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Colombia FOREIGN RELATIONS
For much of the nation's history, Colombians focused
more
consistently on domestic issues and political
personalities than on
world affairs. In the nineteenth century, Colombia limited
its
involvement in foreign affairs to sporadic border disputes
with
immediate neighbors (Venezuela, Panama, Peru, and Brazil).
Colombia
and Venezuela began disputing boundaries after the breakup
of Gran
Colombia (Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador) in 1830
(see Gran Colombia
, ch. 1). This territorial issue continued to
cause
friction between the two nations into the twentieth
century. During
the first two decades of the twentieth century, the
secession of
Panama from Colombia in 1903 was a major source of
friction in
Colombia-United States relations
(see Relations with the United States
, this ch.). Colombia's boundary with Peru was
settled
initially in 1922, but problems developed again in 1932
when Peru
seized an area around Leticia in the Amazon Basin that
both nations
claimed
(see The Development of the Modern Armed Forces
, ch. 5). A
League of Nations commission resolved the conflict in
1934,
however, by suggesting a resolution that returned the
disputed area
to Colombia. Brazil and Colombia reached agreement on a
border
dispute in 1928.
Colombia broadened its foreign policy after World War
II,
becoming active among the Latin American states and small
powers in
general. It was an important participant in the 1945 San
Francisco
Conference creating the United Nations (UN) and was a
leading
opponent of the big-power veto in the Security Council.
Colombia
argued successfully for a primary role for regional
organizations,
whose recognition was secured under Article 51 of the UN
Charter.
Colombia also played an important role in creating the
Organization
of American States (OAS) in Bogotá in 1948. Former
Colombian
president Lleras Camargo was the OAS's first secretary
general
(1948-54).
Nevertheless, even in the post-World War II era,
Colombia
continued to view foreign policy within a limited context.
Whenever
Colombia initiated international actions, they were
usually meant
to complement more important national goals and were seen
as
extensions of domestic policy. After World War II,
Colombia's
foreign policy emphasized economic relations and support
for
collective security through the OAS and the UN.
Accordingly,
Colombia pursued only limited objectives in bilateral
international
security and global politics, usually preferring
multilateral
diplomatic approaches. Colombia's approach to security
issues has
been characterized by a willingness to settle disputes
peacefully
through recourse to international law and regional and
international security organizations.
Data as of December 1988
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