Abstract

CANO BLANDON, Rodolfo León. Borders in Colombia: their origin, evolution, loss, and importance in international relations. Rev. Ciudades Estados Política [online]. 2022, vol.9, n.2, pp.47-68.  Epub Dec 26, 2023. ISSN 2462-9103.

Colombian foreign policy is recent. The territorial configuration of the country in 1819, its union with Venezuela and Ecuador in Gran Colombia, and its subsequent dissolution in 1831 forced the nascent republic to establish relations with the other States. From the first constitutions promulgated in 1810, international relations were reflected in consecutive political letters. However, despite having written sixteen political constitutions during nearly two hundred years of republican life and having considered foreign policy as a fundamental element in the evolution and maturation of the Colombian State, Colombia's territorial and maritime borders were submerged in backwardness and state oblivion, and policies and investments in these territories were deficient. It is estimated that Colombia has ceded a large part of its continental and maritime territory to countries such as Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, and Nicaragua. The cession of the territory confirms the lack of political, maritime, and prospective vision of the Colombian State regarding territories of great importance for the country's configuration. For this and other reasons, this text develops the theme of the Colombian border territories, their birth with the uti possidetis iuris of 1810, their long-suffering and unsuccessful negotiation with neighboring countries, their evolution, and territorial and maritime cessions during the last two centuries of republican life.

Keywords : land borders; maritime borders; territorial losses; foreign policy; international relations; Colombia.

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