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La Violencia
Prelude
Murder of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
El Bogotazo
Political Parties
Liberal Party
Conservative Party
Colombian Communist Party
Presidents of Colombia
Mariano Ospina Pérez
Laureano Gómez
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
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El Bogotazo (from "Bogotá" and the -azo suffix of violent augmentation) refers to the massive riots that followed the assassination in Bogotá, Colombia of Colombian Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9, 1948 during the government of President Mariano Ospina Pérez. This riots extended through most of the country and triggered a period in the history of Colombia known as La Violencia that lasted until aproximately 1958. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... La Violencia (literally The Violence, in Spanish) is a term that refers to an era of civil conflict in Colombia between supporters of the Colombian Liberal PartybobColombian Conservative Party, a conflict which took place roughly from 1948 to 1958 (exact dates vary). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Colombia. ... Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (January 23, 1903 - April 9, 1948) was a politician, a leader of a populist movement in Colombia, a former Education Minister (1940) and Labor Minister (1943-1944), mayor of Bogotá (1936) and chief of the Colombian Liberal Party (1947-1948). ... Politics of Colombia Categories: Politics stubs | Liberal related stubs | Colombian political parties | Liberal parties ... The Colombian Conservative Party (Spanish: Partido Conservador Colombiano), is a conservative right wing / center right Colombian political party. ... The Colombian Communist Party is the legal Communist party of Colombia. ... Mariano Ospina Pérez (November 24, 1891 - April 14, 1976) was a Colombian political figure and member of the Colombian Conservative Party. ... Laureano Gómez Laureano Eleuterio Gómez Castro (1889-1965) was President of Colombia from (1950-1953), and long time leader of the Colombian Conservative Party. ... Gustavo Rojas Pinilla was a former military dictator (1953-1957) and Colombian political figure, as well as a former 1966 and 1970 presidential candidate on behalf of the National Popular Alliance, Alianza Nacional Popular, (ANAPO). ... The Spanish language has nouns that express concrete objects, groups and classes of objects, qualities, feelings and other abstractions. ... Motto: Bogotá, 2600 metros más cerca de las estrellas Bogotá, 2600 meters closer to the stars Localities (localidades) of Bogotá Country Colombia Department Bogotá, D.C.* Foundation August 6, 1538 Government  - Mayor Luis Eduardo Garzón, PDA Area  - City 1,587 km²  (612. ... Politics of Colombia Categories: Politics stubs | Liberal related stubs | Colombian political parties | Liberal parties ... List of Heads of State (Presidents etc. ... Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (January 23, 1903 - April 9, 1948) was a politician, a leader of a populist movement in Colombia, a former Education Minister (1940) and Labor Minister (1943-1944), mayor of Bogotá (1936) and chief of the Colombian Liberal Party (1947-1948). ... is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mariano Ospina Pérez (November 24, 1891 - April 14, 1976) was a Colombian political figure and member of the Colombian Conservative Party. ... La Violencia (literally The Violence, in Spanish) is a term that refers to an era of civil conflict in Colombia between supporters of the Colombian Liberal PartybobColombian Conservative Party, a conflict which took place roughly from 1948 to 1958 (exact dates vary). ...

General settings

On April 9, 1948 the 9th International Conference of American Countries was being held in Bogotá and President Mariano Ospina Pérez was attending a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State General George Marshall is the 99th day of the year (100th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto: Bogotá, 2600 metros más cerca de las estrellas Bogotá, 2600 meters closer to the stars Localities (localidades) of Bogotá Country Colombia Department Bogotá, D.C.* Foundation August 6, 1538 Government  - Mayor Luis Eduardo Garzón, PDA Area  - City 1,587 km²  (612. ... List of Heads of State (Presidents etc. ... Mariano Ospina Pérez (November 24, 1891 - April 14, 1976) was a Colombian political figure and member of the Colombian Conservative Party. ... The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. ... For other persons named George Marshall, see George Marshall (disambiguation). ...

At the time, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán was the main leader of the Liberal Party, and the most prominent politician in the country after President Ospina. His office was located in downtown Bogotá, on the corner of 7th avenue and 14th street. Gaitán had been working the previous night until 4 a.m. as defense attorney in the trial that declared the innocence of Lt. Jesús María Cortés. Gaitán was running in the presidential election, as the candidate most likely to win. Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (January 23, 1903 - April 9, 1948) was a politician, a leader of a populist movement in Colombia, a former Education Minister (1940) and Labor Minister (1943-1944), mayor of Bogotá (1936) and chief of the Colombian Liberal Party (1947-1948). ...

