Editing Colombia (section)

=== 20th century ===
{{See also|Colombian conflict|La Violencia}}
The United States of America's intentions to influence the area (especially the [[Panama Canal]] construction and control)<ref>{{cite news |title=The 1903 Treaty and Qualified Independence |url=http://countrystudies.us/panama/8.htm |publisher=U.S. Library of Congress |access-date=13 September 2020 |archive-date=11 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011225556/http://countrystudies.us/panama/8.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> led to the [[Secession of Panama from Colombia|secession of the Department of Panama]] in 1903 and its political independence.<ref name="SeparationofPanama">{{cite web |author=Beluche, Olmedo |year=2003 |title=The true history of the separation of 1903 – La verdadera historia de la separación de 1903 |publisher=ARTICSA |url=https://9256eada680e78ba56205f2037885261263098bd-www.googledrive.com/host/0B9QeWchRinyLejFzX01XWG9uVkU/La-verdadera-historia-de-la-separacion-de-1903.pdf |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030020242/https://9256eada680e78ba56205f2037885261263098bd-www.googledrive.com/host/0B9QeWchRinyLejFzX01XWG9uVkU/La-verdadera-historia-de-la-separacion-de-1903.pdf |archive-date=30 October 2015}}</ref> The United States paid Colombia $25,000,000 in 1921, seven years after completion of the canal, for redress of President [[Theodore Roosevelt|Roosevelt]]'s role in the creation of Panama, and Colombia recognized Panama under the terms of the [[Thomson–Urrutia Treaty]].<ref>{{cite web |title=El tratado Urrutia-Thomson. Dificultades de política interna y exterior retrasaron siete años su ratificación |publisher=Revista Credencial Historia |year=2003 |url=http://www.banrepcultural.org/node/86422 |language=es |access-date=30 October 2015 |archive-date=15 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115020147/http://www.banrepcultural.org/node/86422 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Colombia and Peru went to [[Leticia Incident|war]] because of territory disputes far in the [[Amazon basin]]. The war ended with a peace deal brokered by the [[League of Nations]]. The League finally awarded the disputed area to Colombia in June 1934.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Atehortúa Cruz |author2=Adolfo León |year=2014 |title=El conflicto Colombo-Peruano – Apuntes acerca de su desarrollo e importancia histórica |journal=Historia y Espacio |volume=3 |issue=29 |url=http://cms.univalle.edu.co/revistasunivalle/index.php/historiayespacio/article/view/2750/2637 |pages=51–78 |doi=10.25100/hye.v3i29.1664 |s2cid=252776167 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030020452/http://cms.univalle.edu.co/revistasunivalle/index.php/historiayespacio/article/view/2750/2637 |archive-date=30 October 2015|hdl=10893/1003 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
[[File:Bogotazo.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Bogotazo]] in 1948]]

Soon after, Colombia achieved some degree of political stability, which was interrupted by a bloody conflict that took place between the late 1940s and the early 1950s, a period known as ''[[La Violencia]]'' ("The Violence"). Its cause was mainly mounting tensions between the two leading political parties, which subsequently ignited after the assassination of the Liberal presidential candidate [[Jorge Eliécer Gaitán]] on 9 April 1948.<ref>{{cite book |title=El Bogotazo: Memorias Del Olvido |author=Alape, Arturo |publisher=Fundación Universidad Central |year=1983 |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Mataron a Gaitán: vida pública y violencia urbana en Colombia |author=Braun, Herbert |publisher=[[National University of Colombia|Universidad Nacional de Colombia]], Centro Editorial |year=1987 |isbn=978-958-17-0006-6 |language=es}}</ref> The ensuing riots in Bogotá, known as [[El Bogotazo]], spread throughout the country and claimed the lives of at least 180,000 Colombians.<ref name="Encarta">{{cite encyclopedia |author1=Charles Bergquist |author2=David J. Robinson |year=1997–2005 |url=http://ca.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564636_10/Colombia.html |title=Colombia |encyclopedia=Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia 2005 |publisher=Microsoft Corporation |access-date=16 April 2006 |archive-date=11 November 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111194946/http://ca.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564636_10/Colombia.html}} ''On 9 April 1948, Gaitán was assassinated outside his law offices in downtown Bogotá. The assassination marked the start of a decade of bloodshed, called ''La Violencia'' (The Violence), which took the lives of an estimated 180,000 Colombians before it subsided in 1958.''</ref>

Colombia entered the [[Korean War]] when [[Laureano Gómez]] was elected president. It was the only Latin American country to join the war in a direct military role as an ally of the United States. Particularly important was the resistance of the Colombian troops at [[Battle of Old Baldy|Old Baldy]].<ref name="Colombia's legacy with Korea">{{cite web |title=Colombia y los Estados Unidos en la Guerra de Corea |author1=Carlos Horacio Urán |publisher=The Kellogg Institute for International Studies |year=1986 |url=http://kellogg.nd.edu/publications/workingpapers/WPS/069.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://kellogg.nd.edu/publications/workingpapers/WPS/069.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |language=es}}</ref>

