7 CONSEQUENCES OF THE COLOMBIAN NATIONAL FRONT - HISTORY - 2025

The consequences of the National Front of Colombia were social (appeasement of political violence, beginning of guerrilla forces), political (reformism and populism) and economic (growth of inflation).

The National Front (1958-1974) was a period in the history of Colombia in which the two main political parties of the country, the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party, reached a coalition agreement, in which a president of Colombia would alternately govern. each party for four constitutional terms of four years.

This agreement between parties is known as a coalition or political alliance, of which, in the political history of Colombia, they have occurred constantly, so if the period after the National Front is excluded, Colombia has been governed for 45 years by some bipartisan coalition variant.

The National Front emerged as a solution to the disputes between Colombia's two main parties (Conservatives and Liberals), which were stimulated since 1948 with the assassination of the liberal leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, which led to physical confrontations between the parties and led to the 10-hour protest known as El Bogotazo.

Later, the conservative Laureano Gómez was elected president, but due to his authoritarian position, the conservative party was internally divided and the liberals protested against him, which ended in a coup, in which General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla took office. presidency.

The government of Gustavo Rojas Pinilla had to deal with the inequalities that lived in the countryside and with the armed peasants, so in 1955 it ordered a military offensive against them, initiating the confrontation known as the Villarica War that would cause the rejection of the liberal and conservative parties.

In 1957, the Liberal and Conservative parties, with Alberto Lleras Camargo and Laureano Gómez as their representatives respectively, agreed to the coalition called the National Front for 16 years (four four-year terms).

The first president of the National Front was the liberal Alberto Lleras Camargo (1958-1962), then the conservative Guillermo León Valencia (1962-1966), followed by the liberal Carlos Lleras Restrepo (1966-1970) and culminated with the conservative Misael Pastrana Borrero (1970-1974).

Consequences of the National Front of Colombia

1- Appeasement of bipartisan violence

Despite the fact that, during and after the National Front ended, many of the economic problems that the country had been facing before the establishment of the coalition continued; This measure managed to end the violence between the two main parties in Colombia, which had reached its highest point during “El Bogotazo”.

After the development of the National Front, many of the liberal guerrillas were demobilized, which represented a considerable decrease in bipartisan violence.

Similarly, at the end of the front, Article 120 was established in the constitution, which contemplated the ministerial participation of the defeated party in the presidential elections.

2- Emergence of new guerrilla groups

Although the National Front managed to end some of the liberal guerrillas that had generated violence between the parties, the country continued to experience discontent, due to the persistence of social, economic and political problems.

In addition, the adoption of new political ideals such as communism, led to the creation of new guerrillas and armed groups.

During the government of the conservative Guillermo León Valencia, a project was carried out in which it was considered that the armed forces should concentrate on fighting communism, which he called the internal enemy, instead of preparing for a possible foreign aggression.

In this way it was possible to put an end to the bandit leaders, thus moving to the fight against rural crime and against the "independent republics".

In addition, with the student struggles and the inspiration of the Cuban Revolution, a movement of Castroist ideology known as the National Liberation Army (ELN) arises and, as a result of an internal breakdown of the communist party, the Popular Liberation Army (EPL) is born..

In turn, during the government of Carlos Lleras Restrepo, the April 19 Movement (M-19) emerged.

3- The economic crisis

By 1965 the economic crisis in Colombia did not seem to improve, and at the same time the deterioration of the exchange rate policy was foreseeable, which made it difficult to obtain external credits, necessary to keep the public sector operating.

For this reason, the Minister of Finance requested help from foreign organizations such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank, but such aid was conditioned by adjustment measures, including a new massive devaluation.

On September 2, among the measures taken in economic matters, the devaluation is included.

The consequences of these economic measures caused various problems. The devaluation increased inflationary pressures, which decreased the quality of life of wage earners.

In addition, workers from various areas and students went on strike and the civic strikes intensified as a form of political protest.

4- Reformism as a public instrument

In the period of Alberto Lleras Camargo, the agrarian reform initiative arose. This was born as an ideological political response by the National Front to a series of challenges they faced.

Among those challenges was to improve the opposition they suffered over the control of peasant communities (mainly from the communist party), leftist groups and especially the MLR.

Furthermore, secondly, the National Front needed credibility in its ability to act for justice and social change.

Added to the probable inspiration of the Cuban Revolution, which made the idea of ​​promoting controlled social change in the agricultural sector seem attractive.

After lengthy sessions, with a large number of proposals offered, an agrarian reform was approved in 1960 that covered a large part of the disputed interests, but which distorted the reform as an instrument.

This made it seem harmless and, although the rural property structure was not transformed, the National Front obtained the desired political-ideological impact.

5- The urban reform

The initiative to carry out an urban reform had already had a precedent by the MLR, who had proposed a "Roof Law", which would facilitate the construction and acquisition of housing for the popular sectors.

Later, the urban reform initiative would be taken by the sectors related to the National Front, proposing a more radical project, which would convert the tenants into owners and punish the owners of “fattening lots” (having properties to sell them more expensive in the future).

But the initiative is not taken seriously until it is adopted by the government of Carlos Lleras Restrepo, with more politically feasible and less radical proposals.

Thus, the political panorama was conducive to taking into account a bill that was not necessarily easy to carry out.

In addition, a kind of contrary proposal was added, where it was alleged that private property was necessary to solve the problem of popular housing.

No proposal was taken into account by the congress, and even after insistence by the government, the agrarian reform proposal came to an end.

It was clear that the insistence on the part of the National Front that urban reform be taken into account resulted in a strategy, similar to agrarian reform, to demonstrate the commitment to social change on the part of the bipartisan system.

6- Adoption of populist policies

While the bipartisan coalition continued its period of government, the opposition party Alianza Popular Nacional (ANAPO) had won considerable popular, who had a series of revolutionary proposals.

In this way, the government of Misael Pastrana Borrero, the last president of the National Front, adopted a series of populist policies, with which it tried to neutralize the populist policies of the opposition parties, although the social change that was talked about always seemed distant due to to the way of governing of Pastrana Borrero.

Some of the populist policies proposed by the government were:

• The "popular car" plan.
• The political-ideological use of conflicts between some leading sectors and the government.
• The official visit of Salvador Allende, president of Chile, who had awakened the enthusiasm to advance a socialist revolution in a democratic institutional context.

7- Considerable increase in inflation

Conservative President Misael Pastrana Borrero chose the construction sector as the “leading sector”.

Therefore, the administration allocates investment in construction projects as an engine of economic growth, generating sources of employment, increased income and increased demand for nationally produced products.

In addition, Misael Pastrana encouraged private investment in the leading sector (construction) through the establishment of the Units of Constant Purchasing Power (UPAC), a system by which interest accrued and adjusted for inflation.

Misael Pastrana

The inflation adjustment system of the UPA was extended to different elements of the economy, such as life insurance, salaries and prices.

The combination of UPAC, with a huge investment in construction, led to an over-stimulation of the economy and fueled inflation, reaching 27% in 1974.

References

1. National Front (Colombia). (2016, October 16).. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org.
2. National Front (Colombia). (2017, June 13). Recovered from es.wikipedia.org.
3. Political coalition. (2017, April 5). Recovered from es.wikipedia.org.
4. Bogotazo. (2017, May 30). Recovered from en.wikipedia.org.
5. Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces. (2017, June 13 Recovered from es.wikipedia.org.
6. History of Colombia. Area Handbook of the US Library of Congress. Date of consultation: 09:20, June 16, 2017 from mothereathtravel.com.