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| Rojas Pinilla's Colorful Tomb |
Rojas' five-year reign from 1953 to '57 was Colombia's last all-out dictatorship, although several authoritarian but democratically-elected governments have followed.
Rojas played a contradictory and paradoxical role in Colombian history. A hero from the war against Peru, his dictatorship is remembered quite positively, including naturally by these women, who talked about Rojas' public works projects but dismissed my suggestion that Rojas' government had violated human rights. Of course, context also counts. Rojas took command with a coup amidst a near civil war called La Violencia between the Liberal and Conservative political parties.
Rojas managed to stabilize the country, built great public works projects and gave women the vote, for which he is remembered positively. However, during his government the seeds were planted for Colombia's ongoing guerrilla insurrection.
I had to search hard to find mention of the Rojas dictatorship's dark side: discrimination against non-Catholics, shuttering of newspapers, repression of the country's traditional labor unions, massacres of university students and even of bullfighting fans who had booed his daughter.
After being forced from power in 1957, Rojas fled Colombia - to either Spain or the Dominican Republic, historians aren't certain. But he returned, converted into a leftist populist, and ran for president in 1970. The official results gave Rojas' conservative opponent, Misael Pastrana Borrero, a narrow victory, but Rojas' supporters claimed fraud.
Those fraud claims gave rise to the M-19 guerrillas, who would play a prominent role in Colombia from the 1970s through the '90s.
In yet another strange twist of history, current leftist Bogotá Mayor Samuel Moreno Rojas is Dictator Rojas Pinilla's grandson.
By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours
Rojas managed to stabilize the country, built great public works projects and gave women the vote, for which he is remembered positively. However, during his government the seeds were planted for Colombia's ongoing guerrilla insurrection.
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| Plaque on Seventh Ave. in Bogotá commemorating students massacred by the government in 1954. |
After being forced from power in 1957, Rojas fled Colombia - to either Spain or the Dominican Republic, historians aren't certain. But he returned, converted into a leftist populist, and ran for president in 1970. The official results gave Rojas' conservative opponent, Misael Pastrana Borrero, a narrow victory, but Rojas' supporters claimed fraud.
Those fraud claims gave rise to the M-19 guerrillas, who would play a prominent role in Colombia from the 1970s through the '90s.
In yet another strange twist of history, current leftist Bogotá Mayor Samuel Moreno Rojas is Dictator Rojas Pinilla's grandson.
By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours
Rojas como tal no fue un dictador. Colombia no ha tenido un verdadero gobierno dictador como sí lo tuvieron Argentina, Chile, Brasil, creo incluso que Perú.
ReplyDeleteHi Nienna,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, but I disagree. Rojas seized power without an election, altho he did get himself voted for later. Rojas may have done some positive things during his government, but that doesn't make him a democrat.
All the best,
Mike
Hola. Bueno, no era un demócrata, eso sí, aunque sigo pensando que no era un dictador (viendo lo que sí fueron dictaduras como en los países que mencioné en el otro comentario).
ReplyDeleteTe invito a que te unas a "Fotos antiguas de Bogotá" y grupos similares en Facebook. Seguro tendrás mucho más para compartir de la historia de esta ciudad. Hay muchas fotos de lo que era Bogotá con su historia, los cambios que han venido, etc. Seguro te vas a sorprender.
Un abrazo :)
Hola Nienna,
ReplyDeleteGracias por tus comentarios. El hecho de ser dictador o no y si fuera bueno o no son cuestiones apartes. Hubo muchos 'dictadores' en la historia, en particular si de incluyen a los reyes, que lograron cosas positivas.
Sin embargo, eso no cambia el hecho de que fueron dictadores por no ser elegidos democraticamente y por no haber limitaciones democraticas a sus poderes.
Mike