Important Events in Colombia History

A. Read the following text about Colombia history and complete the activity
below.
a. What do you know about Colombian History?

Colombia was established as a state in 1810 from the Viceroyalty of New

Granada, a colony of the Spanish Empire that had been founded in 1550. In
1886 it definitively takes its current name from the Republic of Colombia.

b. Do you know how many parties Colombia had in 1950s?

I don't know how many parties Colombia had in the 1950s

c. What do you know about National Front?

The National Front marked the end of the bipartisan violence that afflicted
Colombia for more than a century and generated the demobilization of some
liberal guerrillas. In 1964 the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
were born. On January 7, 1965, the National Liberation Army (ELN)

Linda
traveled to
I wrote a letter
París
last week

Reading Text 1

Colombia – History
 1

THE HISTORY OF COLOMBIA is characterized by the interaction of rival civilian

elites. The political elite, which overlaps with social and economic elites, has
shown a marked ability to retain the reins of power, effectively excluding other
groups and social institutions, such as the masses and the military, from significant
participation in or control over the political process. Members of the lower classes
have found it difficult, although not impossible, to challenge or join the established
elite in the political and economic spheres. Their subordination dates to the rigid
colonial social hierarchy that placed the Spanish-born above the native born. Elite
control of the military is the result of the "civilian mystique" that developed along
with Colombian independence. That mystique has successfully restricted the
military to nonpolitical functions, with three exceptions--1830, 1854, and 1953.
Thus Colombia has a history rare for Latin America in that the country has been
dominated more by civilian than by military rule. Because military forces have been
denied political power, the civilian elites have had only themselves, divided into
rival groups, to contend with in the political arena.

Elite members of the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party alternately
competed and cooperated with each other throughout the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries. Often the nature of relations between the two parties depended on
whether moderates or extremists dominated the ruling party. During the periods
when moderate factions of both parties were in power, the parties were able to
work together in coalitions; when extremist factions prevailed, however, conflict
often resulted. During the competitive periods, one party usually sought to limit or
eliminate the rival party's participation in the political process, attempts that often
resulted in political violence. The most notorious of these periods were the War of
a Thousand Days (1899-1902) and the violence (1948-66). At the end of these civil
wars, the elite inaugurated the cooperative governments of the Period of
Reconciliation (1903- 30) and the National Front (1958-74), respectively, the
former catalyzed by the Rafael Reyes presidency (1904-09) and the latter by the
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla dictatorship (1953-57). The replacement of the discredited
extremist factions by the more conciliatory moderate factions in each case made it
possible for the two parties to share power and to achieve a consensus on what
policies were appropriate for Colombian society at the time.

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Colombia's economic life has been based consistently on exports of primary
goods, especially coffee. In the sixteenth century, the conquistadors and early
colonialists, who often exploited Indian and slave labor, mined precious metals and
gems for export to Spain under a mercantile system that inhibited the development
of domestic industries. Throughout the pre-independence and post-independence
periods, agriculture on large landholdings, known as latifundios, became the
predominant mode of production for export crops such as sugar and tobacco. By
the 1860s, coffee had emerged as the key export crop. At the turn of the century,
tariffs on coffee exports were the main source of government revenues, and profits
from the coffee trade were the major source of investment in the newly emerging
industrial sector that was beginning to produce basic consumer goods. Although
the industrial sector grew sufficiently to induce urbanization and economic
modernization in the first half of the twentieth century, industrial exports remained
relatively minor compared with coffee, which in the late 1980s still accounted for
almost 60 percent of all export earnings.

Economic modernization, supported by the coffee industry, became significant at

the turn of the century. Modernization brought social changes and growing
demands that produced various challenges to the dominant position of the
traditional elite: the populist movements of the 1940s and 1970s, the military
dictatorship of the 1950s, the rise of guerrilla activity in the 1960s through the
1980s, and the emergence of drug traffickers as a major economic and social
element in the 1970s and 1980s. The increase in industrialization and the migration
of peasants to the cities accelerated the rate of urbanization and the formation of
urban working and lower classes. The heightened need for infrastructure, both
within a given city and among urban areas, spurred the growing involvement of the
state in the economy, especially during the reformist period in the 1930s and
1940s. By the 1980s, the state had become an important investor in and manager
of strategic sectors of the economy, such as energy resources, transportation, and
communications.

