"Neutral but not indifferent" : the foreign policy of Colombia, 1900-1980

Two issues above all have contributed to the formulation of policies by Colombian leaders in response to international ideological and economic pressures during the twentieth century. The persistent inability of the Central Government in Bogota to exercise meaningful Influence on the running of the Departmental governments, particularly evident at the beginning of this century, absorbed the attention of several consecutive Executives as they endeavoured to transform the poorly connected regions Into a coherent political and economic unit. This dissertation examines the process by which Conservative leaders In high Executive posts and their Liberal counterparts, especially from the Ministry of Foreign Relations, managed to achieve such unity and to place Colombia firmly In the International system of market economies during the twenty-five years following the secession of Panama In 1903. It also examines the stance adopted by the Colombian leadership in the face of international political and/or economic crises from the ratification of the Thomson-Urrutia Treaty in 1922 settling differences with the U.S. stemming from the secession of Panama to the current tensions and aspirations produced by Integrationist trends and fluctuations in relations between the U.S. and the Socialist countries. In view of the overwhelming importance of relations with the U.S. less space has been allotted to the analysis of relations with Colombia's Latin American neighbours and other non-European small states. At the basis of the factors determining Colombia's relations with the industrialised centre nations, especially the U.S., as well as with other mono-exporting countries on the periphery lies the production and marketing of coffee. For this reason the limited number of choices available to Colombian leaders is focussed upon throughout in relation to the economic and cultural dependency of the country on the industrialised centres which, in practice, constitutes a common characteristic with other periphery nations.