Colombia travel guide

The indigenous Colombian written language was discovered to be at its earliest stages at the time of the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Consequently there are practically no records of pre-conquest literature. The poetic tradition was oral; one of the few transcribed examples of spoken poetry is ‘El Yurupapy’, an oral epic gathered from indígena in the Vaupés region in the 16th century, though not published until 1890.

The literature produced during the colonial period (1500-1816) was mainly by an ecclesiastical elite, written for the benefit of an upper-class minority. The predominant themes were the conquest itself, Catholicism and observations of the New World. The two major writers of this period had themselves been major conquistadores. Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1499-1579), the founder of Bogotá in 1538, wrote Antijovio in 1567. The main purpose of this book was to defend Spain’s reputation against accusations made by the Italian Paulo Jovii in his Historiarum sui temporis libri XLV (1552). Quesada sought to put the record straight on matters concerning the behaviour of his nation during the conquest of the New World.

Juan de Castellanos (1522-1607) wrote a lengthy chronicle of the conquest called Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias (Elegy of Illustrious Men of the Indies, 1589). It was written in the Italian verse style popular at the time, and has been called one of the longest poems ever written. The most important piece of narrative prose written during this period was El carnero (The Butcher, 1638) by Juan Rodríguez Freile (1566-1642). This is a picaresque account of a year in the life of Santa Fe de Bogotá, using a blend of historical fact and scandalous invention to create a deliciously amoral book for its time. Mystic writing was also popular during the middle years of the conquest. Sor Francisca Josefa de Castillo y Guevara (1671-1742) was a nun who wrote baroque poetry, but was best known for her intimate spiritual diary Afectos espirituales (date unknown). Another Baroque poet of renown was Hernando Domínguez Camargo (1606-1659), who chronicled the life of Saint Ignatius in his epic Poema heróica de San Ignacio de Loyola (Heroic Poem of St Ignatius of Loyola, 1666).

The first major Colombian writer after the declaration of independence in 1824 was Juan José Nieto (1804-1866). His Ingermina, o la hija de Calamar (Ingermina, or the Child of Calamar, 1844) is a historical novel about the conquest of the Calamar Indians in the 16th century. The mid-19th century saw the publication in Bogotá of El Mosaico, a review centred around a literary group of the same name, founded by José María Vergara y Vergara (1831-1872). The prevailing style in the capital was costumbrismo, the depiction of local life and customs in realistic detail. Major costumbrista novels were Manuela (1858) by Eugenio Díaz (1804- 1865) and María (1867), by Jorge Isaacs (1837-1895). Romantic poetry also defined the early years of independence, reflecting the strong influence Europe still had over Colombia. One of the exceptions was a poet from Mompós, Candelario Obeso (1849-1884), the first Colombian poet to use Afro-American colloquialisms in poetry. His Cantos populares de mi tierrra (Popular Songs of my Land, 1877) marked a progressive shift from the Romantic style, into a poetic language which reflected the true variety of Colombia’s indigenous population.

Another important region in the development of Colombian literature was Antioquia, whose main city is Medellín. This region spawned the first crop of writers who were not of the upper-class elite which had dominated Colombian letters until the late 19th century. Tomás Carrasquilla (1858-1940) produced three major novels which reflected his humble middle-class background, and used a casual, spoken style to portray local customs and speech, and above all a love of the land. Another Antioquian of renown was Samuel Velásquez (1865-1941), whose novel Madre (Mother, 1897) gives a strong sense of the simple life of the countryside coupled with the religious passion of its inhabitants.

The beginning of the avant-garde in Colombia is marked by the publication of Tergiversaciones (Distortions) in 1925 by León de Greiff (1895-1976), in which he experimented with new techniques to create a completely original poetic idiom. Another important Modernist poet was Porfirio Barba Jacob (the pseudonym of Miguel Angel Osorio, 1883-l942), who was influenced by the French Parnassian poets and published melancholic verse, typified by Rosas negras (Black Roses, 1935).

Other novelists of the same era were pursuing a much more social realist style than their avant-garde counterparts. La voragine (The Vortex, 1924) by José Eustacio Rivera (1888-1928) deals with the narrator’s own struggle for literary expression against a backdrop of the Amazonian rubber workers’ struggle for survival. César Uribe Piedrahita (1897-1951) also chronicled the plight of rubber workers, and in Mancha de aceite (Oil Stain, 1935) he looks at the effects of the oil industry on the land and people of his country. The problems facing indigenous people began to get more attention from these socially aware writers; Bernardo Arías Trujillo (1903-1928) examined the lives of Afro- Americans in Colombia in Risaralda.

