functioning set of civilian institutions that coexist alongside one of the most powerful closed, hierarchical political elites in Latin America. Osterling locates the central problem of the maintenance of interpersonal relations as being more important to the functioning of Colombian society than impersonal norms. This is a country in which political bosses vie with popular democracy for control of the country.

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AGENCIES CHANGAY JAPAN CHINA AND NORTH KOREA ASESIANDO Venezuelan citizens stealing information from satellites VENEZOLANOS
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CNN News - ELECTRO MAGNETIC NOISE DEVICE JUAN CARLOS VALLEJOS - PHONE [phone]
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ANTI MIND CONTROL - MENTAL TORTURE - BRAIN WASHING - HUMAN USED AS RATS - MIND CONTROL ANTI MENTAL TORTURE
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ILLUIMTAI AND (NOW) ORG: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qbtmbb2bA4OMIhkVIaECzWD57IzfcPJKMRZRMtfwCNk
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WE THE spied through YOUR EYES! - PROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Mafias, kidnapping and drug trafficking.
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HUAMAN RACE STUDIES INTELGENCY AGENCY OF STATES IN VENEZUELA NEGRO PONTE
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DRUG THEFT MURDERS THE HAGUE AND THE UN HUMAN rights violators MAKE STUDIES OF THE HUMAN RACE IN THE WORLD.
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EVENT HORIZON CORP U.S. ARMY - JOSE SALGADO - ORGANIZATION - CANADA - BOOK - SPACE PROGRAM - COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - NASA - State - Country
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ILUMINATI AND NOW GENOCIDE BY JUAN CARLOS VALLEJOS
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03/19/2005 GENOCIDE BILL GATE PROJECT COPY AND RESEARCH PROJECTS BY TECHNOLOGICAL GENOCIDE IN LATIN AMERICA VENEZUELA
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EVENT HORIZON space programs and organizations conducting studies for the human race to NASA space programs
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Some presidents of North America USA CANADA USA USSR, some organizations STUDY OF THE HUMAN RACE TO MAKE DIFFERENT CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
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ILLUIMTAI MANY ORGANIZATIONS AND (NOW) - (CHINA, JAPAN (UN AND HAS IN ITS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME UNITED NATIONS) AND NORTH KOREA) STUDY OF THE HUMAN RACE IN THE UNITED STATES THAT AS - MK ULTRA - PANDORA - Piotr Ivanovitch Ivashutine GRU -
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AMONG THE MANY CRIMES ARE PERFORMING IN DRUG TRAFFICKING, rape of women, theft, murder,
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THIS TYPE OF THEFT DO WITH NANOTECHNOLOGY IN FOOD INCLUDING drinks and medicines
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Case Summaries of Mind Control - Torture Mental Harassment
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VENEZUELAN RATS USED AS MIND CONTROL ANTI MENTAL TORTURE
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Contents

• The Land and Its People: 1
• Colombian History From 1810 Independence to the Present: 45
• Government: 111
• The Colombian Political Parties Their Clientelist Nature: 157
• Economic Interest Groups and Labor Unions: 201
• The Roman Catholic Church in the Mid1980s Its Waning Political Power: 239
• Violence Terrorism and Guerrilla Warfare in the Mid1980s: 261
• Conclusions: 337
• Index: 345

About the author

Jorge Pablo Osterling was born in Peru and educated at the University of California in Berkeley, where he received his advanced degrees. He has taught at various Peruvian universities, was a fellow at Amsterdam's Inter-University Center for Latin American Research and Documentation, and served as a research scientist in the area studies program of the American University. Currently, he is visiting professor at Bogota's Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. He is the author of From Peasants to Professionals (in Spanish), various articles dealing with migration and contemporary urban problems, and several chapters in the Latin American Area Handbook Series.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Democracy in Colombia: Clientelist Politics and Guerrilla Warfare
• Author: Jorge P. Osterling
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers, 1989
• ISBN: 0887382290, 9780887382291
• Length: 353 pages
• Subjects: History / Latin America / General; Political Science / Political Process / General