The economic recovery started since 1993 due to an increase in agricultural and industrial production. While exports reached a ceiling because of low coffee prices, imports picked up due to the economic expansion, the strengthening of the peso, and the liberalization of the economy. In 1994, the victory of the Liberal Party candidate at the presidential elections led to the adoption of a government program with a strong social component, which did not have a negative impact on the Colombian economy. Nevertheless, the first signs of an economic recession appear starting in 1996. This also illustrates the end of the effects of the economic liberalization launched in in 1990.
Growth slows down and unemployment and inflation rise.
B. On-going Decentralization Process Background, Objectives, and Legal Framework Colombia formally launched its decentralization process in the 1960s, but in reality the government remained highly centralized until the 1990s. The economic importance of some regions and cities and their political influence are due more to their geography and the country's turbulent history rather than to decentralization policy. The most significant advances of decentralization are thus relatively recent and are within the context of the municipalization of rural development that is taking place in many Latin American countries. The current decentralization process started with the decision of the Colombian government to revise the constitution in 1991. This was the high point of a process started in 1986 by the passing of a decentralization law making local autonomy a highly important part of the institutional landscape of the country.