The late 1940s to the mid-1960s in Colombian society were dominated by La Violencia . Literary output during this intensely violent period reflected the political concerns which had led to the violence; among the novels to stand out from the many personal tales of anger and disbelief was El jardín de las Hartmann (The Garden of the Hartmanns, 1978) by Jorge Eliécer Prado (born 1945), which charts the history of La Violencia in Tolima, one of the most severely affected regions. What makes this book readable is the lack of historical facts and figures, typical of books set during La Violencia, and a more generalized view of the troubles.

Two important poetry movements to come out of La Violencia were the ‘Mito’ group and the ‘Nadaistas’. Mito was a poetry magazine founded in 1955 by Jorge Gaitán Durán (1924-1962). It included Eduardo Cote Lemus (1928-1964), Carlos Obregón (1929-1965) and Dora Castellanos (born 1925). Their influences were contemporary French writers such as Genet and Sartre, and the Argentinean José Luis Borges. Mito came out during the dictatorship of Rojas Pinilla, and was one of the few outlets for free literary expression in the country. The Nadaista group were concerned with changing the elitist role of literature in the face of the violent conflict which affected everyone, and they felt should be addressed directly; they used avant-garde styles and techniques to achieve this.

By far the biggest influence on Colombian fiction was the publication, in 1967, of Cien años de soledad (A Hundred Years of Solitude) by Gabriel García Márquez (born 1927). He had published many short stories and novels in the 1950s and early 1960s. Among the most significant were La hojarasca (Leaf Storm in 1955) and El coronel no tiene quien le escriba (No-one Writes to the Colonel, 1958), a portrayal of a colonel and his wife struggling to cope with the tropical heat, political oppression and economic deprivation in their final years. But it was with Cien años de soledad that he became recognized as the major exponent of a new style generic to Latin American writers. Events were chronicled in a deadpan style; historical facts were blended with pure fantasy, the latter written matter- of-factly as if it were the truth; characters were vividly portrayed through their actions and brief dialogues rather than internal monologues. The style came to be known as Magic Realism in English, a translation of the Spanish ‘Lo real maravilloso’. In 1975 Márquez published El otoño del patriarca (The Autumn of the Patriarch), which was a return to a favourite theme of his, the loneliness that power can bring. Crónica de una muerte anunciada (Chronicle of a Death Foretold, 1981) was set in an unnamed coastal city, but no doubt not far from Márquez’s birthplace of Aracataca. It captures the docility and traditional stubbornness of the people of Colombia’s Caribbean seaboard, an area in which Márquez had worked as a journalist in the 1950s. El amor en los tiempos de cólera (Love in the Time of Cholera, 1985) is set at the turn of the century, and concerns the affair between a couple of septuagenarians against the backdrop of another fictional city; Márquez skillfully blends Cartagena, Barranquilla and Santa Marta into one coastal town. Márquez has published nine novels in total, as well as articles and essays

Other important writers in the 1970s and 1980s include Fanny Buitrago and Manuel Zapata Olivella. In novels such as Los Panamanes (1979) and Los amores de Afrodita (The Loves of Aphorodite, 1983), Buitrago contrasts the legends and culture of the Caribbean coast with the needs of young people to move on, at the risk of being swallowed up by modern North American culture. Zapata Olivella has published a monumental novel, El fusilamiento del diablo (The Shooting of the Devil, 1986) covering the six centuries of African and Afro-American history.

Current account surpluses in the late 1970s during a coffee price boom were turned into large deficits in the first half of the 1980s because of lower export receipts and rapidly rising imports. However, Colombia was able to avoid having to reschedule its foreign debt and took steps to adjust its external accounts. The devaluation of the peso was speeded up, reinforced by import restrictions and export incentives. The fiscal accounts were also turned around and the public sector deficit was reduced while economic growth remained positive throughout and per capita income increased. The World Bank and the IMF endorsed the Colombian economic strategy and commercial banks continued to lend to the country to refinance loans falling due. The Gaviria government accelerated the economic opening of the country and liberalized financial, investment, foreign exchange and tax legislation. High real interest rates encouraged capital inflows and economic stability encouraged foreign investors.

President Samper’s 1995-1998 development plan emphasized spending on the social sector and productive infrastructure (with private sector involvement) to help combat poverty. However, the transfer of responsibilities to the regions has been accompanied by mismanagement and the combination of uncertainty surrounding the government’s links with drugs, guerrilla activity and strikes. In February 1997, Samper yielded to demands for 20% pay rises for public sector workers, putting more pressure on the inflation rate. The trade deficit was also cause for concern as the coffee and banana markets slumped and the peso became over-valued as interest rates were kept high to compensate for the fiscal deficit. However, in September 1997 the peso fell, helped by lower interest rates, and the government turned to the domestic market for financing rather than raise capital abroad.

