Colombia Colombia A Concise Contemporary History Second Edition Michael J. LaRosa and Germán R. Mejía ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD Lanham • Boulder • New York • London Published by Rowman & Littlefield A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowman.com Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB, United Kingdom Copyright © 2017 by Rowman & Littlefield First edition 2012. Updated first edition 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: LaRosa, Michael (Michael J.), author. | Mejía P., Germán, author. Title: Colombia : a concise contemporary history / Michael J. LaRosa and Germán R. Mejía. Description: Second edition. | Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017004183 (print) | LCCN 2017004626 (ebook) | ISBN 9781442275720 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781442275737 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781442275744 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Colombia—History—1810- | Colombia—Civilization. Classification: LCC F2273 .L37 2017 (print) | LCC F2273 (ebook) | DDC 986.1—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017004183 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Printed in the United States of America To our mentors and friends, Steve and Pilar Stein of Coral Gables, Florida, and to the memory of our parents, Barbara M. LaRosa and Alfonso Mejía Restrepo Contents Acknowledgments xi Foreword by Pamela S. Murray xiii Introduction 1 1 Origins 9 The Crisis of Empire 10 1810: The Development of the Juntas 13 The First Republic (1811–1816) 18 The Final Battle against Absolutism 21 Colombia: The Second Republic (1819–1830) 24 The End of an Era of Change 26 2 The Colombian Nations 29 Colombian Indigenous Population 30 The Afro-Colombian Population 34 Other Colombians 36 Demography and Its Numbers 37 Colonizers and Settlers: The Nineteenth Century 40 An Urban Country: The Twentieth Century 45 3 The Dynamics of a Political Community 49 Citizenship 51 Rights 53 The Democratic Model and Politics 55 Government 59 The Formation of Law 63 vii viii Contents 4 The Cadence of Unity 65 The Parties and the Nation 66 Communion in Beliefs 71 A Common Memory 75 A Single Institutionalism 78 5 Conflict 83 The Spanish Evacuation 85 Political Conflict in the Nineteenth Century 85 Panama Separates 89 Conflict in the Twentieth Century 90 La Violencia 93 Insurgency Intervention 96 Narco-violence 98 Plan Colombia, 2000 100 6 Economic Unity 105 Colonial Colombia Compared 106 Monopoly and Political Problems in the Eighteenth Century 107 Coffee 110 The Percolating Twenties 113 Oil and Industrialization 115 The National Front 116 Modern Times 118 Photo Essay 121 7 A Common Space 141 From Horse Path to Highway 143 Steamships and Railways 146 Aerial Cables and Airplanes 150 Mail and Communications Systems 151 Print Media 154 8 Cultural Dynamism 157 Sculpture and Painting 158 Literature 162 Theater 167 Architecture 169 Music 171 9 Daily Life 175 Popular Religious Celebrations 176 Sports 179 Contents ix Beauty Pageants 182 Retaking the Colombian Urban Centers 183 Radio, TV, and Soap Operas 186 Gastronomy, Colombian Style 189 University Life in Colombia 189 10 Colombia and the World 193 The Early Days 194 The Canal Project 196 1928 198 World War II and Jorge Eliécer Gaitán 200 Korea and the Alliance for Progress 203 Pope Paul VI and the Close of the 1960s 205 Contadora, Central America, and Colombia’s Neighbors 206 Uribe and Bush: Brothers in Arms 209 Enter Santos 211 11 Colombians Abroad 215 Preliminary Observations on Colombian Emigration 215 Why Colombians Leave: A Historic Overview 217 Bienvenidos to Queens 218 The 1980 Refugee Act 220 The Special Case of Colombians in Venezuela 221 Remesas—Sending Money Home 222 Colombians Abroad: Some Names 223 Some Sustained (and Unfortunate) Stereotypes 226 Peace Process and the Great Reverse Migration? 227 12 Colombians Search for Peace 231 The Nature of the Colombian Armed Conflict 232 The Stages of the War 233 The Peace Processes in Historic Perspective 238 The Future 243 Conclusion 247 Colombian Chronology, 1810–1991 251 Selected Bibliography 283 Index 287 About the Authors 297