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Colombia THE REFORMIST PERIOD, 1930-45
The economic modernization of the early 1900s unleashed
social
forces that resulted in the emergence of new urban
classes. As the
traditional elites failed to address the demands made by
the new
groups, tension was generated. The growing urban
electorate tended
to favor those politicians who advocated social reforms.
The
Liberals were better able than the Conservatives to
benefit from
this development, especially during the first
administration of
Alfonso López Pumarejo (1934-38). The populist movement of
the
1940s, represented by the progressive faction of the PL,
attracted
the most support, however, and represented a threat to the
more
conservative traditional elites. For the first time,
nonelites had
a voice with which to express their interests.
Although a split in the PC over candidates for the 1930
presidential election aided in the ascension of the PL to
power,
both parties were divided into factions. The PC consisted
of
moderates (led by Mariano Ospina Pérez and known as
ospinistas) who wanted to maintain the status quo
and
reactionary conservatives (led by Laureano Gómez Castro
and known
as laureanistas) who favored a restructuring of the
state
along
corporatist (see Glossary) lines. The PL also had
its
moderates who supported the status quo. The second faction
of the
PL consisted of reformists, who favored controlled social
change.
These factions represented different socioeconomic groups.
In
general, reformists included the new financial and
capitalist
groups. Reactionaries primarily were traditional
latifundistas (owners of latifundios).
Moderates of
both parties tended to have interests that incorporated
several
economic activities and included groups such as
export-oriented
latifundistas.
As a result of the Liberal victory, many of the
privileges that
had been afforded to Conservatives through patronage
politics were
now denied. Because the president appointed the governors,
who in
turn appointed the municipal mayors, the transfer of power
from the
PC to the PL at the presidential level was felt at the
municipal
level. Because of the change in the political affiliation
of the
police force, the stricter application of the law was
transferred
to members of the opposition party. Clashes resulted
between
partisan groups among the lower classes, who sought either
to gain
or to maintain their privileges. One such clash involved
the
peasants, who, amidst the confusion, tried to attain
greater
control over small plots of land at the expense of members
of the
opposing party.
The first Liberal president of the twentieth century,
Enrique
Olaya Herrera (1930-34), was elected at a time when the
price of
coffee had dropped to about one-third of the 1928 price,
loans from
United States banks had stopped, and the country was
gripped by an
economic depression. Olaya endeavored to hold together the
moderate
Liberals and the moderate Conservatives, some of whom had
worked
for his election. Although Conservative control of the
legislature
and concern over the economy constrained Olaya's ability
to enact
a comprehensive Liberal agenda, he succeeded in carrying
out some
reforms, notably in education. Nonetheless, some Liberals,
disappointed by their party's failure to carry out a
"revolution,"
in 1932 organized a movement called the Revolutionary
Leftist
National Union (Unión Nacional Izquierdista
Revolucionaria--UNIR).
The movement came to an end after Gaitán, its leader,
returned to
the PL in 1935 when the party adopted many of his proposed
reforms
and offered him a congressional seat.
International disputes also confronted the Olaya
administration, one of the most prominent being a boundary
conflict
with Peru. In 1932 Peruvians occupied Leticia, a Colombian
outpost
on the Amazon, and hand-to-hand combat ensued between
small
Colombian and Peruvian forces. The dispute was settled by
direct
negotiation in 1934, when Peru recognized Colombian
sovereignty
over the port
(see The Development of the Modern Armed Forces
, ch.
5).
The most important president in the reformist period
was
Olaya's successor, López Pumarejo. Believing that the
reformist
faction of the PL had become strong enough to carry out
its
program, the López Pumarejo administration implemented
extensive
reforms, principally in agriculture, education, and the
tax system.
Known as the "Revolution on the March," these reforms
included
constitutional amendments that guaranteed the state's role
in
developing the economy of the country and diversifying its
exports,
authorized the national government to expropriate property
for the
common good, provided special state protection for labor
and the
right for labor unions to strike, and stipulated that
public
assistance was a function of the state. Additional reforms
included
the strict enforcement of progressive income and
inheritance taxes,
the guarantee of rights granted to squatters on public and
private
lands, the reinforcement of credit institutions, and the
renewed
separation of church and state.
The reforms put in place by the López Pumarejo
administration,
combined with import substitution policies, helped to
accelerate
the capitalist development of Colombia. During the López
Pumarejo
administration, coffee prices and the volume of exports
increased.
Protectionist measures helped to increase domestic
production and
enlarge the domestic market. A surge in industrialization
began in
the 1930s, aided by various external and internal factors.
The key
external factor was the world economic crisis of the
1930s, which
limited the availability of goods to be imported and
limited
markets for exports. Internal factors included domestic
capital
accumulation via the tobacco, gold, and coffee trade; the
increased
buying power of large groups, especially coffee growers;
the
construction of transportation and communication
facilities that
unified the internal market; and a continuation of
protectionist
policies begun by President Reyes in 1904. The increasing
emphasis
on growing and exporting coffee fostered industrial
development and
allowed a more equitable distribution of income because
more
skilled laborers were employed and received higher wages.