However, by the time Pastrama took office, unemployment had reached 15.8%, the fiscal deficit was rising, inflation was over 18% and gap growth falling. Pastrama instituted budget cuts but progress was hampered by the 1998 global financial crisis and the prolonged effects of El Niño. High domestic interest rates fuelled the recession which persisted until early 2000 when unemployment reached almost 21%. The construction industry was particularly hard hit as was the banking sector in which some major changes have taken place, including takeovers by foreign banking groups.

Colombia has varied natural resources and an economic structure which is no longer dependent on any one commodity. Agriculture is the major employer, providing about 15% of GDP and over half of total legal exports. The traditional crops are coffee, flowers, sugar cane, bananas, rice, maize and cotton. Colombia is the leading producer of mild Arabica coffee and second to Brazil in world production. Diversification since 1984, drought and disease have reduced output, but exports of coffee still amount to 15-20% of total exports, depending on world prices. About 900,000 ha are planted to coffee in the central Andes and production is around 10-11 million bags a year. Sugar production, at over 2 million metric tons, is second only to Brazil in South America. Flowers, mostly grown near Bogotá because of ease of access to the airport, are exported mainly to the USA. Expansion has been so successful that Colombia is the second largest exporter of cut flowers in the world after the Netherlands. The USA accounts for 73% of total sales of over US$500 million a year. Bananas are grown on the tropical lowlands, about 56 million boxes from around Urabá and 30 million south of Santa Marta, while sugar cane is grown in the Cauca Valley. Manufacturing contributes 19% of GDP, with farming activities such as food processing, drink and tobacco accounting for about a third of the sector’s value added. Textiles and clothing are also important and provide an outlet for home-grown cotton.

The most dynamic sector of the economy in the 1980s was mining, with average annual growth rates of 18%, although rates in the 1990s have declined. Mining (coal, nickel, emeralds, gold and platinum) now accounts for about a fifth of total exports. Coal reserves are the largest in Latin America, which partial surveys have put at 16.5 billion tonnes. The largest deposits are in the Cerrejón region, where a huge project mines and exports steam coal from a purpose built port at Bahía de Portete. Production was 30 million tonnes in 1996 but was forecast to rise to 40 million tonnes by 2000 and 55-70 million tonnes by 2005. Coal is now the third largest export item by value. A mine at La Loma (César Department) and deposits in the Chocó are also being developed with railways and ports for export markets. With the exception of a few major projects, mining of precious metals is concentrated in the hands of small-scale producers with little technology or organization. Much of their output remains outside the formal economy. Colombia is a major producer of gold, platinum and emeralds, which have traditionally dominated the sector. Mining of precious metals, including silver, is primarily in the Department of Antioquia and El Chocó. Gold deposits have also been discovered on the borders of the Departments of Cauca and Valle, while others have been found in the Guainía, Vaupés and Guaviare regions near the Brazilian border.

Since the mid-1990s oil has held the position of top export earner contributing over a quarter of total exports. Traditionally, oil production came from the Magdalena Basin, but these are older fields which are running down. The discovery of the Caño Limón field near Arauca raised output to around 450,000 b/d. The Cusiana and Cupiagua fields, in the Llanos, came into full production in 1995; average output in 1996 was about 580,000 b/d but has not been significantly expanded because of guerrilla attacks and operational problems. Cusiana also has substantial reserves of gas. Investment is taking place to raise oil output, build refineries, petrochemical plants and pipelines, although guerrilla attacks and high taxes make operating in Colombia costly for foreign oil companies and investment has dropped.

The new country was the scene of much dissent between the centralizing pro-clerical Conservatives and the federalizing anti-clerical Liberals. The Liberals were dominant from 1849, and the next 30 years saw countless insurrections and civil wars. In 1885 the Conservatives imposed a highly centralized constitution that was not modified over 100 years. Civil war had a disastrous effect on the economy, leading to the Paper Money Crisis of 1885, when Colombian currency suffered a dramatic fall in value and circulation had to be reduced to 12 million pesos in notes. Gold was not established as the standard for currency until 1903.

A Liberal revolt of 1899 against the rigidly partisan government of the Conservatives turned into the ‘War of the Thousand Days’, also known as ‘La Rebelión’. It lasted from 17 October 1899 to 1 June 1903. The first Liberal victory was at Norte de Santander in December 1899, when government forces were defeated by rebel leader General Benjamín Herrera. The Battle of Palonegro, 11-26 May 1900, was won by the government forces, led by General Prospero Pinzón. This proved to be the decisive victory of the ‘War of a Thousand Days’. 100,000 people had died before the Liberals were finally defeated.

