Colombia for the new Republic. Simón Bolívar became the first President of Colombia, and Francisco de Paula Santander was made Vice President. However, the new republic was unstable and three countries emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (New Granada, Ecuador and Venezuela). Colombia was the first constitutional government in South America, and the Liberal and Conservative parties, founded in 1848 and 1849 respectively, are two of the oldest surviving political parties in the Americas. Slavery was abolished in the country in 1851. Internal political and territorial divisions led to the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1830. The so-called
Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic (Colombia) Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic (Colombia) The Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic (, ) consists of the immediate staff of the President of Colombia, as well as multiple levels of support staff reporting to the President. The DAPRE is the Executive Administrative Department that assists the President in the exercise of its duties by lending the administrative support and related services to fulfil his official and constitutional duties. The Director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic is "ex officio" the of the Office of the President and the President's Chief-of-Staff.