Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla ( born March 12, 1900 in Tunja, Colombia, † January 17, 1975 in Melgar ) was a Colombian military, politician and dictator. He was a military coup on June 13, 1953 to May 10, 1957 President of Colombia.
Early years
Born in Tunja, Colombia, the son of Julio Rojas Jiménez y Hermencia Pinilla Suarez. There he spent his early years and then moved to Villa de Leyva. His siblings were Ana María Elvira, Carlos Arturo, Margarita María and Julio César. At the primary school, he went with the Sisters Hermanas de la Presentación in Tunja and then attended secondary Escuela Normal de Varones. Between 1916 and 1917 he received the diploma ( bachillerato ).
Military career
After school he attended from 1917, the Escuela de Cadetes in Bogotá, where he began his military career. In 1920 he received the rank of second lieutenant and 1923 in Manizales to a lieutenant. A year later, dissatisfied with the army, he traveled to the U.S. to learn the profession of civil engineer at Tri - State College. He completed this training in 1927 with a diploma.
Due to the impending conflict with Peru Rojas Pinilla in 1932 as a captain again part of the army. A year later he was transferred to Buenaventura, since there an attack of the Peruvians was expected. He traveled in 1936 to Germany, there to acquire the necessary skills and equipment to manufacture ammunition for the state. Subsequently, he was technical director of the munitions factory in Bogotá. At this time he was already a major and distinguished himself by his interest in military technology.
Under the new Lend-Lease Act, he traveled as a director of the Escuela de Artillería 1943 in the USA to purchase guns and to technology. His study of the airports in Colombia helped him to the rank of colonel. In addition, he was appointed head of the Aeronautica Civil, a part of the aviation authority, appointed in 1944.
The years 1946-1953 are characterized by Rojas ' use to defuse the after the assassination of the popular politician Jorge Eliécer Gaitán strengthened incipient conflict between liberal and conservative groups fight. Rojas himself stated in this respect that from a military point of view his leadership on April 9, 1948 was the most noteworthy ( nationwide riots after the assassination of Gaitan ) in Cali. For in that time were forming under the influence of the Communist Party several guerrilla groups, which eventually ( 1964-66 ), the active today FARC should emerge. 1949 Rojas was appointed general and on 3 December of that year eventually appointed Minister of Posts and Telecommunications.
Political career
Through the interim president Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez Rojas Pinilla was moved to the end of 1952 to guide the entire army. The military coup of June 13, 1953 against the government of President Laureano Gómez, who had already anticipated such an action and was therefore returned from the Spanish exile on the same day, should further bloodshed between conservatives and liberals prevent (La Violencia ). The coup led to the presidency of Rojas Pinilla, who was supported by the former President Mariano Ospina and Roberto Urdaneta. In his first speech he gave " peace, justice and freedom " as its guidelines.
His reign was marked by a number of major construction projects. Among other things, he left the El Dorado airport in Bogotá construct. He also conducted with the help of German technicians on the television, founded several banks and automated telephone exchange. On 25 August 1954, he introduced the suffrage of women, and was confirmed in the same year for a further four-year term as president. At the same time the country but again fell into a deep crisis. The student surveys on 8 and 9 June 1954 and the censorship and closure of newspapers El Tiempo, El Espectador and El Siglo aggravated this condition yet.
Despite a generous amnesty legislation, it was not Rojas producers have managed to definitively end the Violencia. After a brief period of relative peace (1953 /54) flared from June 1954, the fighting between government and guerrilla again. In this phase, it was, however, above all revolutionary ( communist ) groups as well as economically motivated gangs who showed no interest in a " reintegration ". Rather, they rejected Rojas ' authoritarianism and oligarchy from in general.
Recent research shows, however, that Rojas had considerable support among the impoverished majority of the population due to its populist redistributive policies in the style of Argentine President Juan Domingo Perón. However, by creating its own mass base and a new party ( Tercera Fuerza ) he snubbed the long-established elites, who had brought him in June 1953 to power. For this reason, the relevant sectors of the oligarchy ( trade, banking, party elites, the education sector ) organized a " general strike ", in May 1957, the dictator ultimately to case. Supporting this group protest movement was launched by Laureano Gómez and Alberto Lleras Camargo Frente Civil, which was later renamed the Frente Nacional ( 1958 ).
On May 10, 1957 Rojas Pinilla gave the state a military junta, which consisted of the generals Gabriel París, Deogracias Fonseca, Rafael Navas and Luis Ordóñez and the counter - Admiral Rubén Piedrahíta. In the two following years he was pulled from the Senate accountable. Despite his conviction seven years later was awarded by the Tribunal Superior de Cundinamarca his political rights again. 1958 Alberto Lleras was elected president. Rojas Pinilla founded in 1962 with a few sympathizers, the Alianza Nacional Popular ( Anapo ).
In the elections of 1970, this new group received 39 % of votes. The conservative opponents Misael Pastrana Borrero was 40.6 %, which led to speculation about rigged elections. In a radical splinter group Anapo then came the guerrilla group M-19, which declared the democratic path failed and therefore chose the violent option. It was only in June 1971 Anapo officially became a party. Rojas Pinilla in 1974 became a senator and died a year later on his finca in Melgar of a heart attack. He was buried in Bogotá.