New Constitution, New Rules

Pierina Ponce
Oct. 24 2007
ESL 100
In the late eighties, Colombia went trough one of its more violent periods in its recent history. The war between the drugs cartels seeped into the whole society affecting everybody no matter their social condition, gender or religious affiliation. In addition, the social issues such as poverty, unemployment and insecurity, in the cities and the rural areas, made the armed illegal groups become stronger. The guerrillas in that time represented an alternative response to all the social inequity, but their violent method just made the problems even worse. With all the social, political and economic changes around the world, several of them related by the end of the communism in Europe, Colombia's government started to modernize the country. There were so many changes to do, but all of them would need to be under a new legislation that provided the political tools to stabilize the country. That was the background for a new constitution that replaced the one that was more than a hundred years old. Our new legislation changed my country in different ways.
First, the economic changes came. Colombia opened its commercial borders to international products. I still remember that in my early childhood not everybody had access to goods that were from different countries. For instance, buying American candy bars or some special clothing brands was very expensive, and you would need to go to a special import store. With the “Apertura Economica”, name for the new international economic strategy, our markets started to be fill up with international products, and that caused more competition a better prices for the consumers. Furthermore, our national products went to markets all around the world. Colombian coffee became the country's most significant product and became world known.
Second, the political changes started to build a new society. The 1991 constitution brought the opportunity to elect mayors and governors by democratic vote. In order to get the people ready for this big change, the schools had to introduce classes such as democracy and civic in their curriculum. They also had to encourage the students to participate in the schools government. That was like having politically our own country. We had to go through political campaigns, we had to vote and chose our representatives to discuss our needs. That was a nice experience, especially when I was in high school; that I had the chance to participate and understand all the political responsibilities that I would have as a citizen. That was a didactic learning process.
Then the social changes, the government created new spaces for the minorities to participate, that way everyone's can be heard. Even though so many things have changed with the constitution, the social problems are still present in my country. I have the chance to learn more about that when I was in college because I was studying economy. That gave ma a bigger sense of the problems that affect my country. However, watching the news gave me the sensation that we haven't improved so much in solving our social problems. That was the reason why I joined different youth associations that were working to build a more equal, we society.
Colombia has changed, but the modernization of the country is still going on. We are trying to be a more competitive country in terms of international commerce. Also, we have been working on offered the citizens better government representation. However, is our responsibility decide who administrates our country and our sources. because we elect our political representatives. Moreover, we are trying to have a better society, with more and better opportunities for everyone. The constitution have changed the way that every Colombian thinks about their country. The tools were provided, but the changes depend on us.