Murder of Gaitán

The doorman of the Agustín Nieto building, where Gaitán's office was located, said he saw an unknown young man waiting outside the office about 1:00p.m. Gaitán was scheduled to meet that afternoon with the Cubans Fidel Castro and Rafael del Pino to talk about the Latin American Youth Congress, where they expected Gaitán to do the final Speech, as Castro declared years later in an interview with Arturo Alape (1983). Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born on August 13, 1926) is the current President of Cuba but on indefinite medical hiatus. ... Rafael del Pino is a Cuban airplane pilot and political dissident. ...

Gaitán left his office, and just outside the building he was shot twice in the head and one in the chest, with a .32 caliber handgun, at 1:15 p.m. However, he didn't die immediately; he was carried to a local hospital where he died a few minutes later.

The Killer

The man who killed Gaitán ran away heading south. Soon, an angry mob ran after him. Nearby, policeman Carlos Alberto Jiménez Díaz tried to control the situation. The man surrendered to him and said to Jiménez: An ochlocracy from The Simpsons Ochlocracy (Greek: οχλοκρατία or ohlokratía; Latin: ochlocratia) is government by mob or a mass of people, or the intimidation of constitutional authorities. ...

- "No me mate, mi cabo" (Don't kill me, officer)

In an attempt to avoid the angry mob, Jiménez and the man ran into the Granada drugstore and closed it. Some witnesses argue that the man who was taken into the drugstore wasn't the same one who was captured, and that Officer Jiménez was mistaken because of the angry mob and because the other man was also wearing a gray hat.^{[citation needed]} According to the drugstore owner, when he asked the man why he had killed Gaitán, he just said:

- "Ay ¡Señor, cosas poderosas! Ay!, Virgen del Carmen, sálvame!" (Powerful things, Lord! Our Lady of Carmen, save me!)

After that, the doors were charged and the man was taken by the mob. His naked corpse was found later, in the Bolívar Square, outside the Presidential Palace. His face was crushed with a brick, and his body was torn. A bystander, Gabriel Restrepo, collected the remains of his clothes where he found some personal documents, which allowed to identify him as 21-year-old Juan Roa Sierra. However, there have also been other theories about his murder. There are versions that the government of Mario Ospina Perez, sectors of the Liberal party, the Colombian Communist party, the CIA and others that may have been involved in his murder.[1] The Bolívar Square (Spanish: Plaza de Bolívar) is located in the heart of the historical area of Bogotá. It has a statue of Simón Bolívar sculpted in 1846 by the Italian Pietro Tenerani, which was the first ever public monument in the city. ... Juan Roa Sierra (born November 4, 1927 in Bogotá- died April 9, 1948 in Bogotá) was a Colombian murderer known for perpetrating the assassination of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9, 1948. ...

The riots

Radio Station Últimas noticias, managed by followers of Gaitán, made the following broadcast some minutes later:

"Últimas Noticias con ustedes. Los conservadores y el gobierno de Ospina Pérez acaban de asesinar al doctor Gaitán, quien cayó frente a la puerta de su oficina abaleado por un policía. Pueblo ¡a las armas! ¡A la carga!, a la calle con palos, piedras, escopetas, cuanto haya a la mano. Asaltad las ferreterías y tomaos la dinamita, la pólvora, las herramientas, los machetes..."

Translation:

"Últimas Noticias with you. Conservatives and the Ospina Pérez government have just killed Dr. Gaitán, who fell by the door of his office, shot by a police officer. People: arms! Charge! To the streets with clubs, stones, shotguns, or whatever is at hand! Break into the hardware stores and take the dynamite, gunpowder, tools, machetes...".

After that, instructions to make Molotov cocktails were broadcast. Dynamite is an explosive based on the explosive potential of nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth (kieselguhr) as an adsorbent. ... Smokeless powder Gunpowder is a pyrotechnic composition, an explosive mixture that burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot gas which can be used as a propellant in firearms and fireworks. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ... Molotov cocktail is the generic name for a variety of crude incendiary weapons. ...

People from everywhere in the city rushed downtown. Many homeless people who came from different places of the country to Bogotá running away from violent political conflicts were added to the mobs. A large crowd formed outside Clinica Central, the hospital where Gaitan died.

