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CORE: Colombia Final

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(Bergquist) What areas of Colombia are prone to violence?
Regions of rapid economic growth, from the cities in the 30s when industry took off, to the farms that are now being targeted by guerilla groups due to the takeoff in agriculture.
Accion Cultural Popular
A form of "pastoral care" that balked from the Franco-model, and emphasized the daily needs of the poor and highlighted literacy and education.
It distributed more than 5000 radios among its practitioners, and was a major driving force for progress in the Church
Afro-Colombians
slavery was abolished in 1851; Afro-Colombians mostly stayed in packets along the Pacific coast. Some communities were particularly prone to illness and high crime rates.

They have historically been torn between these pockets of segregation and a strong desire to integrate through "whitening"
Agriculture (all)
[pg 6-9, 53, 105-8, 223-26
see also Coffee, Economic Policy, Labor, Land colonization and settlers]
(6-9) agriculture was a peasant-driven enterprise, characterized by poor soil and bad farming. Due to price, many farmers would not use fertilizers/ pesticides, and this lead to lower productivity and perpetuation of the cycle of bad farming.
With the inflation rates, land was the best way to store wealth, it was passed down from generation to generation.
(53) Agriculture experienced the coffee boom and eventually reshaped Colombia's economy. Agriculture in the form of coffee and banana bonanzas helped attract New York investors, and eventually reshaped the economic map of Colombia.
(105-108) Colombia was a poor agrarian society as it entered the 1930s. Its profitability was growing as transportation developed and internal demand was rising. However, estates were begining to replace peasant owned small farms, and this change was championed by the government: after the 1936 land law, you had to provide evidence that your property was being put to good use.

(223-229) The mass movement of the rural poor into the cities helped to boost agricultural productivity, to improve living standards and even to transform the landscape.
Small-time coffee farmers could still turn in a profit, but most forms of agriculture were dominated by midrange or large farms.

Agricultural modernization now overused pesticides and fertilizers, possibly harming the environment.
Alliance for Progress
[pg 172]
Part of the psuh for capitalist modernization fueled by the Cold War, this alliance was created by President Kennedy to support the packet of economic and social reforms enshrined in the Punta del Este agreement of 1961.
It helped create a ten year development and four year investment plan for Colombia's economic future.
ANAPO
[pg 186-90]
The *Po*pular *Na*tionalist *A*lliance (ANAPO)

movement founded by former military ruler Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, a reaction to the factionalization of the Conservative Party. It built a grassroots electoral machine in the face of strong FN opposition; they went from 3% of votes in Congress in 1962 to 35% in 1970
Andean Pact
[174]
The Andean Pact (or Cartagena Accord of 1969)
called for the adoption of a common extrenal tarrif, the control of foreign capital flows, industrial planning, and the creation of multinational Andean companies.

The gap in national perspecitves, realization of huge short term costs and hazy long term benefits, and in 1973 the agreement went through a series of perdicaments that it never recovered from.
ANDI
[125-29, 171-72]
(National Industrialists' Association), a trade association associated with textiles and Conservatives; it specializes in direct lobbying and swaying public opinion.

Associated well with other special interest groups in the age of the FN
Antioquia, and Coffee, and Violencia
[10, 40; coffee: 54-56; Violencia: 162]
Gold mining region that enjoyed prosperity due to its mines and geographic removal from the civil wars; through clientelism and the market, its capitalists commanded the deference of local merchants and the prominent men of both established towns and colonization zones, which meant that it could play a very strong role in the growth of the coffee industry.

