uring the 1980s the Liberals held majorities in both houses of Congress. In the 1990 presidential election, the former guerrilla group M-19 emerged as the third leading political party. In the 1994 elections the Liberal Party retained its majority in both houses. The M-19 group lost most of the seats it had won in 1990.EHealth and Welfare Public health standards are improving, although physicians are still in short supply. Most of the country's physicians work in the larger cities. In 1990 Colombia had one hospital bed for every 732 people. Malaria and yellow fever are still endemic in some parts of the country. A social insurance system provides maternity and dental benefits, accident insurance, workers' compensation and disability, and retirement and survivors' insurance to most of the industrial labor force. The system is financed by contributions from employers, workers, and the government.FDefense From one to two years of military service are required of all male citizens in Colombia aged 18 and older. Some 146,300 people served in the Colombian armed forces in 1996.VIHISTORY Relics of one of the most fascinating but little-studied civilizations in the western hemisphere have been found at San Augustn, near the source of the Magdalena River in the Colombian Andes. Little is known about the people who made these stone statues, relief carvings, sepulchral chambers, and shrines, or when their culture flourished. Present estimates date the beginnings of San Augustn to the last five centuries BC.The stone statues are generally anthropomorphic figures, many with grotesque expressions. They have been found in caves and on mounds, where their presence seems to have had a ritual significance. Frequently, one figure is placed astride the shoulders and back of another. One particularly striking statue, a bird holding a serpent in its beak and thought to be a fertility symbol, is similar in imagery to the emblem of the Aztecs.ASpanish Conquest...
