La Violencia

La Violencia (Spanish: " The Violence" ) refers to the violent conflict between the Liberal Party ( Partido Liberal Colombiano ) and the Conservative Party of Colombia ( Partido Conservador Colombiano ), which lasted from 1948 to about 1958.

Origins

The assassination of the popular presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in 1948 sparked severe riots in the capital Bogotá, the so-called Bogotazo from. This unrest spread out on more rural areas. By 1958, as a result, 180000-300000 Colombians died.

Some historians date the conflict differently. They argue that the conflict had already begun in 1946, when the Conservatives came back to power. This had changed at the local level, the leadership of the police and the city council, which conservative landowners have encouraged farmers to take away liberal country and have so led to a new cycle of violence between the two parties.

Development

During La Violencia organized members of the liberal and the communist party self-defense groups and guerrilla units fighting against units of the Conservative Party, as well as against each other. In the course of the conflict in 1949, the so-called " independent republics " ( repúblicas independientes ) of the Communist Party of Colombia, as well as liberal and radical farmers were established in parts of the country. From the Communist self-defense groups later, the FARC emerged.

End

Despite the 1953 by newly encountered General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla proclaimed amnesty demobilized parts of these groups do not. After Rojas was in 1958 removed from office, the Liberals and the Conservatives agreed to share power ( " National Front ").