During the independence wars, Panama remained loyal to Spain. Although it had been a state in Nueva Granada since 1855, it was practically self-governing until 1886, when the new Colombian constitution reduced it to a mere department. A bid for independence in 1903 was supported by the USA. The revolution lasted only four days (3-6 November), and by 18 November, the USA had signed a treaty allowing them to build the Panama Canal.

The authoritarian government of General Rafael Reyes (1850-1921), from 1904 to 1909, was known as the Quinquenio dictatorship. He created his own extra-legal national assembly in 1904. His territorial reorganization and his negotiations with the USA over Panama increased his unpopularity, leading to an assassination attempt in 1906. The new president from 1910 to 1914, Carlos Eugenio Restrepo (1867-1937), restored a legal form of government and began negotiations with the USA for the Urrutia-Thomson Treaty of 1914. This resulted in a US$25 million indemnity payment to Colombia over US involvement in the Panamanian revolution.

La República de Gran Colombia was established by the revolutionary congress at present- day Ciudad Bolívar (Venezuela) on 17 December 1819. A general congress was held at Cúcuta on 1 January 1821, and it was here that the two opposing views that later sowed such dissent in Colombia first became apparent. Bolívar and Nariño were in favour of centralization; Santander, a realist, wanted a federation of sovereign states. Bolívar succeeded in enforcing his view and the 1821 constitution was drawn up, dividing Gran Colombia into 12 departments and 26 provinces. New laws were introduced to abolish the slave trade and allow free birth for the children of slaves born in Colombia, to redistribute indigenous lands and to abolish the Inquisition. This constitution lasted until 1830 when, following the breakaway of Venezuela and Ecuador, a new constitution was drawn up.

In 1793, a translation of the Rights of Man was published in Colombia by Antonio Nariño (1765-1823), an administrator and journalist, known as ‘el Precursor’ for his important role in the independence movement. He was imprisoned in Spain in 1794, but escaped and returned to Nueva Granada (as Colombia was then called) in 1797. He joined the patriot forces in 1810 and became president of Cundinamarca in 1812. He led a military campaign in the south in 1813, and was again imprisoned by the Spanish. Meanwhile Simón Bolívar (1783-1830) was leading a campaign for Venezuelan independence. Following the collapse of the First Republic of Venezuela in 1812, he joined the independence movement in Cartagena and had early successes in his 1812 Magdalena Campaign, which ended in Caracas, where the Second Republic was proclaimed. Again, the patriots lost control and Bolívar returned to Colombia, but was forced to flee to the West Indies when General Pablo Morillo launched the Spanish re-conquest.

Changes in Europe were also to affect the situation in Colombia. In 1808, Napoleon replaced Ferdinand VII of Spain with his own brother Joseph. The New World refused to recognize this, and several revolts erupted in Nueva Granada, culminating in a revolt at Bogotá and the establishment of a junta on 20 July 1810. Cartagena also bound itself to a junta set up at Tunja.

Simón Bolívar returned to the Llanos in 1816 and formed a new army. Their campaign for liberation involved a forced march over the Andes, in the face of incredible difficulties. After joining forces with Francisco de Paulo Santander’s Nueva Granada army, he defeated the royalists at the Battle of the Pantano de Vargas in July, winning the decisive victory at the Battle of Boyacá on 7 August. From 1819 to 1828 Bolívar was president of Gran Colombia, the new name for the union of Colombia, Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador, which lasted until the 1830s.

After the fall of Napoleon in 1815, the Spanish set about trying to reconquer the independent territories. The main Spanish general behind the task was Pablo Morillo (1778-1837), known as ‘the Pacifier’. During his reign of terror (1816-1819), more than 300 patriot supporters were executed. Morillo set up the ‘Consejo de Guerra Permanente’ and the ‘Consejo de Purificación’. The latter’s aim was to punish crimes of treason. There was also a board of confiscations known as the ‘Junta de Secuestros’. Morillo was linked to the re-establishment of the Inquisition, which saw many priests tried in military courts in South America.

The late 1940s to mid-1960s were dominated by a period known as ‘La Violencia’, incited by the assassination of the socialist mayor of Bogotá, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, on 9 April 1948. The riots that ensued were known as the ‘Bogotazo’. La Violencia was characterized by terrorism, murder and destruction of property. Simultaneous, though un-coordinated, outbursts persisted throughout the 1950s. Among the many victims were Protestants, who were persecuted 1948-1959. Some 115 Protestants were murdered and 42 of their buildings destroyed. Other contributing factors to La Violencia were anti-communist sentiments, economic deprivation and the prevailing partisan political system. In 1957 a unique political truce was formed, putting an end to the violence. The Liberal and Conservative parties became the Frente Nacional, a coalition under which the two parties supported a single presidential candidate and divided all political offices equally between them. Political stability was maintained for 16 years. Ultimately the Conservatives gained more from this accord, and unforeseen opposition was provoked in parties not involved in the agreement.