A large number of peace initiatives at the departmental level originated in Antioquia during La Violencia.
Armed forces (all)
[attempted coup of (1944), 120; Lopez Michelsen regime 197; Palace of Justice 207-8; professionalization 38, 97; Rojas regime 150-51, 155-56; Violencia 162, 165]
attempted coup of (1944): on July 10, Lopez was taken prisoner by a group of army officers; the labor unions and the public came out in support of the government, and even the liberals rallied behind him when he was released. Ramifications of this were a stricter military penal code, strengthening of the police, a declared state of siege, strict censorship of the press, and strenghtened Union bargaining power (a reward for their support)

Lopez regime-- in his second term, Lopez turned the military against strikers. 1978 witnesses the biggest restrictions on civil liberties since the Rojas administration.

Palace of Justice - Military recovers the Palace by force from M19. the building was set aflame, more than 100 people died, and valuable legal records were destroyed. Since M19 was there to protest Becantur's false promise of peace, this seemed to prove their point.

Professionalization-- After a brief war with Peru, the army was better equipped, better trained, and more professional. The military was no longer seen as a thing to be used against civic dispute, but to protect borders.

Rojas Regime: with a great deal of Conservative support in 1953 and financed by the church, Rojas took over the government -- the third military coup in Colombian history.
Artisans (10, 59, 81, 140-41)
Before factories, artisans were long associated with the poor. while the artisan class was characterized by its low technical levels and even lower capitalization, they evolved into factory owners, owners of large retail stores, and within a few generations were generally all upper-middle class.

Part of the "backbone of all societies" according to Lopez.
Betancur Cuartas, Belisario (200-203, 206-8)
1950's, at a time when violence seemed a permissible means of politics, his policies led to increased dialogue with the guerillas, reduced the human rights abuses by the army.
Bogotazo (141-42)
The massive riots that followed the assassination in Bogotá of Colombian Liberal leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9, 1948
It actually strengthened the long term government, and Ospina whipped up communist fears by claiming it was caused by communists.
Caja de Crédito Agrario (96)
a rural bank founded by Fedecafe in 1931. It first operated in coffee producing regions, and served to stabilize the economy during the Depression.
Caribbean coast
revived by the economic reforms caused by the coffee bonanza; the region strangely seemed to skip most of La Violencia, and enjoyed mostly tranquility.
Catholic Church
(conflict with Liberals 24-25; Conservative Hegemony 71-79; National Front 180-182; relations with Gomez 147-48)
Libs-- opposed liberals in education (condemned liberalism, secularism, religious toleration, freedom of thought, lay education). Opposed them in government to protect education; lost.

Hegemony-- intimate relationship with 1914-30 regimes means Church gets great political sway. the Hegemony almost melded with church organization and almost always agreed politically with the church. They urged Colombia away from cumpulsory public education, which the church was against

NF-- Global Church began to drift away from Colombian church in the 1960s. "church of the poor" was met with indifference by the poor. They were for birth control, which helped limit the population.

Gomez, 1950-- despite attempts to please the church with his stance on education, they distrust him. Colombian bishops declared partisan neutrality as they continued to grow dissilusioned by political violence.
Cities and Urban development
(3, 57-60; culture 44, 236-39; growth, 226-36)
During Expansion Era, export agriculture created (1) new urban heirarchies and an emergence of new oligarchies linking old families. And, (2) a weakening of the links between the regional ruling classes and the "notables" of smaller towns.

culture: the cuadros de costumbres, books celebrating Bogota while critiquing values and politics.

growth: Urban population increased from 40 percent (1951) to 74 percent (1993). If it was a mosaic of regions it is now a network of cities.
Bogota is actually one of the weaker cities. gap between the rural and urban grew even more.
By 60's, the polis is swamped by the civitas.
Civil Wars
1876-77 (24-25) The national army (controlled by liberal regime) grows from 1000 to 30,000 soldiers. Liberal troops, predominantly black and mulatto, destroyed property and attacked Cons. leaders, esp. during the sacking of Cali on Christmas Eve. Cons pay high price for defeat, but libs pay, too, when Independents form after the war, and elect Trujillo. Paved the way for the election of Nunez

