COLOMBIA, A POSITIVE COUNTRY

Prepared by:
Coordination of Internal and External
Communication Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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VERY YOUNG ART: the work of young artists from two to fourteen years of age, from Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Panama are the center of attention in the Santander Room of the Colombian Consulate in Miami. The 127 paintings —acrylic, ceramic, charcoal, crayon, watercolor, pastel, collage and oil paintings— of these artists show the influence of movements ranging from abstract art to cubism. The exhibition showed off nine paintings in three categories selected by a panel of judges made up of Kerry Keller, from the Miami Art Museum, and artists Pilar Acuña, from Colombia and Jez Visitante, from Cuba. The winner from Category A (2—5 years of age) was Valentina Arias. Angela Miranda took first place for Category B (6—10 years of age) and Juan Martín Gaviria was the winner from Category C (11—14 years of age). The award for best painting went to Colombian Stefani Dueñas.

ACADEMIC AWARDS: six rural schools from Boyacá, Guaviare and Cundinamarca received didactic material, resources and consultancy to carry out academic initiatives presented and awarded at the Productive Academic Project Competition formulated by the National Ministry of Education and the Inter-American Institute of Cooperation for Agriculture (Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura - IICA). The competition, which began in February and was attended by 47 rural schools in the country, recognized students who submitted proposals to encourage education and rural development, with replicable models in other regions of Colombia. The evaluation and award was carried out by a committee made up of the IICA, the Ministries of Education and Agriculture, and specialists in rural education, production, farming, rural development and project formulation and evaluation.

SOCIAL EQUALITY

EDUCATE AND PREVENT: the Government launched a campaign to prevent unwanted pregnancy among adolescents and thus reduce the levels of fertility in this segment of the population by 26%. Unwanted pregnancy among young women increased from 11% to 19% between 1990 and 2000, which means that 19% of the adolescents has already had their first child or is pregnant. To PROFAMILIA, young people are starting their sex life at much younger ages, which are 13 for men and 14 for women. IN addition to reducing adolescent fertility, the government initiative also intends to prevent HIV and abortion.

GOING BACK HOME: during the administration of President Álvaro Uribe, 11.588 displaced families have gone back to their homes thanks to the development strategies in depressed regions and areas in conflict, and the promotion and protection of Human Rights carried out by the Social Solidarity Network. The Network’s Management Report of August 2002 to April 2004 points out that 10.229 of these families went back in mass returns and 1.359 on an individual basis. During the second half of 2002, 3.563 families went back home and in 2003, a total of 7.700 families returned. So far this year, 325 families have gone back home.

SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND GENERATING JOBS

MOBILITY AND SECURITY: according to the report from the Highway Police, traffic flow in Colombia increased by 32% in comparison with the same period last year. During Easter vacation, 2,606,184 vehicles, 632,828 more than those reported in 2003. The increase was reflected in the number of people who traveled, which rose from 7,893,424 to 10,424,734, an increase of 2.5 million people. The provinces with the most flow were Cundinamarca (1,031,973), Antioquia (249,908), Valle (195,738), Tolima (160,314) and Meta (151,731).

HEALTHY FINANCIAL SYSTEM: the Colombian financial system reported a 100% increase in utilities to February 2004 in comparison with the same month in 2003 and January this year. Up to February 2004, profits reached $678.452 billion. Considering the fact that to February 2003, profits were $329.023 billion, there was a growth of 106.8%. As for January 2004 when utilities reached $330.331 billion, the increase was 105.3%. To February 2004, the private sector has gained $383.101 billion, the foreign banks $48.191 billion, the cooperative sector $3.653 billion and public banks $68.303 billion.

DEMOCRATIC SECURITY

INCREASE IN DEMOBILIZED INSURGENTS: so far this month, 51 members of the armed groups outside the law have been demobilized, which adds up to 660 deserters so far in 2004. 27 of these people belonged to the Farc, 19 to the AUC, 4 to the ELN and 1 to dissident groups. These people gave themselves in voluntarily to the Public Forces (48) and Ombudsmen, People’s Advocates and the DAS, one by one. Antioquia reports the highest number of demobilization in April with 11 cases, followed by Casanare.

ENCOURAGING BALANCE: during the first three months this year, the number of homicides in Colombia decreased by 15%, compared with the same period in 2003. That is, from 5,441 homicides committed from January to March 2003, the number dropped to 4.626. On another note, extortions decreased by 32% and car theft by 25%, bank robberies by 70% and carjacking by 26%.

STATE EFFICIENCY AND TRANSPARENCY

GOOD FOR FINDETER: for the sixth consecutive year, the firm Duff & Phelps awarded the Financiera de Desarrollo Territorial a “AAA” for long-term debt and the DP1+ for short-term debt. The first rating reflects the highest credit quality and indicates there are no risk factors. As for the DP1+, the Financiera has the highest accuracy of timely payment, which means that its short-term liquidity, the protection factors and access to alternate resources are excellent. Therefore, Findeter is still an important instrument to promote territorial development, by financing infrastructure projects with public or private entities.

BOGOTÁ IN THE LIGHT: for the first time in the political history of Bogotá, the 20 mayors of the localities signed Pacts for Transparency, led by the Presidential Program to Fight Corruption. The local leaders promised efficient, effective and corruption-free management in handling the public resources, in a culture of accountability between the administration and participating citizens.