A BRIEF HISTORY OF COLOMBIA
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Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — FARC) from 1964 until his death (by
natural causes) in 2008.
As La Violencia continued, a coalition of Liberal and moderate Conservative
politicians supported a bloodless military coup against Gómez in 1953, led by
General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. As Gómez went into exile, Rojas declared an
amnesty for all Liberal guerrillas, which was accepted by many (but not all). The
general, inspired by the Perón regime in Argentina, also tried to form a third
political force based on a populist mix of nationalism, anti-elitism, and
government aid programs. However, after a period of relative peace, it became
apparent that Rojas (who was from a Conservative background) was not
planning on leaving office. Student protests were met with violence, fear
between Liberals and Conservatives returned, and La Violencia reintensified,
often led by bandit groups of young men who had suffered the trauma of
watching their families be massacred. Liberal ex-president Alberto Lleras
Camargo met Conservative ex-president Laureano Gómez in Spain and they
forged the National Front to restore electoral democracy in Colombia and end
the military dictatorship.
In 1957, demonstrations and an economic shutdown forced Rojas into exile, and
a caretaker military junta was put into place until National Front elections
brought back civilian rule (women voted for the first time in these elections,
winning the suffrage later than in most countries in Latin America). The National
Front was a power-sharing scheme that lasted 16 years. Each party was
guaranteed equal representation in all legislative bodies, in the entire
bureaucracy, and in the presidential cabinet; the presidency alternated between
the parties for four terms, beginning with the Liberal Alberto Lleras Camargo in
1958.
The National Front was successful in its main endeavor: ending La Violencia
between Liberals and Conservatives. By 1964, the last partisan "bandits" had
been killed or captured, and the civil conflict which had begun in 1946 had