The violence between the two political parties decreased first when [[Gustavo Rojas Pinilla|Gustavo Rojas]] deposed the [[Laureano Gómez|President]] of Colombia in a coup d'état and negotiated with the guerrillas, and then under the [[Colombian Military Junta|military junta]] of General [[Gabriel París]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Atehortúa Cruz |first1=Adolfo |title=El golpe de Rojas y el poder de los militares |trans-title=Rojas' coup d'etat and the power of army men |language=es |journal=Folios |date=2 February 2010 |volume=1 |issue=31 |pages=33–48 |doi=10.17227/01234870.31folios33.48 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Ayala Diago, César Augusto |year=2000 |title=Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, 100 años, 1900–1975 |publisher=[[Bank of the Republic (Colombia)|Banco de la República]] |url=http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/revistas/credencial/marzo2000/123gustavo.htm |language=es |access-date=24 April 2017 |archive-date=24 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424112356/http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/revistas/credencial/marzo2000/123gustavo.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[File:Centro de Memoria Histórica - Bogotá.jpg|thumb|left|The Axis of Peace and Memory, a memorial to the victims of the [[Colombian conflict]] (1964–present)]]

After Rojas' deposition, the Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party agreed to create the [[National Front (Colombia)|National Front]], a coalition that would jointly govern the country. Under the deal, the presidency would alternate between conservatives and liberals every 4 years for 16 years; the two parties would have parity in all other elective offices.<ref>{{cite web|title=1957–1974 El Frente Nacional|publisher=Revista Credencial Historia|year=2006|url=http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/revistas/credencial/septiembre2006/frente.htm|author=Alarcón Núñez, Óscar|language=es|access-date=24 April 2017|archive-date=24 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424072902/http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/revistas/credencial/septiembre2006/frente.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The National Front ended "La Violencia", and National Front administrations attempted to institute far-reaching social and economic reforms in cooperation with the [[Alliance for Progress]].<ref>ROJAS, Diana Marcela. La alianza para el progreso de Colombia. Análisis Político, [S.l.], v. 23, n. 70, p. 91–124, Sep. 2010. {{ISSN|0121-4705}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Frente Nacional: acuerdo bipartidista y alternación en el poder|publisher=Revista Credencial Historia|year=1999|url=http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/revistas/credencial/noviembre1999/119frente.htm|author=Ayala Diago, César Augusto|language=es|access-date=24 April 2017|archive-date=5 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705231831/http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/revistas/credencial/noviembre1999/119frente.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Despite the progress in certain sectors, many social and political problems continued, and guerrilla groups were formally created such as the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia|FARC]], the [[National Liberation Army (Colombia)|ELN]] and the [[19th of April Movement|M-19]] to fight the government and political apparatus.<ref>{{cite web|title=El Frente Nacional|publisher=banrepcultural.org|year=2006|url=http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/ayudadetareas/politica/el_frente_nacional|language=es|access-date=24 April 2017|archive-date=24 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424073204/http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/ayudadetareas/politica/el_frente_nacional|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Since the 1960s, the country has suffered from an [[Asymmetric warfare|asymmetric]] [[Low intensity conflict|low-intensity]] [[Colombian armed conflict (1964–present)|armed conflict]] between [[Military Forces of Colombia|government forces]], [[Guerrilla movements in Colombia|leftist guerrilla groups]] and [[Paramilitarism in Colombia|right wing paramilitaries]].<ref name="HistoricalCommission">{{cite web|title=Contribution to an Understanding of the Armed Conflict in Colombia|author=Historical Commission on the Conflict and Its Victims (CHCV)|date=February 2015|url=https://www.mesadeconversaciones.com.co/sites/default/files/Informe%20Comisi_n%20Hist_rica%20del%20Conflicto%20y%20sus%20V_ctimas.%20La%20Habana,%20Febrero%20de%202015.pdf|language=es|access-date=6 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121194351/https://www.mesadeconversaciones.com.co/sites/default/files/Informe%20Comisi_n%20Hist_rica%20del%20Conflicto%20y%20sus%20V_ctimas.%20La%20Habana%2C%20Febrero%20de%202015.pdf|archive-date=21 January 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The conflict escalated in the 1990s,<ref name="Colombian armed conflict">{{cite web|author=Lilian Yaffe|url=http://www.icesi.edu.co/revistas/index.php/revista_cs/article/view/1133/1509|title=Armed conflict in Colombia: analyzing the economic, social, and institutional causes of violent opposition|publisher=icesi.edu.co|date=3 October 2011|language=es|access-date=24 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016063214/http://www.icesi.edu.co/revistas/index.php/revista_cs/article/view/1133/1509|archive-date=16 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> mainly in remote rural areas.<ref name="Colombian conflict">{{cite web |url=http://www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/informes/informes-2017/tomas-y-ataques-guerrilleros-1965-2013 |title=Tomas y ataques guerrilleros (1965–2013) |publisher=centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co |date=5 June 2017 |language=es |access-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826051509/http://www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/informes/informes-2017/tomas-y-ataques-guerrilleros-1965-2013 |archive-date=26 August 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since the beginning of the armed conflict, [[human rights defenders]] have fought for the respect for human rights, despite staggering opposition.{{efn|[[Héctor Abad Gómez|Héctor Abad]] was a prominent medical doctor, university professor, and human rights leader whose holistic vision of healthcare led him to found the Colombian National School of Public Health. The increasing violence and human rights abuses of the 1970s and 1980s led him to fight for social justice in his community.<ref>{{cite book|title=Oblivion: A Memoir|author=Héctor Abad Faciolince|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=978-0-374-53393-9|year=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wola.org/news/oblivion_a_memior_by_hector_abad_wins_wola_duke_human_rights_book_award|title=Oblivion: a memoir by Hector Abad wins Wola-Duke human rights book award|date=12 October 2012|access-date=27 January 2016|publisher=wola.org|archive-date=7 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160707233709/http://www.wola.org/news/oblivion_a_memior_by_hector_abad_wins_wola_duke_human_rights_book_award|url-status=live}}</ref>}}{{efn|[[Javier de Nicoló]] was a [[Salesian]] priest who grew up in war-torn Italy and arrived in Colombia a year after the Bogotazo. He developed a program that has offered more than 40,000 young people the education and moral support they needed to become productive citizens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iaf.gov/resources/publications/grassroots-development-journal/2013-focus-the-iaf-s-investment-in-young-people/first-class-citizens-father-de-nicol-and-the-street-kids-of-colombia|title=First-class citizens: Father de Nicoló and the street kids of Colombia|access-date=28 March 2016|publisher=iaf.gov|archive-date=28 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328202748/http://www.iaf.gov/resources/publications/grassroots-development-journal/2013-focus-the-iaf-s-investment-in-young-people/first-class-citizens-father-de-nicol-and-the-street-kids-of-colombia|url-status=dead}}</ref>}} Several guerrillas' organizations decided to demobilize after peace negotiations in 1989–1994.<ref name="Enough Already!">{{cite book|title="Enough Already!" Colombia: Memories of War and Dignity.|author=Historical Memory Group|publisher=The National Center for Historical Memory's (NCHM)|year=2013|isbn=9789585760844|url=http://www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/descargas/informes2013/bastaYa/bastaya-colombia-memorias-de-guerra-y-dignidad-2015.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.centrodememoriahistorica.gov.co/descargas/informes2013/bastaYa/bastaya-colombia-memorias-de-guerra-y-dignidad-2015.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live|language=es}}</ref>

