COLOMBIA: New Constitution

After six months of debate, the Commission of Constitutional Studies, made up of members of Colombia’s ruling Conservative Party, last week produced a draft of a new national constitution. The Liberals, who had refused to take part in the studies, charged that the Conservatives had set up a stacked deck to keep themselves in power forever.

By tinkering with 98 of the 218 articles of the old constitution, drawn up by Conservative Hero Miguel Antonio Caro in 1886, the commission planned to extend the President’s term from four to six years and give him dictatorial emergency powers, tie could declare a state of siege, fire almost anybody from public or private jobs, quash impeachments and decree laws that the supreme court could not nullify. The constitution would establish the Roman Catholic Church as the state religion, permit Protestants to worship in their churches or other private places, but not to proselyte.