I. Complete the following map with information about the reading

Colombia History

Economic
Political Elite
Export
members

3. coffee
2. Gustavo industry
1. Rafael Reyes
(1904-09) Rojas Pinilla
(1953-57)
 Important facts

4. 6. 7.
5.

Reading Comprehension

II. Complete the sentences with a suitable word.

1. Colombia is characterized by the interaction of ______________________.

2. The political parties were: _______________________________________.
3. The main economic products were: _______________________________.
4. The period among 1958-74 is known as ___________________________.
5. In the 1970s emerged _________________________________________.

B. I. Read the following text about Colombian political division and complete the
map.

Reading Text 2

Colombia - Consolidation of Political Divisions

 2

The ideological split dividing the political elite began in 1810 and became solidified
by 1850 after the official establishment of the Liberal Party (Partido Liberal--PL)
and the Conservative Party (Partido Conservador--PC), the two parties that
continued to dominate Colombian politics in the 1980s. The Liberals were
anticolonial and wanted to transform New Granada into a modern nation. Those
joining the PL primarily came from the more recently created and ascending
classes and included merchants advocating free trade, manufacturers and artisans
anxious to increase demand for their products, some small landowners and
agriculturists endorsing a liberalization of state monopolies on crops such as
tobacco, and slaves seeking their freedom. The Liberals also sought lessened
executive power; separation of church and state; freedom of press, education,
religion, and business; and elimination of the death penalty.

The Conservatives wanted to preserve the Spanish colonial legacy of Roman

Catholicism and authoritarianism. They favored prolonging colonial structures and
institutions, upholding the alliance between church and state, continuing slavery,
and defending the authoritarian form of government that would eliminate what they
saw as excesses of freedom. The PC grouped together slave owners, the Roman
Catholic hierarchy, and large landholders. farmers were divided between the two
parties, their loyalties following those of their employers or patrons--often the PC.

Colombia - The Federalists

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 3

Although divided, the PL soon achieved electoral victories. In the election of 1853,
General José María Obando, who had led the revolutionary forces in the 1840 civil
war and who was supported by the draconianos and the army, was elected and
inaugurated as president. Congress remained in the hands of the golgotas. In May
of the same year, Congress adopted the constitution of 1853, which had been
written under López. A liberal document, it had significant provisions defining the
separation of church and state and freedom of worship and establishing male
suffrage. The new constitution also mandated the direct election of the president,
members of Congress, magistrates, and governors, and it granted extensive
autonomy to the departments.

Despite the victory that the constitution represented for the Liberals, tensions grew
between golgota and draconiano forces. When the draconianos found Obando to
be compromising with the golgotas, General José María Melo led a coup in April
1854, declared himself dictator, and dissolved Congress. Melo's rule, the only
military dictatorship in the nineteenth century, lasted only eight months because he
proved unable to consolidate the interests of the draconianos; he was deposed by
an alliance of golgotas and Conservatives.

In 1857 PC candidate Mariano Ospina Rodríguez was elected president. The next
year, his administration adopted a new constitution, which renamed the country the
Grenadine Confederation, replaced the vice president with three designates
elected by Congress, and set the presidential term at four years. With
the draconiano faction disappearing as a political force, the golgotas took over the
PL in opposition to the Conservative Ospina. General Mosquera, the former
president and the governor of the department of Cauca, emerged as the most
important Liberal figure. A strong advocate of federalism, Mosquera threatened the
secession of Cauca in the face of the centralization undertaken by the
Conservatives. Mosquera, the golgotas, and their supporters declared a civil war in
1860, resulting in an almost complete obstruction of government.

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In February 1863, a Liberal-only government convention met in Rionegro and
enacted the constitution of 1863, which was to last until 1886. The Rionegro
constitution renamed the nation the United States of Colombia. All powers not
given to the central government were reserved for the states, including the right to
engage in the commerce of arms and ammunition. The constitution contained fully
defined individual liberties and guarantees as nearly absolute as possible, leaving
the federal authority with little room to regulate society. The constitution also
guaranteed Colombians the right to profess any religion.

