Jorge Eliecer Gaitan

Jorge Eliecer Gaitan
Jun 17, 2014 posted by Larisa Sioneriu

Known as one of the most charismatic political leaders in Colombia’s history, Jorge Eliecer Gaitan is regarded as one of the country’s defining historical figures, shaping the nation’s course and its socio-political stage through the last half of the 20th century.

In his political career, Gaitan served as the Minister of Education, Labor Minister, mayor of Bogota, became the leader of the powerful Liberal Party and vied for Colombia’s presidency. His assassination in 1948 was considered the starting spark of “La Violencia”, the violence, which claimed the lives of some 300,000 Colombians.
With his own particular brand of populist activism, Gaitan advocated for the awakening of Colombia and the inclusion of minorities in socio-political life and fought against the oligarchy that had ruled the country since 1848.

Using his persuasive and pedagogical skills to manifest his then revolutionary ideology, Gaitan managed to mobilise the country through social movements like never before, his death being the climax of a historical turning point. The aftermaths of Gaitan’s death still reverberates in Colombia today.

Early Life

Jorge Eliecer Gaitan Alaya was born in 1903 in Bogota to a modest lower middle class family. The financial situation of his family impeded Gaitan from attending formal education before the age of 11.
However, his interest for education got him as far as becoming a lawyer and holding a doctorate in jurisprudence from the Royal University of Rome, Italy.

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Gaitan’s popularity escalated considerably when he became involved in the United Fruit Company scandal, also known as the banana massacre. In 1928, Colombian workers for the American company declared a strike demanding basic labor rights in the town of Cienaga near the northern city of Santa Marta. The month-long strike were violently suppressed by government forces, resulting in the death of an unconfirmed number of workers, thought to be anywhere between 47 and 2,000.

More:
http://colombiareports.co/jorge-eliece-gaitan/

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