In 2016, the President of Colombia received a world award. This was due to his activities to end the Civil War in the state, which lasted more than fifty years. He was announced as the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in autumn.
General information about the country
The state is located in South America, in its northwestern part. It is known that the first people lived in the country in the fifteenth century BC. They were hunter-gatherer tribes.
In the beginning of our era, the Indians lived here. Since the sixteenth century, the colonization of the mainland by the Spaniards began. The colonial period lasted until 1818, when Simón Bolivar declared the independence of Gran Colombia.
A state called New Granada was formed. It lasted until 1886, when Colombian President Rafael Moledo signed the constitution. The document consolidated centralized administration, and the country was renamed the Republic of Colombia.
Modern State
Today's countrycalled the Republic of Colombia. It is often referred to as the "Gateway to South America" because it is washed by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. The capital is the city of Bogota. It is home to more than eleven million people, including the President of Colombia.
Since 1964, a civil war has been going on in the country. Many military groups were created, which waged war with the official authorities for their ideas. Today, part of the armed formations have ceased to exist, but there are those who are waging war among themselves.
Political system
The head of state, like the government, is the President of Colombia. He is elected for four years with a possible re-election for a second term.
Government consists of a bicameral parliament (Congress):
- The Senate - it consists of 102 senators elected for four years.
- The House of Representatives - includes 166 deputies, the population elects them for four years.
Presidents of the Republic
During its existence, the state was ruled by many leaders. Presidents of Colombia (the list consists of more than fifty representatives) often ruled for several terms, but not in a row, but after a while.
List of presidents who have served as head of state more than once:
- Rafael Nunez Moledo.
- Miguel Antonio.
- Rafael Reyes Prieto.
- Alfonso Lopez Pumarejo.
- Gustavo Rojas Pinilla.
- Alberto Camargo.
- Guillermo Leon Valencia.
- Misael Pastrana Borrero.
- Alfonso Lopez Michelsen.
- Julio Cesar Ayala.
- Ernesto Samper Pisano.
- Juan Manuel Santos.
Who is the first President of Colombia? If we count from the beginning of the proclamation of the republic, then Rafael Nunez Moledo held the presidency. This is a conservative politician, journalist, lawyer, writer. He is known for writing the lyrics to the Colombian anthem.
Nunez was born on September 25, 1825 in Colombia. He served as a district judge in Panama, founded his own newspaper in 1848, and became involved in political activities. He held various positions and positions, was the Minister of Finance, diplomat, consul in Liverpool.
Nunez ran for office in 1878 but did not win. He took over as president in 1880. It was under him that coffee became the main export product of the country, replacing tobacco, which lost its popularity in Europe due to poor quality.
Moledo became president for the second time in 1884. It was he who wrote many articles that were related to constitutional reform. After that, he was re-elected twice more: in 1887 and 1892. Nunez died on September 18, 1894.
Today's President of the State
Juan Manuel Santos was born on 1951-10-08 in Bogotá. His family has been involved in politics for generations. So the grandfather's brother was at the head of Colombia in the first half of the twentieth century. He, Eduard Santos, founded and became the editor of a famous newspaper. Cousin served as Vice President under Alvar Uribe.
Juan Manuel Santos studied atUniversity of Kansas and in 1973 received a bachelor's degree in economics. Two years later, he was awarded a master's degree from the London School of Economics. In 1981, he completed a master's degree from the Kennedy School of Government, which operated at Harvard University.
Santos has been married twice in his life. His first companion was director and television presenter Silvia Amaya Londoño. They lived together from 1987 to 1989. The second chosen one was industrial designer Maria Rodriguez Muner. In marriage, they had two sons (Martin and Esteban) and a daughter, Maria Antonia.
Political career:
- Minister of Foreign Trade;
- Finance Minister;
- Defense Minister.
Since 2010, Santos began his fight for the presidency, becoming a presidential candidate. In the first round, Antanas Mokkusa became his main rival. Santos lacked four percent of the vote to win - he received 46.5%. In the second round, 69.06% of voters voted for the current president.
In 2014, he was re-elected for a second presidential term. He will be the head of state until 2018.
In 2016, the President managed to end the Civil War, which had been going on since 1991. He signed a peace agreement with the main guerrilla group. But many consider this world to be very shaky. How long it will last, no one knows.
The President was awarded the award largely in advance. Many believe that he will do everything possible to keep the peace in the country.
