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1999 BYU L. Rev. 561 (1999)
Religious Liberty and Cultural and Ethnic Pluralism in the Colombian Constitution of 1991

handle is hein.journals/byulr1999 and id is 571 raw text is: Religious Liberty and Cultural and Ethnic Pluralism in the Colombian Constitution of 1991 Viviane A. Morales Hoyos* I. INTRODUCTION This paper reflects upon the conflicts that have arisen between the fundamental right of religious liberty and the right to ethnic and cultural pluralism, both of which are recognized in the Political Constitution of Colombia of 1991.1 Part II of this piece discusses the development of the fundamental right of religious liberty. Part III highlights the rights of indigenous peoples recognized in the new Constitution. Part IV addresses the conflicts between religious liberty and the rights of cultural or ethnic minorities. This paper concludes that by resorting to the Constitutional Court these two fundamental rights can po- tentially be harmonized. However, where harmonization is un- successful, the preservation of cultural and ethnic identity should trump the fundamental right to religious liberty. II. RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN COLOMBIA A Religious Liberty Prior to 1991 Religious liberty has achieved its full dimension in Colombia only since 1991. For centuries, the subject of religion has been marked by intolerance. With respect to religious matters, the nation was characterized by confessionality. This fact has been * Viviane Morales Hoyos is a Senator in the National Congress of the Republic of Colombia. Senator Morales Hoyos graduated with honors from the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Seflora del Rosario as an attorney, and did her postgraduate work in public law at the Universite de Paris I-Pantheon. In her capacity as legislator, Senator Morales Hoyos authored the Law Regarding Freedom of Religion and the Cult (Law 133 of 1994). 1. CoNsT1ruCi6N POLTICA DE COLOMBIA (Colom.). The constitutional provisions and other legal texts in this article were translated by Yvette Diaz and the BYU Law Review in consultation with the author. For another translation of the Colombian Constitution, See IV CONSTITUTIONS OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD (Gisbert H. Flanz ed., Peter B. Heller & Marcia W. Coward trans., 1995). 561