{"id":4560,"date":"2012-08-22T11:09:40","date_gmt":"2012-08-22T16:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?p=4560"},"modified":"2016-05-06T11:49:55","modified_gmt":"2016-05-06T16:49:55","slug":"an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/","title":{"rendered":"An Introduction to Colombian Politics (Guest Post by Kevin Howlett)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"President<\/a>
President Juan Manuel Santos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I first came to Colombia Alvaro Uribe was president, and Juan Manuel Santos was his right-hand man and Defence Minister. By the summer of 2010 Santos had been elected to continue Uribe\u2019s hard-line policies against the FARC. Today the two men are enemies, with Uribe the official opposition to his former prot\u00e9g\u00e9.<\/p>\n

A week is always a long time in politics, but in Colombia it is an eternity. I have worked in and around the UK Parliament for close on 10 years, but in my two years in Colombia I have witnessed a whirlwind of change and covered a barrage of stories that would keep even the hardiest of political commentators on his toes.<\/p>\n

Life is never dull in Colombia, and even if politics are not your thing, this country\u2019s own peculiar brand of government cannot fail but to enrage, entertain, exalt, or dismay you; as it has done me.<\/p>\n

In Colombia politics<\/a> really matter. The issues are of war and peace, of mind-blowing corruption, wire-taps, and other very serious matters. It is of course about nobler pursuits like the fight against poverty and a fairer education for all.<\/p>\n

So how do Colombia\u2019s politics work?<\/p>\n

Colombia has the longest running democracy in Latin America. Unlike her neighbours, she has not had to put up with tin-pot dictators. However, the fragility of the state and her inability to govern large parts of the country, has allowed the formation both of the right-wing paramilitaries AUC and the communist-guerrillas the FARC and the ELN.<\/p>\n

The FARC is the longest-running terrorist group in Latin America – its war against the Colombian state has lasted for over half a century. The paramilitaries grew out of the self-defence militias that formed when the government was unable to protect its citizens, or their land.<\/p>\n

Violence and criminality have shaped not only the nation but also the political class. Pablo Escobar was famously elected to congress in the 80s, while just a few years ago dozens of leading politicians were found to have links with paramilitaries and were promptly sent to jail.<\/p>\n

Colombia is a presidential system which places significant power in the executive (the president and his cabinet). The legislature is formed of the congress which is split into two houses, the senate and the \u2018house of representatives\u2019. The third arm of the state is the judiciary.<\/p>\n

The president is elected every four years and, thanks to a change to the constitution made during Uribe\u2019s period in office (2002-2010), the nation\u2019s head of state can be re-elected (once). There is much speculation as to whether current President Juan Manuel Santos will seek a second term in 2014.<\/p>\n

Congress is elected in the same year as the president, while city mayors and councillors as well as departmental governors are elected a year later. Bogota\u2019s Mayor, Gustavo Petro<\/a> was elected in 2011 and is considered to be the second most important politician in the country.<\/p>\n

Santos runs the country with a coalition government that controls over 90% of the congress, allowing him to push through virtually any law he wishes. Santos is considered to be a centre-right politician, and is a former member of the Liberal Party. His government has taken the country in a different direction from the right-wing Uribe, concentrating more on social issues, and seeking a peaceful end to Colombia\u2019s conflict.<\/p>\n

Uribe represents the country\u2019s right while the Polo Democratic Alternative is the official party of the left. Unfortunately for them, the left in Colombia is split from head to toe, reducing its electoral power. Unlike most other countries in Latin America, Colombia tends to the right while the left plays a largely peripheral role in the nation\u2019s political life.<\/p>\n

Colombia\u2019s political parties are complicated and fractured. Although the Constitution of 1991 allowed the formation of new political parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals governed the country as a two-party state until the arrival of Uribe in 2002.<\/p>\n

Uribe entered the presidential palace as an independent, elected on the Colombia First platform he created when he split from the Liberals. The Uribe years spawned the arrival of a series of new parties like Radical Change, the Greens, Polo, and the party of the U, President Santos\u2019 party. The majority of these parties are now under the coalition umbrella of Santos\u2019 government.<\/p>\n

Colombians understandably have trouble keeping up with the changes in their political parties and it is often difficult for them to perceive a clear ideological message from those who seek their vote. This, and the outrage at the level of corruption, has meant that voter-turnout in elections has been low, and Colombia\u2019s democracy has failed so far to develop into a fully participative system.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s complicated and highly personalised, but Colombian politics<\/a> are entertaining and breathless. Despite the justifiable criticisms of her people, decisions taken in the Casa de Nari\u00f1o (the presidential palace) have ensured that in two decades Colombia has shaken off its \u2018failing state\u2019 label and is now one of the fastest growing economies in the world.<\/p>\n

