The History Of Colombian Government

1 Pages 334 Words

The first group of Spanish that came to Columbia consisted of conquistadors, administrators, and Roman Catholic clergy. The clergy wanted to "save the souls" of the native Indians, and in the process they acquired land and wealth for the church. The native Indians were taken as slaves in their own land and forced to work for the crown of Spain. Eventually the slaves revolted and drove the Spanish conquistadors out of the colony. The Republic of Colombia or (Columbia) gained independence from Spain on July 20 1819. The country then established traditions of civilian government. Columbia has regular free elections and a republic type government where the executive branch dominates government structure. Currently, Columbia has seven well known political parties including the Liberal Party or PL, Conservative Party or PC; New Democratic Force or NDF; Democratic Alliance M-19 which is a coalition of small leftist parties and dissident liberals and conservatives. The Patriotic Union or UP is a legal political party formed by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC and the Colombian Communist Party or PCC.
Columbia has exercised freedom of press since their independence from Spain. All school children learn history and writing and because of this factor, the country’s literacy rate has climbed to ninety-one percent. It is estimated that over eighty percent of the country owns a telephone and television and There are over sixty different radio stations throughout the country
Ninety percent of Colombia population is Roman Catholic and the other ten percent is generally Christian. Although Colombian’s do have the freedom to practice a religion other than Catholic, the church is traditionally the most orthodox, conservative, and powerful in Latin America. The church also plays a major role in the country's education system and has an impact on many, if not all activities. Members of the clergy sit on the board of directors for many...