NarcoPabloViolencia

Chapter 9 of “Born in Blood and Fire”, focuses on the reaction of the revolution. An aura of optimism was created with alliances being made but soon turned into something negative. Urban guerrillas were born along with military rule of the country, the Dirty War, failed dictatorships, the Cold war, and lastly la violencia.   

La Violencia was a period in which a series of crude reprisals against Liberals took place because of the political sidelining and violent against at the hands of Liberal supporters. It was a political feud between the Liberals and Conservatives. It all began with the assignation of the left wing leader of the Liberal Party, who was killed in broad daylight in Bogotá. The aftermath riot was called the bogotazo.

One of the most gruesome aspects of this political view was the extreme cruelty perpetrated in the victims and sources estimate that more than 200,000 individuals lost their lives during 1946 and 1964. La Violencia intensified under the regime of Laureano Gómez, who attempted to introduce a fascist state.

After the fall of Laureano Gómez, Gen. Gustavo Rojas Pinilla gained the presidency and with the help of his daughter, María Eugenia Rojas, tried to eliminate La Violencia and help the country grow economically. His regime ended when the people noticed that he would not fulfill his promises and when the economy faltered.

In 1957, the arrangement for the National Front government (an alliance made between Conservatives and Liberals) was made in the Declaration of Sitges. Basically, each party had two years each to run the country in their own specific way to see which way would benefit the country.

During this period of the alliance between both parties, Colombia went through tumultuous years of economic and political stress. During the first conservative presidency, the country became extremely dependent on U.S aid due to low coffee prices and domestic unemployment.

New Marxist guerrilla groups were beginning to appear soon after Llera’s term was over such as Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) and Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).

Due to the lack of guidance during la violencia, many drug dealers began smuggling drugs to the United States. Narco-terrorism soon became popular and is often used in response to the more grisly acts of violence committed by members of the various cartels smuggling drugs thought Mexico and Central America.

One of the most well known narco-terrorist of the time was Pablo Escobar, native of Colombia who possibly ranks as one of the most successful drug-lords of all time. He had a method “plata o plomo” that he used with law enforcement groups. Either they chose to accept the bribe or chose to be killed. He built an empire of about 3 billion dollars during the 1980s. This lead to the creation of other cartels in countries such as Mexico; Los Zetas Cartel.

Narco-terrorism can develop either out of “narco” or “terrorism”. (Where drug lords become politically active or political figures begin to fund their way through the control of drugs). The war on drugs will never be solved if everything is infiltrated and unjust.

http://internationalpoliticalforum.com/defining-narco-terrorism/

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/126016/Colombia/25342/La-Violencia-dictatorship-and-democratic-restoration

http://narcotraficolombia.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html

http://www.dw.de/las-farc-celebran-con-un-v%C3%ADdeo-sus-50-años-de-historia/a-17666544