The eradication of absolute poverty
President Barco dreamt of a society that would be fairer and more equal, with real opportunities for all, and believed that social welfare policies and a more equitable distribution of government resources were essential to achieving that aim. He thus designed a new Economic Development Model, in which the obsession with accelerated economic growth, without caring who might benefit or be harmed, was replaced with a strong will to spread the fruits of progress to those needing them most.
In that way, his “Social Economy Plan” was aimed at ensuring that economic growth would fulfill a social function and that economic development would be a factor of growth. This principle of equity became a key factor in the fight against absolute poverty, the most severe restriction on economic expansion. The plan included specific programs and budget assignments aimed at raising the quality of life of the communities and regions with the lowest incomes and offering them access to the benefits of economic growth..
Text: Dra. Maria Mercedes Cuéllar
Peace Policy
President Barco´s peace policy was based on three main principles: the reconciliation of the State with the nation´s communities, especially the peasant-farmer population who lived in regions where the State had little or no presence; the normalization of civilian life in the same regions; and the rehabilitation of the areas and regions affected by political violence, which had not disappeared, despite the signing of an agreement in the late 1950´s between the Liberals and Conservatives, known as the National Front (Frente Nacional).
Reconciling the State with the population in rural areas implied extending State institutions throughout the length and breadth of Colombian territory, especially those regions where its authority had been replaced by the guerrilla organizations seeking an armed take-over of power. The normalization of civilian life and the rehabilitation of the areas affected by political violence were implemented to create conditions which would allow for peace talks with the guerrilla, which had been attempted by previous governments. The Rehabilitation Plan, on the other hand, allowed for the channeling of large investments into modernization projects, with the cooperation of peasant-farmer communities. It evidenced the government´s willingness and commitment to creating the conditions for a dialogue with the guerrilla that could bring peace to the country.
Despite many advances, peace negotiations with the FARC guerrilla group broke down after the genocide of members of the Unión Patriótica (the political arm of the FARC) an occurrence which is widely-known today. Nevertheless, notwithstanding the criminal activities of paramilitary groups, the Barco government´s initiatives succeeded in reintegrating such guerrilla groups as the M19, EP, PRT, Quintin Lame and the wing of the ELN known as the Corriente de Renovación Social, into civilian life.
The experience of the Barco government shows us that the State must always approach the search for peace with a firm and decided attitude in order to direct the changes needed to achieve a fairer society, without renouncing the legitimate use of force conferred on it by the Colombian Constitution.
The phrase which President Barco used to resume this philosophy – “reaching out with a steady hand” – is as relevant today as it was then to the achievement of peace..
Text: Dr. Carlos Ossa
Co-responsibility in the war against drugs
Taking advantage of the extraordinary international leadership assumed by Colombia during his term of office, President Barco did something previously thought impossible: he gained acceptance of the principle of co-responsibility in the fight against drugs. Speaking at the United Nations in 1989, he was the first world leader to bring to world-wide attention the fact that consumer and producer countries shared an equal responsibility for the problem of illegal drugs.
On a regional level, he hosted a meeting between President George Bush of the United States and the presidents of Bolivia and Peru to examine the problem. It resulted in the U.S. Andean Tariff Preference Act, still in effect. After a subsequent visit to Europe by President Barco, Colombian agricultural products gained similar preferences from the European Economic Community.
Text: Dr. Julio Londoño
Protection of the biodiversity of the Amazon
Colombia has the world´s most ambitious policy for the protection of the Amazon´s cultural and biological diversity: its national parks and indigenous reserves cover 55% of the region. Promoting this Amazonian policy was a personal obsession for President Virgilio Barco which resulted in the establishment of 44 indigenous reserves of a total area of 35,160,200 acres and 5 protected areas of a total area of 9,911,400 acres. Among them the Putumayo reserve with an area of 13,590,800 acres has become a world symbol of social and environmental justice, located, as it is, on lands once exploited by the Casa Arana, a rubber business which caused untold suffering and destruction among the indigenous peoples who now live in this territory.
Text: Dr. Manuel Rodriguez
Urban Development
President Barco´s policy for Colombian cities sought a more equitable society through urban planning, creating projects for the recuperation of city districts strategic areas and the provision of good public services.
To complement this, he initiated the building of “Cities within the City”, as in the case of the Salitre neighborhood, which was based on the creation of self-sufficient nuclei of housing, employment and recreation which would reduce the burden on public transportation and the enormous expenditure of time on the part of those who have to travel a long way from their homes to their workplaces.
