Bandits, Peasants, and Politics

The Case of "La Violencia" in Colombia

• Author(s): Gonzalo Sánchez G., Donny Meertens,
• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Pages: 229
• ISBN_10: 0292777582
  ISBN_13: 9780292777583
  
• Language: en
• Categories: Business & Economics / Economic Conditions , History / Military / General , History / Military / Guerrilla Warfare , History / Latin America / South America , Political Science / General , Political Science / Political Process / General , Political Science / World / Caribbean & Latin American , Social Science / Criminology , Social Science / Sociology / General ,

Description:... The years 1945-1965 saw heavy partisan conflict in the rural areas of Colombia, with at least 200,000 people killed. This virtual civil war began as a sectarian conflict between the Liberal and Conservative parties, with rural workers (campesinos) constituting the majority of combatants and casualties. Yet La Violencia resists classification as a social uprising, since calls for social reform were largely absent during this phase of th struggle. In fact, once the elite leadership settled on a power-sharing agreement in 1958, the conflict appeared to subside.