EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF COLOMBIA: POSITIONS AND FUNCTIONS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The executive branch of Colombia is one of the three functions of the State established in the constitution of the Republic of Colombia. Its function is to manage public policies and administer the assets of the nation. It is managed by the national government and its responsibility falls mainly on the President of the Republic and his ministers.

The separation of powers is one of the main characteristics of modern democracy and consists of the appointment of independent organizations that manage the different areas of public power: the executive, the legislative and the judicial.

In this way, it seeks to guarantee balance and ensure cooperation between the different agencies and functions of the State and avoid the accumulation of power.

The executive branch is made up of bodies such as the presidency, governorships, mayoralties, superintendencies, public establishments, and state-owned companies.

The president who assumes the functions of Head of State, Head of Government and Supreme Administrative Authority, is responsible together with the vice president and his ministers to ensure the policies of education, economy, health, etc. and to act in the name of the popular will it represents.

Positions and functions of the executive branch of Colombia

It is the responsibility of the executive branch to deal with the daily management of the State. The functions of the executive branch can be categorized into three areas: political, administrative and regulatory.

The political side is in charge of leading the nation and attending to those tasks not regulated by law such as the appointment of ministers or the approval of special treaties.

The administrative department is in charge of managing the different institutions under its charge, such as governments and ministries, to ensure their proper functioning. Finally, regulation plays an important role, with the implementation of decrees.

The functions of the executive branch are distributed among the different institutions and positions that compose it, the main ones being:

1- President

The last three presidents of Colombia: Andrés Pastrana, Álvaro Uribe and Juan Manuel Santos

He must be elected every four years by universal and direct vote. He assumes, as mentioned above, the roles of Head of State, Head of Government and Supreme Administrative Authority in parallel.

It must, in accordance with article 188 of the Constitution, "guarantee the rights and freedoms of all Colombians," for which it must comply with a wide range of responsibilities, including:

• Represent the country internationally.
• Elect ministers, leadership of government agencies, ambassadors, etc.
• Enact laws and ensure compliance.
• Issue decrees and orders.
• Decide on the nation's development plans.
• Exercise control over the investment of public resources.
• Regulate foreign exchange and international trade.
• Direct the armed forces and war operations if necessary.
• Enact the laws and secure.

2- Vice President

He must also be elected by popular vote, he is the provisional substitute for the president in the event of his temporary absence, incapacity or death, and he is in charge of assuming any special task designated by him. In addition to this, they are assigned some duties such as:

• Represent Colombia in international activities.
• Advise national organizations on issues such as human rights and drug trafficking.

3- Ministers

They are in charge specifically of the office that is designated to him. The currently active ministries are: agriculture, health, interior and justice, culture, communications, economic development, finance, justice and law, mines and energy, transportation, interior, environment and education. Their functions in these entities are:

• Manage the administration of the ministry.
• Formulate the policies of your office.
• Present bills before Congress.
• Represent the government before Congress as spokespersons.
• Execute the law.

4- Directors of administrative departments

They are in charge of security, statistics, social prosperity and other matters of importance to the nation.

Like the ministers, they are in charge of managing and supervising the proper functioning of their department. Therefore, they assume the responsibilities of:

• Manage your dependencies.
• Formulate the policies for your department.
• Execute the law.

The executive branch also has other entities such as: secretarial superintendencies, superior administration councils, governorships, departmental assemblies, municipalities, comptrollers' offices and districts, which play an important role in shaping this power.

Separation of powers in Colombia

According to the NGO Future Challenges, in Colombia the separation of powers works more flexibly than in other countries and the distribution of the functions of public power is based on a principle of collaboration between the different organizations.

Legislative branch

The legislative branch or power, whose largest representation is the Congress of the Republic, is responsible for managing everything related to the creation, interpretation, reform and repeal of laws.

Congress is made up of two main bodies: the Senate and the House of Representatives, whose officials are elected by popular vote and are, therefore, a representation of their will.

This branch has the power to reform the constitution, supervise the management of ministers and other government authorities, appoint the authorities of the judiciary and exercise public control over any matter investigated by its commissions.

Judicial branch

The third and last branch of public power is the judicial branch. Its objective is to administer the justice of the nation and ensure compliance with the laws.

It is made up of the following entities: the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, the High Courts (the Supreme Court of Justice, the Constitutional Court, the Council of State, Superior Council of the Judiciary) and the Special Jurisdictions.

The structure of the Colombian State works, through the combination of the three branches in conjunction with the Control Organism -the Comptroller's Office, the Ombudsman's Office and the Attorney General's Office- and the Electoral Organizations to allow the fair and balanced functioning of public power.

Being a presidential state, the executive branch has, sometimes a little more weight, to declare a state of emergency.

However, through a mechanism of checks and balances, which consists of the independence of the powers and bodies, the accumulation of powers in any of these is avoided.

Thus, as in any democracy, there is constant work to level the levels of power so that the State functions in the most transparent and beneficial way for the citizens under its tutelage.

References

1. Cultural Submanagement of the Bank of the Republic. (2015). Executive branch. Recovered from: banrepcultural.org.
2. Nyulawglobal.org. (2017). An Introduction to Colombian Governmental Institutions and Primary Legal Sources - GlobaLex. Recovered from: nyulawglobal.org.
3. Countrystudies.us. (2017). Colombia - The President. Recovered from: countrystudies.us.
4. Querejazu, A. (2017). FutureChallenges »The Flexible Separation of Powers in Colombia. Recovered from: futurechallenges.org.
5. C-politica.uniandes.edu.co. (2017). Organizational chart of the Colombian state-Executive Branch. Recovered from: c-politica.uniandes.edu.co.