Colombia Government - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Official name: Republic of Colombia

Type: republic; executive branch dominates government structure

Capital: Bogota

Political subdivisions: 22 departments, 5 intendancies, 5 commissariats, Bogota Special District

Legal system: based on Spanish law; reh gious courts regulate marriage and divoxce; constitution decreed in 1886, with amendments codified in 1946 and 1968, judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory 1CJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Independence Day, 20 July

Branches: President, bicameral legislature (Parliament—Senate, House of Representatives), judiciary

Government leader: Belisario BETANCUR Cuartas, President (since August 1982); term ends 10 August 1986

Suffrage: age 18 and over

Elections: every fourth year; presidential election held May 1986; congressional election held March 1986; municipal and departmental elections every two years, last held 1986

Political parties and leaders. Liberal Party, Virgilio Barco: main dissident faction is headed by Luis Carlos Galan; Conservative Party—Alvaro Gomez Hurtado and Misael Pastrana Borrero head the two principal wings united behind current President Belisario Betancur, who leads a small faction; Communist Party (PCC), Gilberto Vieiia White; Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist (PCC/ML), Maoist orientation

Voting strength: (1982 presidential election) Belisario Betancur 46.8%, Alfonso Lopez Michelsen 40.7%, Luis Carlos Galan 11.1 %, Gerardo Molina 1.2%, other 1.2%, 49% abstention

Communists: 18,000 members est., including Communist Party Youth Organization (JUCO)

Other political or pressure groups: Communist Party (PCC), Gilberto Vieira White; PCC/ML, Chinese Line Communist Party; Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s Patriotic Union Party (FARC-UP)

Member of: FAO, G-77, GATT, l.ADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO,ICO, IDA, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, 1FC, 1HO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ISO, ITU, LA1A and Andean Sub-Regional Group, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

NOTE: The information regarding Colombia on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Colombia 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Colombia 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.