ation and Communications The irregular terrain of Colombia makes the construction of roads and railroads costly. Colombia has approximately 1800 km (about 1100 mi) of operated railroad track. Most of the national railroads are feeder lines to the Magdalena River, the main transport artery of the country, which with the Cauca River is navigable for about 1500 km (about 900 mi). Colombia has no regular passenger rail service. Roads total about 107,000 km (about 66,500 mi), including a part of the Simn Bolvar Highway, linking Caracas, Venezuela, through Bogot and other Colombian towns, with Quito, Ecuador. Air transport was begun in Colombia in 1919, and the country is now served by domestic and international airlines. In 1946 Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador agreed to establish the Great Colombia Merchant Marine; Venezuela withdrew in 1953. The main seaports are Buenaventura, Tumaco, Santa Marta, Barranquilla, and Cartagena.ILabor The labor force of Colombia numbers about 16 million; some 27 percent is engaged in agriculture, forestry, and fishing, 23 percent in industry and mining, and most of the remainder in service industries. More than 1.6 million people are in organized trade unions, mainly the National Union of Colombian Workers (1.2 million members) and the Colombian Confederation of Workers (400,000 members). The right to strike is constitutionally guaranteed to all employees who are not engaged in public utilities.VGOVERNMENT Colombia's 1991 constitution, which replaced a charter dating from 1886, provides for a highly centralized republican form of government.AExecutive National executive power in Colombia is vested in a president who is elected by direct popular vote to a single four-year term. Suffrage is universal for all citizens 18 years of age or older. The president appoints a cabinet, subject to congressional approval. Under the 1991 constitution, the departmental governors are directly elected.BLegislature Legislative ...