The United States has been heavily involved in the conflict since its beginnings, when in the early 1960s the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] encouraged the Colombian military to attack leftist militias in rural Colombia. This was part of the U.S. fight against communism. [[Mercenarie]]s and multinational corporations such as [[Chiquita Brands International]] are some of the international actors that have contributed to the violence of the conflict.<ref name="HistoricalCommission" /><ref name="Enough Already!" /><ref name="colombia-and-us-54">{{cite book|title=Colombia and the United States: war, unrest, and destabilization|author1=Mario A. Murillo|author2=Jesús Rey Avirama|publisher=Seven Stories Press|isbn=978-1-58322-606-3|year=2004|url=https://archive.org/details/colombiaunitedst00muri|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/colombiaunitedst00muri/page/54 54]}}</ref>

Beginning in the mid-1970s Colombian [[drug cartel]]s became major producers, processors and exporters of [[Illegal drug trade in Colombia|illegal drugs]], primarily [[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] and [[cocaine]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/business/inside/colombian.html |title=The Colombian Cartels |publisher=WGBH educational foundation |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=28 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728115548/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/business/inside/colombian.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 4 July 1991, a new [[Colombian Constitution of 1991|Constitution]] was promulgated. The changes generated by the new constitution are viewed as positive by Colombian society.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elpais.com.co/elpais/colombia/20-grandes-cambios-genero-constitucion-1991 |title=20 grandes cambios que generó la Constitución de 1991 |access-date=28 March 2013 |publisher=elpais.com.co |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211013106/http://www.elpais.com.co/elpais/colombia/20-grandes-cambios-genero-constitucion-1991 |archive-date=11 December 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Colombian Constitution of 1991">{{cite web |url=http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/index.php/leyes-y-antecedentes/constitucion-y-sus-reformas |title=Colombian Constitution of 1991 |access-date=10 March 2014 |publisher=secretariasenado.gov.co |language=es |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328034430/http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/index.php/leyes-y-antecedentes/constitucion-y-sus-reformas |url-status=live }}</ref>