Article Outline
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Transportation and Communications
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The irregular terrain of Colombia makes the construction of roads and railroads costly. Colombia has 2,137 km (1,328 mi) of operated railroad track. Most of the national railroads are feeder lines to the Magdalena River, the main transport artery of the country, which with the Cauca River is navigable for about 1,500 km (about 900 mi). Colombia has no regular passenger rail service. Roads total 112,988 km (70,207 mi), including a part of the Simón Bolívar Highway, which links Caracas, Venezuela, through Bogotá and other Colombian towns, with Quito, Ecuador. The national airline, Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia (National Airline of Colombia), known as Avianca, was established as the first Latin American airline in 1919. The main seaports are Buenaventura, Tumaco, Santa Marta, Barranquilla, and Cartagena.
The labor force of Colombia numbers about 22 million. Some 22 percent is engaged in agriculture, forestry, and fishing; 19 percent in industry and mining; and most of the remainder in service industries. In 2003 Colombia had an unemployment rate of 14.2 percent. The main trade unions in Colombia are the Confederación Unitaria de Trabajadores (CUT, Unitary Federation of Workers) and the Confederación de Trabajadores Colombianos (CTC, Confederation of Colombian Workers). The right to strike is constitutionally guaranteed to all employees who are not working for public utilities.
Colombia’s government has undergone several changes since the mid-20th century. One of the most significant was the adoption of a new constitution in 1991. The new constitution replaced the 1886 constitution and provided for a more decentralized, pluralistic, and democratic government.
National executive power in Colombia is vested in a president who is elected by direct popular vote. Under the 1991 constitution the president is limited to a single four-year term. However, in 2005 Colombia’s Constitutional Court approved a new law that allows presidents to serve more than one term. Suffrage (the right to vote) is universal for all citizens 18 years of age or older. The president appoints a cabinet, subject to congressional approval. Under the 1991 constitution, the departmental governors are directly elected.
Legislative power in Colombia is vested in a bicameral congress composed of a House of Representatives (161 members) and a Senate (102 members). Members are elected to four-year terms. The 1991 constitution imposes penalties for absenteeism and bars members of Congress from simultaneously holding any other public office.
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