1899-1902 (War of 1000 Days, 37-39) Liberal call for insurrection, excited by fighting for Venezuelan liberals, on October 18, 1899 was incredibly bloody. When peace is signed in 02, execution is no longer seen to be a noble practice but the violence of the mobs.
Clientelism (21-22, 105)
"refers to a form of social organization common in many developing regions characterized by "patron-client" relationships. In such places, relatively powerful and rich "patrons" promise to provide relatively powerless and poor "clients" with jobs, protection, infrastructure, and other benefits in exchange for votes and other forms of loyalty including labor. While this definition suggests a kind of "socioeconomic mutualism," these relationships are typically exploitative"

In Colombia, clientelism in the countryside increased as male suffrage spread through the country (although this spread also enabled all sorts of new social classes to let their voices be heard).
Coffee's importance in Colombia
The only agriculture where small to mid-range farmers can still profit. Brought about an increase in internal and external trade, which in turn fostered the developments of railways and, when those proved impractical, of highways.
Cold War (172, 266)
played a fundamental role in the push for capitalist modernization; this push, in turn, inspired the Alliance for Progress.
Events of the Cold War also inspired the growth of guerrilla groups.
Communist Party of Colombia
(85, 107, 110-113, 151, 163, 206, 235, 266)
Founded in 1930, the Communist Party of Colombia (PCC) has links to many Radical guerilla groups. The FARC, at one time, was the "militant wing" of this party (no ties remain between the groups after 1993)

A major target of paramilitary forces.
Concordat (19, 119)
1887 Statement from the Vatican; allowed for the Colombian centralist government to aquire church property. Part of the fiscal problems of a centralized government.
Conservative Hegemony (67)
Liberal Journalist Santo claimed that the government was "dishonest, intolerant and corrupt". Concha's regime (1914) would prove to be a model of what he called Conservative Hegemony
Constituion of 1991
Drafted by a National Constitutent Assembly in 1991; replaced the Constitution of 1886. Created under the reign of Trujillo in the hopes of expanding freedom and acknowledging the rights of minorities.
It reformed the Judiciary system, creating the General Attorney Office and the Constitutional Court.
It also reformed the Supreme court and the Vicepresidency.
Originally forbade extradition of nationals.
FARC
The National Armed Forces of Colombia; a guerilla group that claims to represent the rural poor.
As La Violencia transitioned into the National Front, many tiny guerrilla groups banded together under the Colombian Communist Party and called themselves the FARC.
Fedecafé
Coffee growers federation; supported the Caja de Credito Agrario; lobbied as advocates during the coffee bonanza. Fedecafe advanced from a mere advocacy group into an economic power during the coffee boom. As coffee became of growing national importance, Fedecafe also grew in power.
Industrialization
Industrialization during the FN faced three problems. (1) new industries could not expand without technological advances; (2)abundant low cost labor was increasingly hard to find; (3) low purchasing power means that the internal market is small.
Mao Zedong (190-2)
Basis of "maoism" in Colombia. His "Little Red Book" became the basis for "prolonged periods of war" with guerrillas striving to be "fish in the water" of large regions rather than lords of small regions.
Narcotics and Drug Trafficking
x
National Front (136, 145; economics 173-74; Violencia 165-66; establishment 153-57; justice 244; labor 178-79; middle class 179-80; politics 185-95; trade associations 171-73)
Frente Nacional, established by Gomez and Camargo's Sitges Declaration in 1958, was a bipartisan system of government control, that came about as a solution to end La Violencia.
Presidency is determined by alternating conservative and liberal presidence every 4 years for 16 years; the two parties would have parity in all other aspects of government.
Eventually seen as a form of political repression by dissidents and even mainstream voters, especially after the apparently fraudulent election of Borrero on April 19 1970, which brought about guerrilla group M19.

It planned to have the judicial system restructured through political independence of judges and longer sentences. While the government recognized the of the frailty and corruption of the judicial system (especially considering the human rigths abuses during the FN)
What happened, however, was that the role of the judicial branch and the police became preservation of "public order" rather than personal safety or upholding individual liberties, allowing even more abuses to be carried out by the government.