At 1:20 p.m. President Ospina was notified of the murder and called for a council with his cabinet. After dumping the body of Roa outside the Casa de Nariño, the crowd attacked the palace with stones and bricks. Many cars, buses and street cars were burned. A few hours later violence exploded in other cities, including Medellín, Ibagué and Barranquilla. Nickname: Location of the city (urban in red) and municipality (dark gray) of Medellín in Antioquia Department. ... Location of the municipality and city of Ibague in Tolima Department. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The leaders of the Liberal Party decided to nominate Darío Echandía as head of the party, in replacement of Gaitán. From a balcony, he demanded the crowd stop the violence, but it was useless. The mobs tried to force the entry of Casa de Nariño. They were confronted by the Army, and many people died right there, over the 7th avenue. The people set fire on the offices of government ministry and El Siglo newspaper. Darío Echandía (1897 - 1989) was a lawyer and a Colombian political figure, as a member of the Colombian Liberal Party. ... El Siglo is a Chilean weekly that is the official organ of the Chilean Communist Partys Central Committee. ...

Most of the hardware stores, specially in San Victorino district, were raided. People armed themselves with pipes, hooks, steel rods, hatches, saws, machetes and such. Some policemen joined the mobs. Others were confused and waited for orders that never came.

About 3:00 p.m, the mobs broke in the police headquarters, commanded for major Benicio Arce Vera. He came out to the crowd, unarmed, and gave orders of not to shoot. He tried to talk to the mob but they ran over him. Then, the people took all the weapons and ammunitions. Among those who took the weapons was Fidel Castro, according to Arce, in an interview years later to Bohemia magazine (La Habana, April 21, 1983, issue 16). Nickname: (Spanish) City of Columns Position of Havana in the Americas Coordinates: , Country  Cuba Province Ciudad de La Habana Municipalities 15 Founded 1515a Government  - Mayor Juan Contino Aslán Area  - City 721. ... is the 111th day of the year (112th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ...

The leaders of the Liberal party were at the hospital, next to Gaitán's body, very confused and unable to find solutions to the chaos. Then, they received a phone call from the presidential palace, inviting them to a meeting to try to solve their differences and find answers. The Liberal leaders, however, never arrived because of the conflict in the streets, and some of them were hurt by bullets. Finally, they asked for a military escort, which eventually got them into the palace. However, President Ospina was surprised to see the Liberal leaders arrive, since the call was made by some of his ministers without his knowledge. Anyway, they discussed overnight - but failed to reach an agreement.

Meanwhile, Molotov bombs were devastating downtown Bogotá. The fire destroyed Cundinamarca Government building, the historic San Carlos palace (containing the oldest portrait of Simón Bolívar, painted by Gill in London (1810); the Justice Palace, Feminine University, Dominican Convent, St. Inés Convent, Regina Hotel, Veracruz church, La Salle highschool, the Vatican Nunciature, and many other important landmarks of the city. Cundinamarca is a department of Colombia, one of the original nine states of the United States of Colombia. Most of Cundinamarca is in the Eastern Cordillera, just south of Boyacá, bordered by the Magdalena River on the west, reaching down into the Amazon River basin on the east, and bordering... “Bolívar” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Gill (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

People broke into most stores, the rage raised by the minute. By 6:00 p.m, over 3000 people were dead in the streets, 136 buidings were on fire and many people were injured. The jails were opened and the prisoners were released. People fought to death for stolen goods. All sort of merchandise was carried to the poor neighbourhoods in the outskirts. As reported some days later, by Semana magazine (issue #78, April 24/1948), people started to sell the stolen objects at extremely low prices, or just exchanged the merchandise for alcohol. In the afterdays, a kind of marketplace of stolen goods was set in Bogotá, which was then known as "Feria Panamericana" (Pan-American Fair). Revista Semana cover. ...

The people quickly got drunk from the alcoholic beverages stolen from the stores. Ironically, this worked in favor of the government forces, because the drunken mobs wouldn't offer resistance to the attack of the Army.

In an attempt to get some control of the situation, the staff of radio station "Últimas Noticias" — Gerardo Molina, Diego Montaña Cuellar, Carlos Restrepo Piedrahita, Jorge Zalamea, Jorge Uribe Márquez, José Mar and others — planned to start a Revolutionary Council. They broadcast information about the constitution of this council and announced severe punishment to those who took advantage of the riots to commit crimes.

The Central Government, after defeating the mobs that were attacking the palace, was comparatively uninterested about the situation in the rest of the city and didn't do much about it. However, the statements broadcasted by Últimas Noticias claiming political power were perceived as a threat. The electricity on that district was shut down, and the Army was sent to stop the broadcasting.

