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
Bank of the Republic (Colombia) Bank of the Republic (Colombia) The Banco de la República () is the central bank of the Republic of Colombia. Its main functions are detailed by the Congress according to the Ley 31 de 1992. One of them is the issuance of the Colombian currency, the peso. The bank is also active in promoting financial inclusion policy and is a leading member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion. There are at least three predecessors to the current bank. The first national bank was created in 1880, named the "Banco Nacional", and its functions included handling the state funds, issuing currency