The history of Colombia includes its settlement by indigenous peoples and the establishment of agrarian societies,notably the Muisca Confederation,Quimbaya Civilization,and Tairona Chiefdoms. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of annexation and colonization,ultimately creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada,with its capital at Bogotá. Independence from Spain was won in 1819,but by 1830 the resulting "Gran Colombia" Federation was dissolved. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada. The new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858) and then the United States of Colombia (1863) before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. A period of constant political violence ensued,and Panama seceded in 1903. Since the 1960s,the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict which escalated in the 1990s but decreased from 2005 onward. The legacy of Colombia's history has resulted in a rich cultural heritage,and Colombia's geographic and climatic variations have contributed to the development of strong regional identities.
The National Liberation Army is a guerrilla insurgency group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict,which has existed in Colombia since 1964. The ELN advocates a composite communist ideology of Marxism–Leninism and liberation theology. In 2013,it was estimated that the ELN forces consisted of between 1,380 and 3,000 guerrillas. According to former ELN national directorate member Felipe Torres,one-fifth of ELN supporters have taken up arms. The ELN has been classified as a terrorist organization by the governments of Colombia,the United States,Canada,New Zealand,and the European Union.
Ciudad Perdida is the archaeological site of an ancient city in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of Colombia,within the jurisdiction of the municipality of Santa Marta. This city is believed to have been founded about 800 AD. If so,Ciudad Perdida predates Machu Picchu by about 650 years.
The Alternative Democratic Pole is a left-wing political party in Colombia,active from 2005 to the present. In 2022 it was successful at the polls and formed the Government of Colombia.
The Colombian conflict began on May 27,1964,and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia,far-right paramilitary groups and crime syndicates,and far-left guerrilla groups,fighting each other to increase their influence in Colombian territory. Some of the most important international contributors to the Colombian conflict include multinational corporations,the United States,Cuba,and the drug trafficking industry.
Juan Manuel Santos Calderón is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.
Workers Revolutionary Party of Colombia was a political party in Colombia. The party was founded in 1982. It emerged from the 'Majority' faction of the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Tendency,a group that had broken away from the Communist Party of Colombia (Marxist-Leninist) in the mid-1970s.
Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego is a Colombian politician who is the 75th and current president of Colombia since 2022. Upon inauguration,he became the first left-wing president in the recent history of Colombia.
Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 27 May 2018. As no candidate received a majority of the vote,the second round of voting was held on 17 June. Incumbent president Juan Manuel Santos was ineligible to seek a third term. Iván Duque,a senator,defeated Gustavo Petro,former mayor of Bogotá,in the second round. Duque's victory made him one of the youngest individuals elected to the presidency,aged 42. His running mate,Marta Lucía Ramírez,was the first woman elected to the vice presidency in Colombian history.
The Colombian peace process is the peace process between the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC–EP) to bring an end to the Colombian conflict,which eventually led to the Peace Agreements between the Colombian Government of Juan Manuel Santos and FARC-EP. Negotiations began in September 2012,and mainly took place in Havana,Cuba. Negotiators announced a final agreement to end the conflict and build a lasting peace on August 24,2016. However,a referendum to ratify the deal on October 2,2016 was unsuccessful after 50.2% of voters voted against the agreement with 49.8% voting in favor. Afterward,the Colombian government and the FARC signed a revised peace deal on November 24 and sent it to Congress for ratification instead of conducting a second referendum. Both houses of Congress ratified the revised peace agreement on November 29–30,2016,thus marking an end to the conflict.
The Colombian peace agreement referendum was held on 2 October 2016,aiming to ratify the final agreement on the termination of the Colombian conflict between the Colombian government and the FARC guerillas. It failed,with 50.2% voting against it and 49.8% voting in favor. Approval of the referendum was taken for granted in Colombia prior to the vote based on opinion polls. However,the 'No' option ended up winning by a narrow margin.
The Fundación Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular / Programa por la Paz (Cinep/PPP) is a Colombian organisation dedicated to researching and accompanying social organisations and communities in the search for the vindication of their rights. It is a leading research school in the social and human sciences in Colombia and the continent.
Francia Elena Márquez Mina is a Colombian human-rights and environmental activist and lawyer,who is the 13th and current Vice President of Colombia. She was born in Yolombó,a village in the Suarez municipality in Cauca Department. She first became an activist at 13,when construction of a dam threatened her community. On taking office,she became the first Afro-Colombian vice president in the country's history. She is also the second woman to hold the post,after Marta Lucía Ramírez. In August 2020,Márquez announced her candidacy in the 2022 Colombian presidential election and sought the nomination for the Historic Pact for Colombia coalition. She was later chosen by the coalition's nominee,Gustavo Petro,to be his running mate. In 2023 she was also appointed as Minister for Equality and Equity.
The Catatumbo campaign has been an ongoing period of strategic violence between militia faction groups in the Catatumbo region of Colombia and Venezuela since January 2018. It is an extension of the war on drugs and developed after the Colombian peace process of 2016. The existence of the war was officially announced in August 2019 after a Human Rights Watch (HRW) investigation. Colombian media reports that the war has directly affected an estimated 145,000 people,with the HRW estimating this at 300,000.
Colombia Justa Libres is a right-wing Colombian political party founded in 2017 that groups the majority of evangelical denominations in the country together. This includes,among others,Assemblies of God,Foursquare Church,Peace Mission to the Nations,and Spring of Eternal Life. During the 2018 Colombian parliamentary election,four of its members were elected to the Congress of Colombia. After the 2022 legislative election,the party formed the Nos Une Colombia coalition with the MIRA. It has the slogan "Let's do it together!" and a youth wing known as "RUGE!".
Álvaro Leyva Durán is a Colombian lawyer,economist,politician,human rights defender and diplomat. He has been the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Colombia in the government of Gustavo Petro since 7 August 2022. On 7 February 2024,he was suspended from his ministerial position for three months over an investigation into potential violations of procurement laws.
Gustavo Petro's term as the 34th president of Colombia began with his inauguration on 7 August 2022. Petro who previously served as mayor of Bogotá,took office after his victory in the 2022 presidential election over the self-proclaimed "anti-corruption leader" Rodolfo Hernández. Petro took office amid the political shadow of his predecessor,an economic crisis and increased political polarization.
Imelda Daza Cotes is a Colombian-Swedish economist,teacher,and politician.
Total Peace is the peace policy designed and currently (2022-2026) being implemented by the government of Gustavo Petro. This law modifies the Public Law order and allows for the government to negotiate with armed and criminal groups using different stretegies and legal tools.
Juan Manuel Santos's term as the 32nd president of Colombia began with his first inauguration on August 7,2010,and ended on August 7,2018. Santos,a center-right leader from Bogotá,took office after a landslide victory over the leftist leader. Antanas Mockus in the 2010 presidential election. Four years later,in the 2014 presidential election,he narrowly defeated the Democratic Center candidate Óscar Iván Zuluaga to win re-election. Santos was succeeded by right-wing leader Iván Duque,who won the 2018 presidential election.