As a
result, the demand for domestically produced consumer
goods
increased further.
Reforms instituted under López Pumarejo reflected a
variety of
influences: the Mexican Constitution of 1917, which had
set forth
provisions relating to social welfare, labor, and
government
responsibility in education and economics; ideas of change
favored
by the Peruvian apristas--members of the American
Popular
Revolutionary Alliance (Alianza Popular Revolucionaria
Americana--
APRA); and the New Deal policies of United States
president
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-45). Some Colombian
intellectuals had
become interested in socialist thought, and the
establishment of a
liberal republic in Spain during the early 1930s inspired
Colombian
Liberals.
The Liberals, recognizing the social changes that were
under
way, identified themselves with the growing demands of the
masses.
In contrast, the Conservatives favored a minimum of
concessions,
the greatest possible influence of the church, and
continued
control of the country by a small upper class; they saw
López
Pumarejo's policies as communistic. Meanwhile,
disagreement over
the extent to which Liberal ideology should be applied led
to a
split between the pro-reform supporters of López Pumarejo
and the
pro-status quo followers of fellow Liberal Eduardo Santos,
owner of
the national daily El Tiempo.
In 1938 Santos became president with the support of
moderate
Liberals and of Conservatives opposed to López Pumarejo's
Revolution on the March. Santos retained some of his
predecessor's
policies, such as protectionism, and oriented his policies
toward
capitalist industrial and agricultural development. The
Santos
administration improved the economic capabilities of the
country to
invest in industry. It also stimulated capital-intensive
agriculture to convert traditional latifundios,
which relied
on cheap labor, into capitalist haciendas, which used
advanced
technology. The reduced demand for manual labor in the
countryside
caused many campesinos to migrate to the cities. This
urban growth
increased both the supply of labor and the demand for
consumer
goods, further contributing to industrial expansion.
Santos also
reduced taxes on machinery imports that were needed for
industry.
In the later years of his administration, Santos turned
his
attention to relations with the church and the United
States. In
1942 Santos reformed education by removing it from the
control of
the church. In the same year, he concluded a new agreement
with the
Vatican, requiring that bishops be Colombian citizens.
During World
War II, he cooperated with the United States in the
defense of the
Panama Canal, ousted German nationals from control of
Colombia's
national airline, and broke diplomatic relations with the
Axis
governments. His administration also strengthened
economic,
commercial, and cultural relations with the United States
(see Relations with the United States
, ch. 4).
Despite opposition from Conservatives, moderate
Liberals, and
a more progressive Liberal group led by Gaitán, López
Pumarejo was
elected president for a second term in 1942. He was not as
successful in the second term in implementing reform,
however,
because of strong Conservative opposition and a split in
the
Liberal organization in Congress. Laureano Gómez exploited
the
Liberal division by attacking López Pumarejo's foreign
policy,
including the declaration of war on the Axis Powers in
1943. Other
effects of World War II were being felt at this time,
including an
unbalanced budget, unstable foreign trade, a decline in
coffee
prices, and an increase in import prices.
Discontent with López Pumarejo increased. Gómez made
personal
attacks on López Pumarejo and his family that were so
inflammatory
that Gómez was imprisoned in 1944. This triggered
demonstrations
and street fighting in Bogotá. In July 1944, during army
maneuvers,
López Pumarejo and some of his cabinet members were held
prisoner
for a few days by officers staging an abortive military
coup in
Pasto. Although most of the military supported the
constitutional
order, López Pumarejo lost prestige and power. In July
1945, he
resigned in favor of his first presidential designate,
Alberto
Lleras Camargo, a Liberal who had distinguished himself as
a writer
and government official.
López Pumarejo's resignation resulted in part from
pressure by
the political and economic forces that he had helped to
strengthen
through the reforms of his first term. By 1942 a new group
of
industrialists wished to perpetuate their gains and
believed that
reform should cease. During López Pumarejo's first term,
the
interests of industrialists and those of other urban
elements
frequently coincided--for example, in reducing the power
of the
church and large landowners and in stimulating economic
growth. In
his second term, however, critics contended that the
social reforms
and development policies of the first term no longer were
appropriate. Thus, the industrialists, looking for
favorable tax
policies and protection against the demands of labor,
joined with
the landowners in resisting reforms. Both groups helped
block
important portions of López Pumarejo's legislative
program, and the
reformist trend of the PL was negated by more moderate
elements
within the party.
Lleras Camargo, who served as provisional president
until
August 1946, appointed representatives of all parties to
his
cabinet in an effort to establish a "national union."
Nonetheless,
his coalition policy was attacked by Gaitán, who had
gained
considerable support among the masses and among some
intellectuals
and industrialists. When Gabriel Turbay, a moderate
Liberal, won
the party's nomination for the 1946 presidential election,
Gaitán
decided to run independently, and his forces shifted to a
more
militant stance. This serious split among Liberals
resulted in the
election of the Conservative candidate, Mariano Ospina
Pérez, by a
plurality of 42 percent of the electorate.
Data as of December 1988
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