Colombia is a name used today for the state that encompassed
much of northern South America and part of southern Central America from 1819
to 1831. It included the territories of present-day Colombia, Venezuela,
Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru, western Guyana and northwest Brazil.
The first three were the successor states to Gran Colombia
at its dissolution. Panama was separated from Colombia in 1903. Since Gran
Colombia's territory corresponded more or less to the original jurisdiction of
the former Viceroyalty of New Granada, it also claimed the Caribbean coast of
Nicaragua, the Mosquito Coast.
Its existence was marked by a struggle between those who
supported a centralized government with a strong presidency and those who
supported a decentralized, federal form of government. At the same time,
another political division emerged between those who supported the Constitution
of Cúcuta and two groups who sought to do away with the Constitution, either in
favor of breaking up the nation into smaller republics or maintaining the union
but creating an even stronger presidency.
The faction that favored constitutional rule coalesced
around Vice-President Francisco de Paula Santander, while those who supported
the creation of a stronger presidency were led by President Simón Bolívar. The
two men had been allies in the war against Spanish rule, but by 1825, their
differences had become public and were an important part of the political
instability from that year onward.
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