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Colombia THE FOUNDING OF THE NATION, 1810-1903
Even with the initial steps to unify against Spanish
authority,
the colonial elites argued among themselves. Both before
and after
the granting of independence, elites disagreed as to
whether the
national structure should be federalist or centralist.
This crucial
disagreement, exacerbated by Colombia's extreme regional
differences, was the first to separate the political
elites into
rival groups. The differing opinions of these groups
concerning the
appropriate relationship between the church and state
further
emphasized the disagreement. The separate groups followed
leaders
representing their views and identified with the
individuals as
much as with the ideologies. By the time of the new
nation's
foundation, these two groups had become clearly divided
and
dominated the political scene, excluding others from their
competition for control of the country. The force of their
ideals
carried the nation back and forth between political
extremes--
absolute liberty and repression.
Data as of December 1988
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