Transcript COLOMBIA: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

COLOMBIA
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
Osvaldo Jordan
October 13, 2009
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
• 1717-1821. Viceroyalty of New Granada.
• 1819-1831. First Republic of Colombia. Simon
Bolivar and The Gran Colombia.
• 1831-1858. The Republic of New Granada.
• 1858-1863. Neogranadine Confederation.
• 1863-1886. The United States of Colombia.
• 1886-1991. Second Republic of Colombia.
Rafael Nunez and The Regeneration.
• 1991 to Present. A New Republic?
INDEPENDENCE WARS AND
GRAN COLOMBIA
• 1810-1816. First Independence of New
Granada. The Patria Boba (Dumb Fatherland).
• 1819-1822. Simon Bolivar and his Venezuelan
Army fought to liberate New Granada.
• 1819-1831. The Gran Colombia was formed by
the former territories of the Viceroyalty of New
Granada: Venezuela, New Granada, Ecuador,
and Panama.
• 1826. Bolivar organized the failed Congress of
The Americas in Panama.
• 1830. The Liberator died completely
disillusioned in Santa Marta.
REPUBLIC OF NEW GRANADA
(1831-1858)
There were constant civil wars between
Liberals and Conservatives. The rifts
included divisions among artisansmerchants, and Catholics-seculars.
There was also a heated debate about
federalism or centralized government.
COLOMBIAN FEDERALISM
1858-1863. Neogranadine Confederation. This
federation was opposed by Radical Liberals.
1863-1885. After seizing power, they created the
United States of Colombia. According to the
new Constitution, the States were sovereign in
all respects, but military defense and currency.
1886. The Conservative Rafael Nunez announced
the end of the federation, and the creation of a
new unitary state (The Regeneration).
REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA
1899-1902. The Regeneration was followed by
the One Thousand Days War between Liberals
and Conservatives. Around 100,000 died in
this civil war.
1903. The US supported the Panama
independence movement after the Colombian
Congress rejected a proposed Canal Treaty.
Between 1886-1930, Colombian politics were
entirely dominated by the Conservative Party.
AN ATYPICAL HISTORY
• The Liberals never came to dominate
power before the 1930s, except for the
brief federalist period between 1863-1886.
• Even though coffee became the main
export commodity, there was never a
dominating agro-export elite (small to
medium sized producers).
• There were few military coups, and two
formal political parties participated in
generally fair and regular elections
LA VIOLENCIA (1946-1966)
1930-1946. The Liberals finally came to power,
and promoted early industrialization.
Between 1946-1966, Colombian politics were
characterized by La Violencia, when an estimate
200,000 people were killed.
La Violencia terminated the Popular Liberalism of
Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, who was assassinated in
1948, and sparked a mass street protest that
came to be known as El Bogotazo.
In 1949, the Conservative Government closed
Congress, and suspended civil liberties.
THE ROJAS PINILLA
DICTATORSHIP (1953-1957)
Liberal guerrilla movements were organized in
many parts of the country, and La Violencia
extended to non-political issues.
In 1953, moderate Conservatives supported a
military coup by General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla.
The military government tried to quell La Violencia,
yet the Dictator was eventually opposed by both
Liberals and Conservatives.
In 1957, Conservatives and Liberals created a
National Front to restore civilian rule (mutual
elite accommodation).
THE NATIONAL FRONT (1958-1974)
•
•
The National Front was based on:
alternation in power, and
parity of power.
This arrangement institutionalized
bipartisan rule in Colombia, yet excluded
other political alternatives.
• This led to the emergence of Leftist
guerrillas (FARC, ELN, EPL, and M-19).
COLOMBIAN GUERRILLAS
• Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC). 1965. Marxist-Leninist and PeasantOriented. Originated in Operation Marquetalia.
• National Liberation Army (ELN). 1963.
Castrist-Inspired and Student-Based.
• Popular Liberation Army (EPL). 1967.
Originally Maoist and Peasant-Oriented.
• 19 April Movement (M19). 1973. StudentBased and Urban. Originated in ANAPO.
• Quintin Lame Armed Movement (MAQL).
1984. Indigenous-Based.
AFTER THE NATIONAL FRONT
How do you face insurgency, through dialogue or through
repression?
Between 1974-1998, the Liberal Party dominated Congress
and the Presidency.
Conservative Belisario Betancur (1982-1986) passed an
amnesty law, and signed peace accords with FARC,
EPL, and M-19.
During this opening, FARC created the political party Union
Patriotica (UP). However, thousands of UP members
eventually were assasinated by right-wing paramilitary
groups during the next few years.
In 1990, and five years after the spectacular seize of the
Colombian Supreme Court, M-19 demobilized and
entered the political arena.
THE DRUG WARS
As the Cold War faded away, drug related violence
reached unthinkable levels in Colombia.
The Medellin Cartel of Pablo Escobar Gaviria
began practicing what came to be known as
NARCOTERRORISM.
In 1989, several prominent politicians were
assasinated by the drug cartels, most notably
the Liberal Senator and presidential candidate
Luis Carlos Galan, who favored extradition of
drug traffickers to the United States.
The US Government supported the War on Drugs,
including the Panama Invasion (1989) and the 5year Andean Initiative (2.2 billion), which
involved Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia.
A NEW REPUBLIC?
The Colombian 1991 Constitution came to be
considered the most progressive in Latin
America, and the political opening led to the
reincorporation of the EPL to civilian life.
Neither ELN nor FARC participated in the drafting
of the Constitution, yet Liberal President Cesar
Gaviria (1990-1994) held peace talks with both
groups in Caracas (1991) and Tlaxcala (1992).
After being promised non-extradition, the main
leaders of the Medellin Cartel surrendered to the
Colombian authorities. However, Pablo Escobar
continued operating from the La Catedral prison
until his escape and violent death in 1993.
A NEW REPUBLIC?
The Cali Cartel took over business, and replaced
the Medellin Cartel as the main drug dealer.
The new Liberal administration of Ernesto Samper
(1994-1998) was debilitated by a drug scandal
involving financing of his presidential campaign.
The FARC and ELN guerrillas grew in strength,
and the paramilitary responses became
increasingly more violent.
In 1997, the paramilitary formed a federation,
Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), under
the leadership of Carlos Castano.
Both the guerrilla and the paramilitary increasingly
relied on drug trade, kidnappings, and other
illegal activities to finance their organizations.
A NEW REPUBLIC?
The administration of Conservative Andres
Pastrana (1998-2002) initiated peace talks with
FARC and ELN, including the creation of a
demilitarized zone in the South.
The paramilitaries always rejected these peace
talks, and began receiving increasing support
from the Colombian military after the approval of
the US-financed Plan Colombia in 1999.
The failure of a negotiated settlement inclined
most Colombians towards the military solution
that was offered by former Governor of Antioquia
and Mayor of Medellin, Alvaro Uribe.
THE URIBE PHENOMENON
In 2002, Uribe was elected President as a
dissident of the Liberal Party.
President Uribe appropriated the anti-terrorism
discourse of George W. Bush, and became the
most reliable political ally of the United States in
Latin America.
The Bush Administration strengthened Plan
Colombia, and began negotiations for signing a
Free Trade Agreement with Colombia.
With unparalleled popular support, Uribe was reelected as President of Colombia in 2006, this
time under the banner of Colombia First.