One of the biggest guerrilla organizations active after La Violencia was the Movimiento 19 de Abri1, known as M19. Their political wing was the Alianza Nacional Popular (ANAPO), founded by followers of the dictator General Rojas Pinilla (1900-1975). His Peronist tactics during his 1953-1957 presidency had resulted in his trial by national tribunal and he was overthrown on 10 May 1957. ANAPO opposed both Liberals and Conservatives. They became a major protest force during the late 1960s and 1970s, believing that the 1970 presidential elections, in which Rojas Pinillo was a candidate, had been rigged, and that fraudulent results had placed Misael Pastrana Borrero in power. Ml9 took their name from the date of the election, 19 April 1970.

M19’s agenda was to achieve a democratic socialist society. Their first public act was the theft of Bolívar’s sword from Quinta de Bolívar in Bogotá. They sought to identify themselves with the legacy of the leader of the 19th-century independence movement. They also kidnapped José Rafael Mercado, president of the Confederation of Workers, in 1976, accusing him of fraud and misconduct in office, for which they tried and executed him. They then kidnapped Alvaro Gómez Hurtado, Communist Party leader and son of earlier president Gómez, to publicize demands for renewed talks with the government.

It was not until the late 1980s that negotiations got under way. A peace accord was reached in late 1989. The following year, M19 members surrendered their weapons and formed themselves into a bona fide political party, named Alianza Democrática, or M19-AD, with which they gained a significant percentage of the vote in the 1990 elections.

The other main terrorist organization after La Violencia was Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). Formed in 1964 under leader Pedro Antonio Marín, known as ‘Tirofijo’, they were aligned with the Communist Party. After 20 years of guerrilla activity they signed a truce with the government on 24 May 1984. FARC joined forces with the legitimate Unión Patriótica and went on to win 10 seats in the 1986 election, while the Liberals took the majority.

In 1985 many of Colombia’s guerrilla movements merged into the ‘Coordinadora Guerrillera Simón Bolívar’ (CGSB), together with all organizations that had refused to sign the government amnesty offered by President Belisario Betancur in 1985. Their aim was to co-ordinate their actions against the government and the armed forces. Most of their actions were based along the upper Río Cauca and the department of Antioquia. Peace talks with the government in the early 1990s collapsed, followed in 1992-1993 by several indecisive but destructive offences on the part of both the guerrillas and the armed forces.

The 1994 presidential elections were won by another Liberal, Ernesto Samper. The main thrust of his programme was that Colombia’s current economic strength should provide resources to tackle the social deprivation that was causing drug use and insurgency. He placed emphasis on bringing the FARC and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) guerrillas to the negotiating table, and increasing public spending on social welfare. Revelations during 1995-1997 that Samper’s election campaign had been financed partly by a US$6 million donation from the Cali Cartel saw the government’s popularity decline. In 1996 further charges were brought against the president for links with the drugs mafia, although he was acquitted. The charges led to political instability and the attempted killing of Samper’s lawyer. When the opposition leader Alvaro Gómez was assassinated, Samper declared a state of emergency.

When it was revealed that other ministers had links with the drugs mafia, suspicion arose that Samper’s acquittal had only been to protect their own positions. International confidence was lost. The USA decided, in March 1996, to remove (decertify) Colombia from its list of countries making progress against drug trafficking. This made Colombia ineligible for US aid.

Colombia was decertified for the second time in March 1997 partly because the Cali leaders were continuing their business from prison, having been given light sentences. Whatever progress was being made to eradicate drugs plantations and stocks, the denial of US aid permitted little scope for the establishment of alternative crops. Many rural communities were therefore left without a means of support.

In May 1997 the government admitted for the first time to the escalating problem of paramilitary groups and their links with members of the armed forces. The most infamous of these is ‘Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá’ (ACCU), who receive financial support from drugs cartels. The state department admitted that 48% of violent episodes in 1997 were carried out by paramilitaries. This was confirmed by the annual report of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission in June 1997. In March 1998, congressional elections were relatively peaceful; and the US withdrawal of decertification restrictions the same month, were a welcome boost of confidence. Two rounds of presidential elections in May and June 1998 also passed without excessive guerrilla disruption. The new president, Andrés Pastrana, voted in on a promise to find a formula for peace, immediately devoted his efforts to bringing the guerilla groups to the negotiating table. After a long, tortuous process with FARC, a large zona de despeje (demilitarized zone), was conceded, centred on San Vicente del Caguán in Caquetá. Not everyone was in favour of Pastrana’s initiative, not least because FARC violence and extortion did not cease. In April 2000, the government proposed the ceding of a similar but smaller demilitarised zone to the ELN, situated on the west side of the Río Magdalena in the department of Bolívar and a small section of Antioquia, a zona de encuentro. Local communities of this agricultural area were dismayed and peacefully demonstrated by closing roads and causing disruption – another vitally interested group in the complicated political equation.

