GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Colombia is divided administratively into 23 departments, four intendancies, and five commissariats. The intendancies and commissariats of the sparsely inhabited territories of the eastern lowlands are directly administered by the central government. The departments are headed by governors appointed by the central government, but their administration has limited local autonomy, especially in financial matters. The country is governed by a president with wide executive powers who is elected by direct popular vote to a single four-year term. The president appoints the government. The bicameral legislature is composed of a 114-member Senate and 199-member House of Representatives, both of whose members are elected by the people to a four-year term.
Two main parties - the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party- dominate internal politics. Regional rivalries, focused on the large counurbations, mainly Bogota, Medellin, and Cali, are important aspects of political life. The other, much smaller, parties are the New Liberals and the Patriotic Union.
Click here to return to Colombia's page
Click here to return to Andean Countries' Index page