Colombia in the twentieth century is characterized by the processes of peace and war, as well as by technological advance. In addition, public works expanded, there was an economic opening and social movements emerged.
The Republic of Colombia, located in the northwest of South America, has a long and complex history. In this short text we will expose some of the important historical events that occurred during the 20th century in this country. This historical tour will allow us to investigate what is known as Violence, its relationship with the emergence of the guerrillas, drug trafficking and paramilitarism.
Bogotá Cathedral - Source: Lizeth.riano, via Wikimedia Commons
Likewise, we will present a brief approach to the most relevant economic aspects, and we will explore the importance of social movements in defense of the territories against the attacks of Neoliberalism.
Historical events
Peace and war largely determine the sequence of events of the twentieth century in Colombia, which begins trapped, between conservatives and liberals, in the thousand-day war (1899-1902).
However, they are also marked by the technological advance that allowed the construction of motor vehicles, and the appearance of cinema. With the temporal advance of the century, new violent events occurred such as the massacre of the Bananeras, and the wars with Peru (1911-1934).
The death of JE Gaitán marks another of the important milestones in the history of Colombia during the 20th century. After his assassination, in April 1948, a popular protest was generated, known as El Bogotazo, which spread throughout the Colombian territory, and which cost nearly 3,000 lives. This fact unleashes the period of Violence, characterized by the polarization of liberals and conservatives.
In the middle of the century the Dictatorship of Rojas Pinilla was established, who tried to stop the Violence between liberals and conservatives. After the fall of the dictatorship, an amnesty was obtained through the establishment of the National Front, which implied a bipartisan pact that involved alternation in the government and parity in the administration.
At this time the communist guerrillas emerged, as a consequence of the period of violence, but with a better structured political content around the socialist ideal.
After 1960, the political landscape in Colombia was complicated by the rise of drug trafficking and paramilitarism, with the persistence of guerrillas, organized in different groups (FARC, ELN, EPN) and their participation in drug trafficking, as a way to obtain financing. for your activities.
Economic aspects
In the 1920s, public works expanded and the structure of the national state was improved. Likewise, the food, beverage and textile industry is promoted, urban growth is stimulated, which together generates the working class.
The modern and capitalist character of these transformations, generate confrontations of the workers with the foreign companies and with the State. In addition, the countryside is abandoned, and there is an exaggerated growth of urban centers. Starting in 1930, changes emerged in the Colombian economy, which promoted industrialization and import substitution.
In general, after the world wars (1914-1945) between the economic situation creates many problems. Coffee and the fluctuation of its prices, as well as the effects of the Violence, have a negative impact on the Colombian economy.
These two factors, in addition to the modernization of agriculture and livestock, affect rural development. The appearance of the guerrillas, drug trafficking and paramilitarism only worsen the situation of the peasants.
At the end of the 20th century, the economic opening occurred, which implied the imposition of several reforms, which implied the local flood of foreign products, the privatization of ports, the increase in the price of the dollar, labor reforms, foreign investment, which together left little or no room for social justice.
In short, few have a lot, and most don't have access to what they need. At the end of the twentieth century, the great capitals have increased their wealth, and the rest of the population is enriched in poverty.
Social movements
Faced with globalization consolidated at the end of the 20th century, social movements emerged as a way to build new ways of facing the destruction of the world by “technological progress”. Colombia has been the scene of new proposals in this regard.
The precarious situation suffered by rural communities, indigenous people, Afro-Colombian groups, and women are a consequence of the impact that capitalist globalization entails.
The development of the black social movement in the Colombian Pacific is a good example of this impact. This movement faces the modernization of the rain forests that are its home.
Different agents, such as businessmen, settlers, drug traffickers and other modernizing agents want to impose a regime of transformation with the introduction of crops and intensive exploitation of resources, thus destroying the original ecological spaces of the Pacific area, and the conceptions of the nature and culture of Afro-descendants.
With the 1991 constitution, the multiethnic and multicultural character of the Colombian nation is proclaimed, which opens new doors to find institutional solutions to the social and political crisis that the country, and therefore its citizens, faced.
In this context, the Afro-Colombian movement of the Pacific finds the space for the rescue and construction of their collective identities and their articulation with discourses of alternative development, of conservation of biodiversity and of cultural difference.
Another important example is the struggle of the peasant movements, which seek social recognition as a group, and the defense of land rights, in the face of the crisis caused by drug trafficking and regional violence.
On the other hand, indigenous movements demand to be recognized as civil groups with rights and duties to participate in public and political matters. Likewise, they demand the right to “… the permanent search for identity in difference and in plurality in national unity…” (7: 256).
Finally, the women's movement seeks beyond its own rights, the collective good, by taking an interest in contributing to the discussion on peace and human rights.
Bibliography
- Santos Molano, Enrique 2004. The Colombian 20th Century: One Hundred Years of Amazing Progress and Endless Violence. Bank of the Republic. Bogota Colombia
- JJ Rodriguez Nuñez. 2010 Plan Colombia and American Geopolitics. Cultural Studies Magazine, No. 5: 217-262
- Offstein, Norman 2003 An Historical Review and Analysis of Colombian Guerrilla Movement: FARC, ELN and EPL. Development and Society No. 52: 99-142
- Lormaster's blog http://tustareasdesociales.over-blog.es/article-hechos-del-siglo-xx-en-colombia-110409063.html September 21, 2012
- Holmes, Jennifer S. and Sheila Amin Gutiérres de Piñeres. 2006. The Illegal drug industry, Violence and the Colombian Economy: A Department Level Analysis. Bulletin of Latin American Research. 25 (1): 104-118.
- Brown, Ricardo. 2002. Colombia and the neoliberal model. ACORA, July-December, 5 (10), 59 - 76.
- Archila, Mauricio and Mauricio Pardo. 2001. Social Movements, State and Democracy in Colombia. Thought and Culture. No. 4: 255-257.
- Escobar, Arturo. 1999. The End of the Wild. Nature, culture and politics in contemporary anthropology. Colombian Institute of Anthropology. Colombia.