Colombia was inhabited by various indigenous groups before the Spanish conquest. The most highly developed were the Tayronas, who had settlements along the Atlantic coast and on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The Tayronas had a complex social organization, with an economy based on fishing, agriculture and commerce. They built paved roads, aqueducts, stone stairways and public plazas for ceremonies.

Another major group were the Muisca, a Chibcha-speaking people who dominated the central highlands of Colombia at the time of the conquest. Muisca and Chibcha can be considered the same language. Philologists identify the ‘Chibchan’ language to refer to a series of dialects extending from Nicaragua in Central America to Ecuador, almost all of which have now disappeared. Carbon dating places their earliest settlements at around BC 545. Their village confederation was ruled by the Zipa at Bogotá, and the Zaque at Hunza (now Tunja). The Zipas believed that they were descended from the Moon, and the Zaques from the Sun. Their livelihood came from trading at markets in corn, potatoes and beans. They were also accomplished goldsmiths, and traded emeralds, ceramics and textiles with other societies.

The Sinú had their chiefdoms in the present-day Department of Córdoba and parts of Antioquia and Sucre. They farmed yucca and maize on artificial mounds in the local marshlands with complex drainage systems to make the best use of high and low water levels. They also cultivated reeds used for textiles and basket-weaving, as well as working with gold. Much wealth was plundered from their tombs, known as ‘guacas’, by the Spaniards during the conquest.

The Quimbayas inhabited parts of the Valle del Cauca. They had a class system, and a society similar to that of the Muisca and Tayronas, except that some evidence suggests they practised ritual cannibalism.

The first permanent settlement in Colombia was established in 1500-1507 by Rodrigo de Bastidas (1460-1526). He reached the country by sailing south along the Caribbean coast. After his return to Spain to face trial for insubordination, he was given permission to establish a colony. In 1525 he founded Santa Marta and named the river Magdalena. Cartagena was founded in 1533 by Pedro de Heredia and used as a central stockpile for the growing Spanish collection of treasure. Massive fortifications were built to protect it from pirate attacks. Santa Fe de Bogotá was founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1499-1579) in 1538. He arrived in Santa Marta in 1535 and continued up to the Sabana de Bogotá with his men: 200 made the trip by boat, 670 by land. Sebastián de Belalcázar (1495-1551), the lieutenant of Francisco Pizarro, was given instructions to explore southern Colombia and the Cauca Valley in 1535. He founded Cali and Popayán in 1536, and was made governor of Popayán in 1540. Nicolás Federmann (1506-1541), acting on behalf of the Welser financiers of Germany, led an expedition east to Coro and Cape Vela, then back to Barquisimeto and Meta. He arrived in the Sabana de Bogotá in 1538, where he met Belalcázar and Jiménez de Quesada.

Temperatures in Colombia are mainly affected by altitude and distance from the north and west coasts. The highest average temperatures in South America are in the Maracaibo lowlands of which Colombia has the southwest corner and the northwest extension into the Guajira Peninsula. Average annual temperatures in the Caribbean Lowlands are typically in excess of 25°C, modified downwards on the coast, yet, within sight of the coast are the permanent snows of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta due to its altitude of over 5500 m. The temperature becomes oppressive where there is also high humidity.

Rainfall depends on the migrating northwest and southeast trade wind systems, the effect of the Andes acting as a weather barrier and some local situations along the coasts. There is high rainfall in the southeast where the southeast trade winds bring moisture all year into the Amazon Basin that is continually recycled to produce heavy daily precipitation all along the east edge of the Andes. This however tails off northwards into the llanos especially November to March when the wind systems move south and the southeast Trades are replaced by the northeast system. This is less effective in bringing moisture into the area because of the protection of the Venezuelan Andes. The rainfall in the lower reaches of the Magdalena Basin is also high, aided by the large swampy area which keeps the air saturated. The highest rainfall in the country is in the northwest near the border with Panama, brought about by the convergence of the trade wind systems interacting with warm, saturated air coming in from the Pacific. Here it rains daily most of the year with some respite from January to March but with a total on average of 8000 mm per year. This is one of the highest in the world. This heavy rain belt extends down the coast tailing off as Ecuador is approached. Unlike further south, the ocean here is warm and air over it readily condenses when it moves on to the land. However, this is a generalized pattern only.

