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Scientific and medical developments, added to our reality in Colombia, demand the training of professionals consistent with ethical principles and clear theoretical concepts on current regulations that are aimed at respect for human life. The country's current constitutional situation poses a challenge to any professional, beyond the legal or health fields, since fundamental rights such as life and freedom of conscience are being questioned. This paper demonstrates the need and importance of promoting and accessing conscientious objection as a response to the legal landscape of the protection of life in Colombia, which may be an example for other countries in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper puts forward a set of academic proposals for the Colombian health care system's adequate incorporation of the right to try experimental treatments conceived in the United States. It explains the differences between the Colombian and the American health models regarding access to non-conventional drugs. A comparative qualitative method is used, which, by contrasting, would provide solutions to incorporate the right appropriately into the national health model. The research concludes that, for the right to be adequately adopted, it is crucial to take out voluntary policies that ensure experimental treatments, introduce presumption of fact on patients' economic capacity to avoid shifting the burden of proof, eliminate medical committees for the approval of these drugs--notwithstanding the fact that physicians may consult their risks and benefits with other medical bodies--, and incentivize credits and tax exemptions for insurers and manufacturers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research article analyzes the incorporation of the right to access to experimental treatments in the United States of America and Colombia. It also examines its case-law insertion, essential elements, and the regulations that each country has established for the provision of these unconventional procedures and drugs. Subsequently, it makes a series of criticisms over how the Constitutional Court has migrated or translated this right from US case law and legislation to the Colombian health care system. Therefore, this paper intends to carry out a comparative analysis of both health care systems from the perspective of the role of both the State and health actors (manufacturers, insurers, patients) in accessing experimental drugs and procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Located in the Colombian legal context, the question referred to in the title of this paper, hopes to address, one more time the philosophical, political and legal debate of the fundamental right, which is recognized by the Political Constitution of Colombia as the "right to free development of personality". The intention of this paper is to analyze the scope of this fundamental right, through an analysis of the philosophy of being. That is, it analyzes the meaning and implications of the right to free development of personality regarding its essential and dynamic relationship with ideological human nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asserts the existence of a political communication regime in Colombia, as a consequence of the strategies of President Alvaro Uribes' government to gain a favourable opinion from Colombians regarding his management of the country. Such an assertion is shown by means of a case study: the opinion generated by the government's conduct during the crisis unleashed after the assassination by the FARC guerrilla, of Antioquia's governor, Guillermo Gaviria and his peace advisor, Giblerto Echecerry. After careful analysis of the opinion articles -- editorials and columns- published by the national and regional press, the paper shows that public and published opinion crowded together around this issue to support the way President Alvaro Uribe Velez managed it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explain the factors that determine the gap in the level of English language proficiency between public and private schools, and to determine whether it has narrowed over time as a result of public policies to generalize bilingualism in Colombia. The language scores on the Saber 11 tests for 2008 and 2013 were analyzed for this purpose. An educational production function that involves family, personal and school factors and an approach to the unobservable component of the skill is introduced. The difference in performance has remained more or less constant, but with a slight reduction; however, the unexplained portion, attributable to the students' motivational component, was found to have declined considerably, indicating that public policies are working in terms of helping students to become interested in learning a foreign language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a part of the research study regarding the process of constructing representations within the national and international press about the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- People's Army (FARC -- EP) throughout a period from its inception as a guerrilla group in 1964, to its consolidation as an army which set the Colombian State on edge in 1996. This paper is exclusively focused on the months of May to June 1984, the first month of the ''ceasefire'' agreed with the government of President Belisario Betancur (1982 -1986). The ambivalence of representations is discussed herein, as well as how the image of a narco-guerrilla gradually takes shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an attempt to analyze the progress and challenges of inclusive education in Colombia, through a comparative analysis of policies and strategies developed within the country and the measures taken by Spain in the same direction. Nine categories were defined for this analysis, based on the key elements identified in the international agreements with names preceded by "UNESCO": 1) the inclusive education approach, 2) focus groups, 3) responsible parties and resources, 4) teaching and learning strategies, 5) curriculum design, 6) educational levels, 7) teacher training, 8) community involvement and 9) evaluation and monitoring. The sources of information include official documents from the agencies in each country that oversee and direct educational services, as well as national legislation currently in effect. The results of this analysis indicate the two countries in question are not so far apart in terms of their legislation and recognition of the principle of inclusion. This shows Colombia has adapted its policy on education to reflect international guidelines. However, it is clear the implementation of these guidelines is still far from inclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the legal and moral reasons that prevent the physician from taking a patient's life. Among other reasons, medical doctors do not "kill" their patients because "killing" is not a therapeutic medical act. It does not reestablish the patient's previous state of health, nor does it preserve life. If the state wants to allow euthanasia or assisted suicide, there is no constitutional reason why the relatives of a patient who is ill cannot euthanize or assist the patient in committing suicide. It is they, not the physician, who must answer to society and their own consciences for doing so. The article also offers a clear and precise look at Sentence C-239/97 issued by the Constitutional Court of Colombia and analyses the reasons why some of the articles in Senate Bill 05/07 are inconsistent with that sentence and, therefore, are unconstitutional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the final report of a research work titled "Legislación laboral referente a la protección de la maternidad en países de Centro y Suramérica (derecho comparado)" ["Labor Legislation referring to the protection of motherhood in Central and South American countries (Compared Law.)"] consisting of the statement of motives and the bill to be submitted to the Congress of the Republic of Colombia in order to amend some of the legal institutions relating to motherhood protection ordained by our legislation. The foreign legislation analyzed (from Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chili, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, and Uruguay), as well as the agreements and Recommendations of the International Labor Organization (ILO) have served, among others, as a foundation for the proposal submitted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of cinema in Colombia has been tackled mainly from a historical, critical and production problem-related perspective. Works that determine what exists, what has been done and what points of departure can be established as sources of stylistic development for the motion picture industry in Colombia are still missing. Having this need in mind, research work on the narratives of the Colombian movie industry was started, with focus on the argumental feature film This paper shows the result of an analysis made of movie pictures from this decade, as a first step within a wider study that encompasses the period of time between the 20's and the year 2005. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents and analyzes the results of a research work carried out among 95 Colombian enterprises about the generalities of the Intranet as an internal means of communication. The enterprises were selected from the most outstanding companies amongst several rankings of organizations in the country, and they evidence the high penetration of the Intranet and the different characteristics of the role that the areas of communication have played in its development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]