\"Kevin<\/a>
Kevin Howlett on Caracol TV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re interested to find out more about Colombia\u2019s politics please join www.facebook.com\/ColombiaPolitics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kevin Howlett is owner of Colombia-Politics.com<\/a> and is a political consultant from the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I first came to Colombia Alvaro Uribe was president, and Juan Manuel Santos was his right-hand man and Defence Minister. By the summer of 2010 Santos had been elected to continue Uribe\u2019s hard-line policies against the FARC. Today the two men are enemies, with Uribe the official opposition to his former prot\u00e9g\u00e9. A week […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[35,115,1255,626,4,66,97],"tags":[2910,58,797,356],"yoast_head":"\nAn Introduction to Colombian Politics (Guest Post by Kevin Howlett) - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Introduction to Colombian Politics (Guest Post by Kevin Howlett)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I first came to Colombia Alvaro Uribe was president, and Juan Manuel Santos was his right-hand man and Defence Minister. By the summer of 2010 Santos had been elected to continue Uribe\u2019s hard-line policies against the FARC. Today the two men are enemies, with Uribe the official opposition to his former prot\u00e9g\u00e9. A week […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-22T16:09:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-05-06T16:49:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/presidente-juan-manuel-santos12.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Fowler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel\",\"description\":\"Colombia Travel Blog: An international perspective on travelling in Colombia by world travellers.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/presidente-juan-manuel-santos12.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/presidente-juan-manuel-santos12.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/\",\"name\":\"An Introduction to Colombian Politics (Guest Post by Kevin Howlett) - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-08-22T16:09:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-05-06T16:49:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/417e4177e5bc2022442cf51a5355ed17\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Introduction to Colombian Politics (Guest Post by Kevin Howlett)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/417e4177e5bc2022442cf51a5355ed17\",\"name\":\"Paul Fowler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f10b8d3d1bb226ec998ece9c986b594e?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f10b8d3d1bb226ec998ece9c986b594e?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul Fowler\"},\"description\":\"Paul is an Englishman with a longstanding love of travel, tea and quality beer. His first trip was to Bosnia & Herzegovina and it was there, wading in some waterfalls near Mostar with just a litre of cheap beer and some bread in his belly, that he was bitten by the travel bug. After many more trips and a spell working in London, Paul relocated to Buenos Aires for some months before moving to Colombia. He's been here, knocking back 'guaro', for about 2 years now.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.seecolombia.travel\/blog\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/author\/paul\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Introduction to Colombian Politics (Guest Post by Kevin Howlett) - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Introduction to Colombian Politics (Guest Post by Kevin Howlett)","og_description":"When I first came to Colombia Alvaro Uribe was president, and Juan Manuel Santos was his right-hand man and Defence Minister. By the summer of 2010 Santos had been elected to continue Uribe\u2019s hard-line policies against the FARC. Today the two men are enemies, with Uribe the official opposition to his former prot\u00e9g\u00e9. A week […]","og_url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/","og_site_name":"Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel","article_published_time":"2012-08-22T16:09:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-05-06T16:49:55+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/presidente-juan-manuel-santos12.jpg"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul Fowler","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/","name":"Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel","description":"Colombia Travel Blog: An international perspective on travelling in Colombia by world travellers.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/presidente-juan-manuel-santos12.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/presidente-juan-manuel-santos12.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/","name":"An Introduction to Colombian Politics (Guest Post by Kevin Howlett) - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2012-08-22T16:09:40+00:00","dateModified":"2016-05-06T16:49:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/417e4177e5bc2022442cf51a5355ed17"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/08\/an-introduction-to-colombian-politics-guest-post-by-kevin-howlett\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Introduction to Colombian Politics (Guest Post by Kevin Howlett)"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/417e4177e5bc2022442cf51a5355ed17","name":"Paul Fowler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f10b8d3d1bb226ec998ece9c986b594e?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f10b8d3d1bb226ec998ece9c986b594e?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Paul Fowler"},"description":"Paul is an Englishman with a longstanding love of travel, tea and quality beer. His first trip was to Bosnia & Herzegovina and it was there, wading in some waterfalls near Mostar with just a litre of cheap beer and some bread in his belly, that he was bitten by the travel bug. After many more trips and a spell working in London, Paul relocated to Buenos Aires for some months before moving to Colombia. He's been here, knocking back 'guaro', for about 2 years now.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.seecolombia.travel\/blog"],"url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/author\/paul\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4560"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4560"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22265,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4560\/revisions\/22265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}