Aberrations in the weather systems between November and March, when less rain normally falls, now labelled the El Niño phenomenon, also affect the western part of Colombia at least as far east as Bogotá. So far, the consequences have been much less dramatic than in Peru and Ecuador. However, be warned that the words of the tour operator or travel book writer ‘the best time to visit’ will sometimes be totally misleading!

Colombia is the fourth largest in size of the 10 principal countries of South America, at 1,142,000 sq km slightly smaller than Peru and slightly larger than Bolivia. In terms of Europe, that is the size of France and Spain combined. The latest estimate of population is 42.2 million, marginally more than Argentina and second only to Brazil in the continent. The people are concentrated in the western third of the country: nevertheless the population density of 31.2 per sq km is only greater in Ecuador within South America. To the east, it is bounded by Venezuela and Brazil, to the south, by Peru and Ecuador and in the northwest by Panama. It is the only South American country with a coastline on the Pacific (1306 km) and the Caribbean (1600 km), with two small offshore islands in the Pacific. In the Caribbean, there are various coastal islands including the Rosario and San Bernardo groups and the more substantial San Andrés/Providencia archipelago off the coast of Nicaragua, plus several cays towards Jamaica.

Colombia established its first national park in 1969 (Tayrona on the Caribbean coast) and now has 53 reserves comprising 40 National Nature Parks (PNN), 10 Flora and Fauna Sanctuaries (SFF), two National Nature Reserves and one Unique Natural Area (ANU), spread throughout the country and in virtually every department. They vary in size from the tiny island of Corota in the Laguna de la Cocha near the border with Ecuador to large areas of forest in the eastern lowlands. All the significant mountain areas are National Parks including the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, El Cocuy, El Nevado de Huila, Los Nevados (Tolima and Ruiz) and Puracé. There are 14 on or near the Caribbean and Pacific coasts including the off-shore islands.

All except the smallest parks normally have one or more centres staffed with rangers (guardaparques) who offer information and guidance for visitors. Most, however, are remote with difficult access and few facilities. Unlike some Latin American countries, most national parks in Colombia are virtually free of ‘tourism’ and are thus of particular interest to those looking for unspoilt natural surroundings.

For various reasons, unlike many countries where the main problem for national parks is visitor overcrowding, many of the parks in Colombia are difficult to visit. Unfortunately, because of their remoteness, some have been sanctuary to guerrilla groups or drug traffickers, some are sensitive indigenous territories and many are of difficult access and have few or no facilities. Lovers of wilderness, however, will enjoy the richness of the natural attractions and the freedom from oppressive tourism.

This neotropical zone is a land of superlatives, it contains the most extensive tropical rainforest in the world; the Amazon has by far the largest volume of any of the world’s rivers and the Andes are the longest uninterrupted mountain chain. The fauna and flora are to a large extent determined by the influence of those mountains and the great rivers, particularly the Amazon and the Orinoco. There are also huge expanses of open terrain, tree-covered savannahs and arid regions. It is this immense range of habitats which makes Colombia one of the world’s regions of high biological diversity.

This diversity arises not only from the wide range of habitats available, but also from the history of the continent. South America has essentially been an island for much of its geological past, joined only by a narrow isthmus to Central and North America at various times between 50 million and 25 million years ago. The present connection has been stable only for a few million years. Land passage played a significant role in the gradual colonization of South America by both flora and fauna from the north. When the land-link was broken these colonists evolved to a wide variety of forms free from the competitive pressures that prevailed elsewhere. When the land-bridge was re-established a new invasion of species took place from North America, adding to the diversity but also leading to numerous extinctions. Comparative stability has now ensued and has guaranteed the survival of many primitive groups like the opossums.

A Human Rights Watch report released in October 2008 concluded that President Uribe’s government has been putting obstacles in the way of the Supreme Court’s efforts to investigate the paramilitaries’ mafia-like networks.

Alvaro Uribe succeeded Andrés Pastrana as president in May 2002. A Harvard- and Oxford-educated lawyer, he came to power promising to eradicate left-wing guerrillas’ and right-wing paramilitaries’ hold on the country.

To a large extent he has succeeded. Using US funding from Plan Colombia , he boosted spending on the military and armed peasants in vulnerable regions. He has held formal peace talks with far-right paramilitaries and has managed to bring security to most of the urban areas of the country within the mountainous centre. In so doing he has pushed the guerrillas, who at one point held territory within an hour of Bogotá, to the margins of the country – to the dense jungles around the borders with Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama.