In both aspects, his priority was to provide decent housing to low-income families, a policy now known as the right to the city, that is, the right to enjoy all the possibilities which cities offer for the betterment of family life and especially, education, health, the recreation of children, and the welfare of the aged and handicapped.
Text: Dr. Rafael Obregón
Modernization of the economy
During the four years of the Barco administration important reforms were undertaken whose aim was to improve productivity and encourage growth. Nevertheless, as the Barco government reached the end of its term, an important task still remained: to do away with an excessive protectionism in favor of domestic production, based on high tariffs which practically prohibited imports in some cases and the discretional granting of import licenses for many products.
For that reason, in February 1990, after a year and a half of analysis, the “Program for the Modernization of the Economy” was launched, which sought to expose national production to foreign competition in a gradual manner and in accordance with a pre-established timetable. Looking back now, the program may seem to have been timid, but when existing circumstances – such as the foreign debt crisis, the end of the International Coffee Pact and the war against the government by narco-terrorists, among other problems – are taken into account it, is clear that to impel such a profound change in the country´s traditional model of development - one that was doubtlessly going to affect the interests of many influential sectors – was a very bold move.
In this, as in so many other cases, the President gave his unconditional support to the experts in the government. But he insisted that the country had to understand it was not a matter of freeing imports but implanting a genuine program for modernizing the economy.
Text: Dr. Luis Fernando Alarcón
The 1991 Colombian Constitution
1986 was the year which paradoxically marked both the celebration of the centenary of the former Colombian Constitution and the inauguration of the president who would unleash the process which gave rise to the new Constitution of 1991. The process began on January 30, 1988, when President Barco published a letter in the daily newspaper El Espectador where he announced a referendum to do away with the prohibition of using referendums to modify the Constitution found in Article 13 of the 1957 Plebiscite. It was a bold way of circumventing an institutional deadlock which had threatened the stability of Colombian democracy, brutally challenged by drugs cartels, different guerrilla groups and other forms of organized crime.
The proposal was strongly supported by public opinion but questioned by the ex-presidents of the country. This brought about the “Casa de Nariño Agreement” on February 20, 1988. The reform was finally authorized after much political and legal discussion and led to what was known as the “seventh ballot” which was included in the 1990 general election, a student-movement initiative endorsed by President Barco. This cleared the way for his successor, César Gaviria, to convoke, elect and carry out the broad-based Constituent Assembly whose deliberations led to the establishment of the 1991 Colombian Constitution.
Text: Dr. Fernando Cepeda
Relations between the government and the opposition
The political history of Colombia has wavered between hegemonic governments and diverse forms of coalitions. In 1957, a plebiscite approved by an overwhelming majority of voters introduced a system of constitutional coalition between the two major parties, the Liberals and the Conservatives, known as the “National Front” (Frente Nacional), which would remain in force for twelve years. The two parties thus shared all public posts on equal terms. In 1959, a constitutional reform was approved by which the two major parties would alternate in the presidency until 1974. In 1968, that scheme of parity was extended up to August, 1978. From then onwards, the party, different from that of the elected President, decided whether it would participate in the government or not. In the latter case, the President was free to form his own government.
Barco had announced his interest in forming a government with a Liberal program. Nevertheless, obeying the constitutional mandate and in compliance with the principle of giving the other party receiving most votes an “adequate and fair” participation in the government, he named three Conservative ministers. The Conservatives decided not to participate and Barco was thus free to form a Liberal cabinet, though he announced that he would respect the principle of broad participation in the administrative and diplomatic spheres.
There thus came into being the first and only government program of a Liberal orientation which Colombia has known since 1958 and up to the present time. President Barco described it in the following way in his inaugural speech: “This is the framework, a government with a party orientation, with an administration without exclusions, open to all: one and the other, government and administration, consecrated to serving the whole Nation in a strict and immaculate way” (inaugural speech).
Text: Dr. Fernando Cepeda
Strategy for integrating Colombia into the Asia-Pacific Rim economy
With a forward-looking vision, President Barco initiated a foreign policy that would convert the country into a bridge with the nations of the Pacific Community. His government not only opened diplomatic and consular missions, it also created institutional mechanisms for the institutional integration of Colombia with the countries of that region.
But his policy did not stop there. He was the first Colombian Head of State to visit the countries of that region and establish important cooperation agreements which are still in force. Even his visionary project for a “dry canal” that would link Colombia´s two coasts across the Darien was aimed at opening Colombia to the rich possibilities of the Pacific. Barco opened the door to the Pacific.
Text: Dr. Julio Londoño