La Violencia ( Spanish: La Violencia , “violence”) - an armed conflict in Colombia that took place from 1948 to 1958 , the catalyst for which was the confrontation between the Liberal and Conservative parties of Colombia .
| La violencia | |||||
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| date | April 9, 1948 - December 21, 1958 | ||||
| A place | Colombia | ||||
| Total | Draw | ||||
| Opponents | |||||
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| Total losses | |||||
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Some historians disagree about the start dates of the conflict: some argue that the war began in 1946 , when conservatives returned to government, and at the regional level, the leadership of the police and city councils passed into the hands of conservatives supported by peasants. But traditionally, most historians believe that the war began with the death of Jorge Gaitan .
Event
On April 9, 1948, the representative of the Liberal Party, Jorge Gaitan, was popular among the poorest segments of the population for his ideas on transforming society. The assassination triggered an armed uprising in Bogotá , killing more than 2,000 people. Following this, outbreaks of violence followed in other regions of Colombia.
Some supporters of the Liberal and Communist Parties of Colombia organized guerrilla groups that fought in rural areas both with the government and with each other.
Absolute chaos occurred in the country, individual skirmishes escalated into a massacre. As a result, millions of villagers were forced to leave their homes.
In the context of the civil war, in November 1949, the conservative Laureano Eleutherio Gomez Castro was elected President of Colombia. He dismissed Congress, censored it, and began to harass protesters.
During this period, two military coups took place in the country. In June 1953, General Rojas Pinilla took power, promising an end to the civil war. In May 1957, he convened the Constituent Congress, which vested him with presidential powers for a new term. This caused a series of unrest throughout the country, which led to another military coup on May 10, 1957 [1] .
Fearing loss of control over the political situation in the country, the leaders of the Conservative and Liberal parties created the National Front, which proposed a 12-year parity agreement. It was approved by a plebiscite on December 21, 1957 [1] .
The civil war, in general, claimed more than 200 thousand lives.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 TSB Yearbook. 1958 / M. 1958 - S. 276.