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Colombia The Nationalists
It became obvious to many Liberals and Conservatives
that the
lack of governmental authority stipulated in the Rionegro
constitution was allowing the country to run a chaotic
course and
that the situation needed to be corrected. The
Regeneration
movement sought a basic shift in Colombia's direction. A
key leader
of the movement was Rafael Núñez, who was elected
president in 1879
and held the office until 1882. Liberals and Conservatives
who were
disenchanted with the golgota governments joined to
form the
National Party, a coalition that in February 1884 brought
Núñez to
the presidency for a second term. The Nationalists
authorized Núñez
to take steps urgently required to improve economic
conditions. As
leader of the Regeneration movement, he attempted to
reform the
constitution with the agreement of all groups. The
golgotas,
however, were afraid that constitutional change would
favor the
Conservatives and dissident Liberals at their expense. In
1884 the
golgotas in Santander started an armed rebellion,
which
spread throughout the country. Nationalist forces
suppressed the
revolution by August 1885, at which time Núñez also
declared that
the Rionegro constitution had expired.
The most important result of the conflict was the
adoption of
the Constitution of 1886 by a national council made up of
two
delegates from each state. The Nationalist leaders
believed that
ultraliberalism as practiced under the Rionegro
constitution was
not appropriate to the needs of the country and that a
balance was
needed between individual liberties and national order.
Based on
this philosophy, the Constitution of 1886 reversed the
federalist
trend and brought the country under strong centralist
control. The
Constitution renamed the country the Republic of Colombia
and, with
amendments, remained in effect in the late 1980s. The
Constitution
provides for a national rather than confederate system of
government in which the president has more power than the
governors, who head departments or two types of national
territories known as intendencies (intendencias)
and
commissaryships (comisarias)
(see The Governmental System
, ch. 4).
In 1887 Núñez consolidated the position of the church
in the
country by signing the Concordat of 1887 with the Holy
See. Through
the concordat, the church regained its autonomy and its
previous
preferential relationship with the republic. The agreement
stipulated the obligatory teaching of Roman Catholicism as
part of
a child's education and recognized Roman Catholic
marriages as the
only valid marriages in the country. It also acknowledged
Colombia's debt to the Holy See brought on by the
uncompensated
confiscation of church assets under Mosquera in the 1860s.
Political disorder did not cease with the adoption of
the
Constitution of 1886. The Nationalists, who had become an
extremist
branch of the PC after Núñez was elected, were opposed by
the
Historical Conservatives, the moderate faction of the PC
that did
not agree with the extent of antiliberalism taken by the
new
government. The bipartisan opposition of Liberals and
Historical
Conservatives sought to reform Nationalist economic and
political
policies through peaceful means. The Nationalists,
however, denied
the civil rights and political representation of the
Liberals
because differences of opinion concerning trade policy and
the role
of the state in society created a gulf between the
Nationalists and
their opponents. The PL split into Peace and War factions,
the
former seeking peaceful reform of economic policies and
the latter
advocating revolution as the only way to win political
rights. The
Peace faction controlled the party in the capital, whereas
the War
faction dominated the party in the departments--a response
to the
violent political exclusion that was characteristic of
rural areas
and small towns. The War faction staged unsuccessful
revolts in
1893 and 1895.
In 1898 Nationalist candidate Manuel Antonio
Sanclemente was
elected president. In ill health, Sanclemente left much of
the
governing to his vice president, José Manuel Marroquín.
The
Sanclemente/Marroquín presidency faced increasing problems
as the
world price of coffee fell, which, because of reduced
customs
revenues, left the government bankrupt. The fiscal policy
of
issuing nonredeemable paper money, which had replaced the
gold
standard under Núñez, added to the increasing lack of
confidence in
the government.
In July 1899, in Santander, Liberals again attempted a
revolution, known as the War of a Thousand Days.
Historical
Conservatives eventually cast their allegiance with the
Nationalists, whereas the Peace and War factions of the PL
remained
split, thereby weakening the rebellion. Despite an initial
victory
in December 1899, the Liberal forces were outnumbered at
Palonegro
five months later. The defeat left the Liberal army
decimated and
demoralized and with little chance to succeed. The Liberal
army
changed its strategy from conventional tactics to
guerrilla
warfare, thus transforming the war into a desperate
struggle that
lasted for two more years.
In July 1900, Historical Conservatives, seeking a
political
solution to the war, supported Marroquín in a coup against
Sanclemente. Contrary to what his supporters had expected,
Marroquín adopted a hard line against the rebels and
refused to
negotiate a settlement. In November 1902, the defeated
Liberal army
negotiated a peace agreement with the government. The war
took more
than 100,000 lives and left the country devastated.
The War of a Thousand Days left the country too weak to
prevent
Panama's secession from the republic in 1903. The events
leading up
to Panama's secession were as much international as
domestic. At
the turn of the century, the United States recognized the
strategic
need to have access to a naval route connecting the
Caribbean Sea
and the Pacific Ocean, such as a canal in the isthmus. The
HayHerrán Treaty of January 1903, which was to have been the
basis for
allowing the United States canal project to proceed, was
rejected
by the Colombian Congress. Because the proposed Panamanian
route
was preferred over the Nicaraguan alternative, the United
States
encouraged the Panamanian separatist movement, militarily
assisted
Panama in its movement for independence, and immediately
recognized
the independent Republic of Panama
(see Relations with the United States
, ch. 4).
Data as of December 1988
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