Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Forty-five years of conservative hegemony ended in 1930 when Enrique Olaya Herrera won the presidential elections in Colombia and the Liberal Party assumed control over the state apparatus after decades of political exclusion. The electoral victory was the origin of a new and especially violent period for Colombian society, culminating in the tragic events of April 11, 1949: the Bogotazo insurrection. The initial efforts to implement urgent social, constitutional, tributary, and land reforms by the Liberal governments of Enrique Olaya Herrera (1930–4) and Alredo López Pumarejo (1934–8) were constantly blocked by Conservative opponents. López Pumarejo's political project from 1934 to 1938 was designated La Revolución en marcha . Conservatives opposed his reforms, especially measures designed to promote a new distribution of farmland based on the official slogan “the land belongs to those who work on it.” After the administration of Eduardo Santos (1938–42), López Pumarejo was reelected president for a second term. But a strengthened domestic opposition, World War II and international crisis, and personal family problems obliged him to resign in 1946 and confer power on Alberto Lleras Camargo. While López Pumarejo sought early elections, his resignation marked the end of this Liberal dynasty, which had been shaken by arduous political battles and violence from the moment the Liberals ... log in or subscribe to read full text