In terms of the state’s fight against the FARC, which has been going on for more than 40 years, 2008 was Colombia’s annus mirabilis. Three major successes – each of which would have been considered a major, standalone coup in their own right – have shifted the balance of the conflict overwhelmingly in favour of the government.

In March, the Colombian army executed a raid just over the border into Ecuador in which Luis Edgar Devia Silva (normally known by his nom de guerre, Raúl Reyes), the FARC’s spokesperson and a member of the Secretariat, was killed.

In May, it was revealed that the FARC’s founder and leader, Pedro Antonio Marín Marín, also known as Manuel Marulanda or Tirofijo (‘Sureshot’), had died of a heart attack.

Then in July came the biggest blow of all – the dramatic rescue of Senator Ingrid Betancourt, who had been kidnapped six years previously while campaigning for the presidency. In many ways, Betancourt’s imprisonment had come to symbolize the potency the FARC held over Colombia and her rescue severely dented the rebels’ bargaining power.

These three strikes have led many analysts to sound the death knell of the FARC. They have been severely weakened, as has been evidenced by a number of high profile desertions during 2008. However, suggesting that the FARC have been neutralized may be premature. Alfonso Cano took over command after Marulanda’s death and a number of bombings in late 2008 suggests they will continue to disrupt civilian life for years to come, while their bargaining power will remain intact while they still hold what is believed to be over 700 hostages.

Uribe enjoyed an 80% approval rating after the rescue of Betancourt and he is believed to be contemplating running for a third term after he persuaded the Colombian House of Representatives to change the constitution so that he could run for office again in 2006. He was re-elected with 60% of the vote and all the signs are that, if he succeeds in modifying the constitution, he would win again in 2010.

But he is not without his critics. Since 2006, 32 of Uribe’s staunchest supporters in congress, including his cousin Mario Uribe, have been charged by the Colombian Supreme Court for alleged links to paramilitary groups, while his family has been accused by a high-ranking senator of hosting meetings in the 1980s, at one of their ranches in Antioquia, with death squads during which murders were plotted.

In Medellín and Cali, two cartels transformed Colombia’s drugs trade into a major force in worldwide business and crime. Their methods were very different; Medellín’s was violent and ostentatious, while Cali’s was much more low-key. The Medellín Cartel processed and distributed 60-70% of cocaine exported to the USA during the 1980s. It was headed by Pablo Escobar Gaviria and Jorge Luis Ochoa Vásquez. Many members of Ochoa’s family were also working for the cartel. In the late 1980s he was listed as a billionaire by Forbes Magazine.

In 1981, Marta Nieves Ochoa Vásquez, Jorge’s sister, was kidnapped. Ml9 were believed responsible. In response to the kidnapping, ‘Muerte a Secuestradores’ was formed by leaders of the drugs trade. Their strong anti-Communist beliefs led to alleged support from factions of the military. In 1984 Muerte a Secuestradores assassinated Carlos Toledo Plata, an ANAPO congressman who had later joined M19.

President César Gaviria Trujillo, the Liberal candidate who had won the 1990 presidential election, put into motion a pacification plan to end the drugs cartels’ offensive and establish a peace agreement with the guerrillas. In a further display of reformist government, he appointed Antonio Navarro Wolff, former guerrilla leader now of the M19-AD, to the post of health minister.

As a result of the reform of the constitution in 1991, a further general election was held in October 1991 (although not due until 1994) and the Liberals retained a majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives. By 1991 the government had secured the surrender, under secret terms, of senior members of the Medellín cartel, namely Pablo Escobar and Jorge Luis Ochoa. One of the publicized conditions for their surrender was immunity from extradition and reduced sentences. Some of the senior traffickers and murderers got only five to eight years. President Gaviria received international support, including from the USA, for his stance against the drugs problem, which contrasted with previous president Barco’s tougher, and unsuccessful stand.

In the National Constituent Assembly elections of 1991 the M19-AD won 19 of the 70 contested seats; the Liberals won 24; combined Conservative factions won 20. These results were followed by attempts to legitimize and modernize the political system, in an effort to deny remaining guerrilla groups any cause for protest and therefore lead to peace. The judicial system was strengthened and extradition was banned. However, the early 1990s saw high abstention rates in elections: 60-70% of the electorate didn’t vote. This was blamed on loss of confidence in the political system and disruption of voting by guerrillas in some rural areas.

* http://www.btha.org British Travel Health Association.

* http://www.cdc.gov US government site that gives excellent advice on travel health and details of disease outbreaks.

*http://www.fco.gov.uk British Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel site has useful information on each country, people, climate and a list of UK embassies/consulates

* http://www.fitfortravel.scot.nhs.uk A-Z of vaccine/health advice for each country.