By the dawn, much of the city was devastated. Waves of unrest and crime continued spreading throughout different areas of the country for almost a decade, in a civil conflict of bipartisan mass murdering and torture which received the generic name of La Violencia, ("The Violence"), during which approximately 200,000 people died. La Violencia (literally The Violence, in Spanish) is a term that refers to an era of civil conflict in Colombia between supporters of the Colombian Liberal PartybobColombian Conservative Party, a conflict which took place roughly from 1948 to 1958 (exact dates vary). ...

Foreign involvement theories

There are some theories indicating that Gaitán assassination was planned and developed for more people than just Juan Roa Sierra or that he was not even the real killer. He was born in a poor family with a history of mental illneses among his brothers,and maybe himself. He was seen often in Gaitán's office asking for job, since he was unemployed, but Gaitán never received him. Some people who know him told that he never learned to shoot a gun, in contrast with the accuracy of the shots that Gaitán received. It has been known that the gun used to kill Gaitán was sold two days before the crime, with not enough time to teach Roa to use a gun. So, it has been theorized that the crime was planned for political reasons and to promote different interest of foreign countries, but it has never been corroborated. Different publications have mentioned among others: (Angel Aparicio Lourencio, 1975) [2],[3]m, [4]. Antonio García, Gerardo Molina, Salvador Ocampo the Communist leader of Chile, Gustavo Machado the Communist leader of Venezuela, Spanish Republican guerrilla General Luis Fernández Juan, Millorad Pesik of the Yugoslav military, Alexandre Okilokoff and Ramón Anzokoff "Engineers" from the USSR, Fidel Castro, Rafael del Pino Sierro (a US citizen), Eugene Kerbaúl, Mackimon Damon, and Miso Rujitch Juan Roa Sierra (born November 4, 1927 in Bogotá- died April 9, 1948 in Bogotá) was a Colombian murderer known for perpetrating the assassination of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9, 1948. ... Antonio García is one of the main commanders of the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (usually abbreviated to ELN), or National Liberation Army. ... Gerardo Molina Ramírez (*1906, †1991); was a left wing writer, political scientist, and politician, rector of the National University of Colombia between 1944 and 1948, and of the Universidad Libre de Colombia. ... Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born on August 13, 1926) is the current President of Cuba but on indefinite medical hiatus. ...

The mysterious US diplomat and old Cuban "hand" William Wieland [5], said member of the Center of Foreign Relations and protégé of Sumner Welles [6]; Weiland would be later accused of strong left leaning activity [7], and CIA operative Richard Salvatierra [8] [9] [10] are also said involved. Sumner Welles (October 14, 1892 – 1961) was Under Secretary of State in US 1937-1943 during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. ...

Some writers say that this event influenced Fidel Castro at the age of 21, who had the opportunity to witness the initial violence and take views about the viability of an electoral route for political change. Others view it more darkly since Castro at that age had already been involved in violence in Cuba where he is reputed to have killed, or tried to kill, a number of university rivals (including Rolando Masferrer) by that time (Ros, 2003). Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born on August 13, 1926) is the current President of Cuba but on indefinite medical hiatus. ... Rolando Masferrer Rojas (1918-1975), born in Holguín, July 12, 1918 [1], in Oriente province, better known simply as Rolando Masferrer, was a Cuban guerrilla leader, lawyer, congressman, newspaper publisher a member of the Cuban Communist Party and politically involved person [2] [3]. He was killed in Miami, United...

See also

• Operation Pantomime

Operation Pantomime (or in Spanish, Operación Pantomima) was an alleged operation undertaken by the government of the USA to put an end to the advance of the left in South America. ...

References

• Guitiérrez, 1962,"La rebeldia colombiana", Editiones Tercer Mundo, Bogotá.

• Laurencio, Angel Aparicio 1973, “Antecedentes desconocidos del nueve de abril”, Ediciones Universal, Madrid ISBN 84-399-1336-2

• Nieto Rojas, José María 1956, "La batalla contra el comunismo en Colombia", Empresa National de Publicaciones, Bogotá.

• Ros, Enrique 2003, "Fidel Castro y El Gatillo Alegre: Sus Años Universitarios", (Coleccion Cuba y Sus Jueces) Ediciones Universal Miami ISBN 1-59388-006-5

External links

• El Bogotazo - Recopilación de Paul Wolf (in English)
• El Bogotazo por Eduardo Galeano (in Spanish)
• Así fue el 9 de Abril (in Spanish)