*the fundamental economic strategy of the FN was to deepen Colombian industrialization through import substitution. Though coffee prices dropped, the economy grew robustly due to industrial development.
***The economic role of the state expanded with more complex capitalism, and with urbanization soon grew to be more specialized.
It created changes in the labor force (increased educational attainment, growing participation of women, decline in manual labor, excess labor supply) created much weaker labor unions.

The middle class standard was defined by more formal education and involvement in public and private bureaucracy.
Petroleum
x
Police and violence
x
Population
x
Populism, Rojas regime
x
Poverty
x
Property rights
x
Protectionism (31, 65, 128-31)
The opposite of free trade, Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between nations.
Used to raise government revenues after the Regeneration;

The Ospina administration had "integral protection"
Rojas Pinilla, Gustavo
x
Samper, Ernesto
x
Student movements
x
United States
x
Uribe Vélez, Alvaro
x
Valle del Cauca
x
Violencia (all)
x
Women
x
(ViC.1) What are three origins of violence in Colombia?
1. territorial disputes between armed actors and labor conditions. 2. tributary extraction in mining areas. 3. "new work ethic" aka get rich quick.
(ViC.1) What regions has violence traditionally centered in?
Areas of economic growth: from rural coffee zones during la violencia to agricultural colonization areas in 2000.
(ViC.1) Sicarios
-view life and death as simple economics
-No paternal figures, find mother figure in "religion"
-See: Our Lady of the Assassins
(ViC.1) Negotiable vs. Nonnegotiable forms of Violence
Negotiable: national front, armistices with former guerrillas
Nonnegotiable: drug trafficing, criminality, paramilitaries.
(ViC.1) Name some of the results of violence in Colombia
(1) forms of sociability reduced, (2) recreation reduced, (3) clothes austere (4) homes fenced in (5)apartheid against "undesirables"
(ViC.1) How many Colombians are internally displaced?
1/40
(ViC.5) How does media play a role in the cycle of violence?
exacerbates political violence by offering attention.
(ViC.7) What are the three views on gender relations?
(1) symbolic representations and women in rape (2) direct victims of violence and increasing female death (3) Male AND female survivors of forced displacement.
(ViC.8)What are three trends in the labor movement?
(1) ups/downs of union unity (2) supremacy of war and peace on demands of the working class (3) impossibility of labor harmony and providing for everyones needs.
(Palacios) What did the constitution of 1991 try to accomplish?
(1) attempted to decentralize power
(2)accounted for the indigenous peoples
(3)Indigenous peoples given right to govern selves
(4) Constitutional court created
(Palacios) What were five limits/failures to the 1991 constitution?
(1) despite what the government thinks, Low voter turnout *does* violate the legitimacy of the gov.
(2) it disallowed any reelection
(3) President given plethora of powers
(4) No parties!
(5) encourages clientelism and other shady politics
(Palacios) What is the state of education in Colombia today? Poverty? Economics?
Education: there is a large illiteracy rate, and a minority of students ever reach 9th grade. Low quality education is a cycle, and has seeped into the universities.
Population: after a population boom in the 50's, it is tapering off. 1/40 of Colombians are internally displaced. Many Colombians have moved to other countries, including doctors, etc.
Economics: is tied up in United States since Plan Colombia; oil is growing as an export, and coffee is leveling off. The income of the top ten percent of the population is 37 times that of the bottom ten percent, but poverty is declining.
The Agrarian Reform
Government tried to redistribute land, some companies tried to step in. Groups tried to organize peasants in '71 but mostly failed.
Things brought about by the F.N.
(1) Development of a bearocratic elite and young economists (2) weak labor unions (3) courting the middle class (4) Change in the Catholic church
(5) Failed Agrarian Reform (6)

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