 |
! HASTA LA VIOLENCIA SIEMPRE ?
! Unitil the Final Violence ?) derives from
! HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE !
(can be translated as: "Forever Until Victory" or "Until the the Final Victory") I have
supplanted the word 'victory' with the word 'violence', mocking the ubiquitous slogan of Che Guevarra and his romantic devotees..
One of the bloodiest periods of Colombian history is simply called "La Violencia" and lasted from 1948 to 1958 with an aftermath dragging out untill 1964. The death toll was 200.000 (some sources say 300.000). It originated in the intra-class struggle between the elites of the Liberal and the Conservative parties, but also triggered inter-class struggles by laborers and peasants seeking political and economic change, and coincided with rural banditry (that has existed in Colombia since colonial times). Arson, rape, plunder and gruesome ways of killings have been committed by all sides during these years. A massive exodus from unsafe rural areas to the urban centres occured. It destabilized and fragmented Colombian society and the growing frustration with the inability of the government to garantee safety - especially in rural areas - led to the creation of all kind of self defense groups. Some of these groups joined forces with Communist Party organizations, hoping to create another model beyond years of bi-party fratricide. The success of the Cuban Revolution of 1959 became also a source of inspiration, from the radical catholic priest Camilo Torres Restrepo who joined the guerrilla group Ejército de Liberación Naciona, (ELN) in the early sixties to Jacobo Arenas - who is said to have taken Che Guevarra as his role model - and has been one of the founding fathers of the “Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia” (FARC) together with Manual Marulanda. [ref. Scheine/Latin America's Wars vol. 2; 2003; p.194-95. & and Pearce/Colombia inside the Labirynth; 1990; p.52-66]  |
|