Kind of Government

...The Colombian government is a republic, which means that the government is a democratically elected representative system with a strong executive. (The executive in Colombia is the president and his/her cabinet members.) [http://www.economist.com/countries/Colombia/profile.cfm?folder=Profile-Political%20Structure]

The Leaders

...In 2006 Alvaro Uribe won re-election in the presidential election. He began his second term in office in August of 2006. He has the majority of people in Congress supported by new pro-Uribe parties. If the president has complete or temporary absence the vice president would then become the new president. The current vice president is Francisco Santos.

Gaining or Losing Power

...The president is elected for a 4-year term and, since 2005, he/she can be re-elected for one other term. In 1991 the constitution reestablished the position for vice president. The vice president is elected just like the president. In the constitution it says that if the president has an illness, death, or if he/she resigns the vice president will take the president's position.
...The president gains power by getting elected, as does the vice president, the 102-seat Senate, and the 166-seat Chamber of Representatives. However, they lose power by getting voted off when the next election comes.

Government Structure

...Like the US and Canadian government the constitution is the head of the government. After that the president has power, and shares it with the Council of Ministers. Then it is the vice president and Congress, which includes the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives (The Chamber of Representatives has the least power of the two). Making up the Senate (picture below) and the Chamber of Representatives are the political parties, which are elected in a legislative election. (They are not elected in an executive election, for that is a presidential election.) Next in line are the departments, made up of 32 different departments and a Capital District. Each department consists of a Governor and a Department Assembly. The departments are formed by municipalities, which are next. A Municipal government is composed by a mayor and a Municipal Council. And last are the Military of Colombia, Armed conflict, and the Foreign relations.

Government Relations

... Colombia's government public relations (the relationship with the public) isn't very strong, however, it is stronger than it has been in the past. A stronger relationship with public relations/public diplomacy (Public diplomacy is the conduct by government officials of negotiations and other relations between nationshttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/diplomacy) was made by the government (in 1994-1998) when the United States government disapproved Colombia in its war on drugs. The United States' purpose of doing that was to redeem Colombia's 'certified' status and to lower the risk of business approval, also to correct the concept that Colombia wasn't doing enough. After the election of Andres Pastrana in 1998 he created a plan that would address the violence and the drug trafficking that had a severe effect on his country. The plan was approved, making Colombia one of the largest recievers of American security aid after Israel and Egypt.