Colombia: A Country StudyRex A. Hudson This volume is one in a continuing series of book prepared by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program, formerly sponsored by the Department of Army and revived in FY 2004 with congressionally mandated funding under the sponsorship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate (J05).
Most books in the series deal with a particular foreign country describing and analyzing its political, economic, social, and national security systems and institutions, and examining the interrelationships of those systems and the ways they are shaped by historical and cultural factors. Each study is written by a multidisciplinary team of social scientists. The authors seek to provide a basic understanding of the observed society, striving for a dynamic rather than a strategic portrayal. Particular attention is devoted to the people who make up the society, their origins, dominant beliefs and values, their common interests and the issues on which they are divided, the nature and extent of their involvement with national institutions, and their attitudes toward each other and toward their social system and political order.
The use of foreign words and terms has been confined to those essential to understanding the text, with a brief definition upon first usage and additional treatment of Glossary A. A list of abbreviations and acronyms of Spanish names, with English translations, can be found in table A. The text uses the standard spelling of place-names sanctioned by the United States Board on Geographic Names.
The book’s formal information cutoff date for the chapters is December 31, 2008. Certain parts of the text, however, contain later information, added as it became available since the completion of research. The Introduction provides a general update for 2009 and early 2010. |
Contents
| xiii | |
| xxi | |
| xxix | |
Administrative Divisions of Colombia 2009 | xlviii |
Introduction | li |
Historical Setting | 1 |
BREAKING THE SPANISH CONNECTION | 13 |
A NEW AGE OF PEACE AND COFFEE 190430 | 35 |
Transportation System 2008 | 174 |
FINANCIAL REGULATION AND FINANCIAL | 181 |
ILLEGAL DRUGS | 188 |
LABOR THE INFORMAL ECONOMY SOCIAL | 199 |
OUTLOOK | 207 |
THE GOVERNMENTAL SYSTEM | 217 |
Structure of the Government 2009 | 218 |
POLITICAL DYNAMICS | 240 |
REFORM UNDER THE LIBERALS 193046 | 40 |
THE NATIONAL FRONT 195878 | 47 |
43 | 66 |
Topography and Drainage | 68 |
RACE AND ETHNICITY | 82 |
Population Growth Trends | 90 |
Population Distribution by Agegroup and Sex 2008 | 100 |
FAMILY | 102 |
HEALTH AND WELFARE | 112 |
RELIGION | 119 |
EDUCATION | 126 |
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS | 133 |
ECONOMIC HISTORY 18191999 | 144 |
ECONOMIC STRUCTURE AND SECTORAL | 150 |
Gross Domestic Product by Sector 2007 | 154 |
TRANSPORTATION AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS | 170 |
FOREIGN RELATIONS | 264 |
OUTLOOK | 279 |
THE MILITARY | 285 |
Organization of the Ministry of National Defense and the Public Force 2009 | 292 |
Officer Ranks and Insignia 2009 | 310 |
Enlisted Ranks and Insignia 2009 | 311 |
LAW ENFORCEMENT | 313 |
NATIONAL SECURITY BACKGROUND | 323 |
CURRENT NATIONAL SECURITY PANORAMA | 330 |
NATIONAL SECURITY DOCTRINES | 338 |
INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL SECURITY | 351 |
OUTLOOK | 357 |
Appendix Tables | 365 |
| 379 | |
Glossary | 421 |