La Violencia

A decade of partisan civil war between Liberals and Conservatives following Gaitán’s assassination. Approximately 200,000–300,000 killed and 2 million peasants displaced in a country of 11 million.

Phases

• 1948–1950: Escalation under Ospina Pérez. Conservative police (“chulavitas”) attacked Liberal communities; Liberal guerrillas organized in the Llanos.
• 1950–1953: Ultra-Conservative Laureano Gómez presidency. Violence reached its most extreme levels with ritualized atrocities on both sides.
• 1953–1957: General Rojas Pinilla seized power, offered amnesty. Some violence subsided but continued against communist-aligned peasant communities.
• 1957–1958: Rojas Pinilla overthrown. Liberal and Conservative elites negotiated the Frente Nacional, alternating the presidency and dividing government for 16 years (1958–1974).

The Frente Nacional ended partisan war but excluded the left, directly contributing to the formation of FARC (1964), ELN (1964), and EPL (1967).