The Rionegro constitution brought little peace to the country. After its enactment
and before the next constitutional change, Liberals and Conservatives engaged in
some forty local conflicts and several major military struggles. Contention
persisted, moreover, between the moderate Liberals in the executive branch and
the radical Liberals in the legislature; the latter went so far as to enact a measure
prohibiting the central authority from suppressing a revolt against the government
of any state or in any way interfering in state affairs. In 1867 the radical Liberals
also executed a coup against Mosquera, leading to his imprisonment, trial before
the Senate, and exile from the country.

With the fall of Mosquera and the entrenchment of radical Liberals in power,
Conservatives found it increasingly difficult to accept the Rionegro constitution.
Eventually Conservatives in Tolima and Antioquia took up arms, initiating another
civil conflict in 1876. The Liberal national government put down the rebellion, but
only with difficulty.

Colombia - THE NATIONAL FRONT, 1958-74

The National Front agreement to share power between Liberals and Conservatives
was a constructive effort to assuage the interparty strife and distrust that had
contributed to both the violence and the collapse of the democratic system. Its
inauguration marked the beginning of a gradual decline in the level of

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Imagen tomada de www.google.com.co/frente+nacional
 confrontation. Nevertheless, the necessity of securing bipartisan support for any
policy or action produced several difficulties--most notably, stalemate and inaction
in the governmental process, voter apathy, and the exacerbation of factionalism
within the two parties--that were to plague National Front administrations.

Consolidation of National Front

Liberal Party characteristics
characteristics Political Divisions

Conservative Federalists
1. partycharacteristics characteristics 6.

5.
2.
3.
.

4.

Reading Understanding
II. Answer true (T) or false (F) according to the above text

1. The political elite began in 1810 and became solidified by 1850 _________

2. The Liberals were anticolonial and wanted to transform New Granada into a
modern nation______.

3. The Conservatives didn´t want to preserve the Spanish colonial legacy of

Roman Catholicism and authoritarianism ________.

4. General José María Obando led the revolutionary forces in the 1840 _____.

5. In February 1873, a Liberal-only government convention met in Rionegro

______.

6. The National Front agreement to share power between Militars and

merchants ________.

B. The simple past tense.

Michael drove the car very fast.

Peter won the horse race last week.

We use the simple past for an action that

started in the past and finished in the past,
often with a time expression.
Regular verbs add ed or d to the base form in
the affirmative form.
discover ………… discovered
believe…………... believed
 PRACTICE I

1. Complete the following sentences with the past of the verb in brackets.

Example: The Rionegro constitution brought (bring) little peace to the country.

a. Colombia only _______ (have) two political parties.

b. Mariano Ospina Rodríguez ___________(adopt) a new constitution.

c. A Liberal government convention _______(meet) in Rionegro.in 1863

d. Liberal and Conservative parties ____________ (form) the National Front.

e. Conservative party ___________ (want) to preserve the Spanish colonial.

f. The Rionegro constitution ___________ (rename) the nation the United

States of Colombia.

g. The new constitution also __________ (establish) the direct election of the
president, members of Congress.

h. The illicit narcotics industry _____________(emerge) In the 1970s.

 i. Liberal party __________ (achieve) electoral victories. In the election of
1853.

j. Liberal party primarily __________(come) from the more recently created

and ascending classes.

We use did not or didn’t and the base

form for negative sentences and did for
the question form.

Examples

The two political parties didn’t establish the Rionegro constitution.

Mariano Ospina didn’t participate in the civil war.

Did the conservative and the liberal parties form the National Front?

PRACTICE II

I. Change into negative form the following sentences.

a. The two political parties formed the National Front in 1958 to 1974

____________________________________________________________.

b. Congress adopted the constitution of 1853.

____________________________________________________________

c. The golgotas took over the PL in opposition to the Conservative Ospina.

____________________________________________________________.

d. Colombia exported coffee, sugar, and tobacco.

____________________________________________________________.

e. The political elite began in 1810 and became solidified by 1850.

 ____________________________________________________________.

Interrogative Form : Yes/No questions

We use did and the base for to make questions

Examples:

Did the Rionegro Constitution renamed the country? Yes, It did.

Did the liberal party separate the Church and the State? Yes, they did.

Did Conservative party participate in the Rionegro convention? No, they did not.