La Violencia (jan 1, 1948 – jan 1, 1958)

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Following Gaitan’s assassination and el Bogotazo, a ten year long period of partisan violence, now known as “La violencia” kicked off. Over the course of the next ten years, there was a constant cycle of violence between liberals and conservatives throughout the country, with Colombian elites affiliated with the conservative party feeling threatened by the ideals of the liberal party and Gaitan, as well as seeking retribution for the violence caused by the lower class liberal associated people during el Bogotazo. In response, lower class Colombians and members of the liberal party were convinced that conservatives would never yield power democratically, and the only way to change the social condition of Colombia would be taking up arms and starting a revolution. Whether urban or rural, all areas of the country would become affected. Attacks from conservative gangs, made up mostly of police and volunteers on groups of people perceived to be affiliated with the liberal party became common, and liberal guerillas made up of farmers would additionally take up arms against the conservative establishment and Colombian ruling class, with hundreds of thousands of civilians being indiscriminately slaughtered, with the final death toll after ten years estimated to be around 300,000. The violence of la violence stands out in a long history of Colombian partidan violence due to its tremendous brutality, especially in numerous massaces towards civilians, where people would be tortured, burned and killed in extremely sadistic manners by both sides of the political spectrum. The widespread violence in rural areas caused a massive migration towards major cities such as Bogota, Medellin and Cali, and the widespread chaos across the country created the conditions for armed groups not affiliated with either political party to emerge, eventually leading to the rise of FARC (fuerzas armadas revolucionarias de Colombia) and ELN (Ejercito de liberacion nacional) guerilla groups, who are still present in Colombia to this day. The violence would slowly die down with Gustavo Rojas Pinilla’s coup in 1953, and today is mostly agreed to have come to an end with the establishment of the national front in 1958

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