The history of Colombia includes its settlement by indigenous peoples and the establishment of agrarian societies, notably the Muisca Confederation, Quimbaya Civilization, and Tairona Chiefdoms. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of annexation and colonization, ultimately creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada, with its capital at Bogotá. Independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 the resulting "Gran Colombia" Federation was dissolved. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada. The new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858) and then the United States of Colombia (1863) before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. A period of constant political violence ensued, and Panama seceded in 1903. Since the 1960s, the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict which escalated in the 1990s but decreased from 2005 onward. The legacy of Colombia's history has resulted in a rich cultural heritage, and Colombia's geographic and climatic variations have contributed to the development of strong regional identities.
Álvaro Uribe Vélez is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010.
The Colombian Liberal Party is a centre to centre-left political party in Colombia. It was founded as a classical liberal party but later developed a more social-democratic tradition, joining the Socialist International in 1999.
Enrique Alfredo Olaya Herrera was a Colombian journalist and politician. He served as President of Colombia from 7 August 1930 until 7 August 1934 representing the Colombian Liberal Party.
The Colombian Conservative Party is a conservative political party in Colombia. The party was formally established in 1849 by Mariano Ospina Rodríguez and José Eusebio Caro.
Presidential elections were held in Colombia on 28 May 2006. Álvaro Uribe was re-elected as President for another four-year term, starting on 7 August 2006. Uribe obtained 62.35% of the vote, surpassing the 50% needed to avoid a runoff against the second-placed candidate.
The history of Communism in Colombia goes back as far as the 1920s and has its roots in the ideas of the Russian October Revolution. Today guerrilla groups, self-proclaimed communists, state that they want to seize state power in Colombia by violent means, and organizations such as the National Liberation Army (ELN) continue their four decades old war with the United States-backed Colombian government.
La Violencia was a ten-year civil war in Colombia from 1948 to 1958, between the Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party, fought mainly in the countryside.
In the struggle for the independence of Spanish America, the Reconquista refers to the period of Colombian and Chilean history, following the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, during which royalist armies were able to gain the upper hand in the Spanish American wars of independence. The term used in the past century by some Colombian and Chilean historians makes an analogy to the medieval Reconquista, in which Christian forces retook the Iberian Peninsula from the Caliphate.
The Thousand Days' War was a civil war fought in Colombia from 17 October 1899 to 21 November 1902, at first between the Liberal Party and the government led by the National Party, and later – after the Conservative Party had ousted the National Party – between the liberals and the conservative government. Caused by the longstanding ideological tug-of-war of federalism versus centralism between the liberals, conservatives, and nationalists of Colombia following the implementation of the Constitution of 1886 and the political process known as the Regeneración, tensions ran high after the presidential election of 1898, and on 17 October 1899, official insurrection against the national government was announced by members of the Liberal Party in the Department of Santander. Hostilities did not begin until the 11th of November, when liberal factions attempted to take over the city of Bucaramanga, leading to active warfare. It would end three years later with the signing of the Treaty of Neerlandia and the Treaty of Wisconsin. The war resulted in a Conservative victory, and ensured the continued dominance of the Conservative Party in Colombian politics for another 28 years. Colombia's political structure as a unitary state has not been challenged since.
The Battle of Aguadulce took place during the Colombian Thousand Days War, between Liberals and Conservatives. It occurred between February 23 and August 27, 1901 and ended in an overwhelming victory on the part of the Liberal army under the command of General Benjamin Herrera over the Conservative army based in the city of Aguadulce under the command of General Francisco Castro.
José María Dionisio Melo y Ortiz was a Colombian general and political figure who fought in the South American wars of independence, and who rose to power and briefly held the presidency of Colombia in 1854. Of Pijao ancestry, he is considered the country's first and only indigenous president.
Francisco Hélmer Herrera Buitrago also known as "Pacho" and "H7", was a Colombian drug trafficker, fourth in command in the Cali Cartel, and believed to be the son of Benjamín Herrera Zuleta.
Carlos Eugenio Restrepo Restrepo was a Colombian lawyer, writer, and statesman, who was elected President of Colombia in 1910. During his administration he worked towards making political reconciliation among the Conservative and Liberals. He appointed members of the Liberal Party to his Cabinet, and to the dismay of some of his own party, adopted a neutral stand on all issues. He later served as Minister of Government and Ambassador to the Vatican City State.
Manuel Antonio Sanclemente Sanclemente was President of Colombia between 1898 and 1900.
Luis Alfredo Ramos Botero is a Colombian politician. Most recently, he was the Governor of the Department of Antioquia from 2008 to 2011.
Rafael Victor Zenón Uribe Uribe was a Colombian lawyer, journalist, and general in the liberal party rebel army.
The Battle of the Magdalena River, also known as the Battle of Los Obispos or the Battle of Gamarra, was the first major battle of the Thousand Days' War. It took place on the Magdalena River on 24 October 1899, near the town of Gamarra, Magdalena, Colombia. The Liberal Party rebelled against the Conservative government of Manuel Antonio Sanclemente on 17 October 1899 and attempted to seize the Magdalena River in a bid to sever riverine transportation to Bogotá. A rebel flotilla composed of converted passenger steamships and a dredge temporarily impeded Conservative advances down the river, but on the night of 24 October, two Conservative gunboats under General Diego de Castro destroyed the rebel flotilla.
The Battle of Bucaramanga took place during the Santander Campaign of the Thousand Days' War in Colombia. It ended on 13 November 1899 with a victory of the Conservative forces over the Liberals after a two day battle. After an earlier defeat in a naval engagement on the Magdalena River, the Liberal rebels skirmished with the Conservative government around Piedecuesta in late October. The Conservative forces under General Juan B. Tovar conducted a fighting retreat to Bucaramanga.
The Battle of Peralonso, also known as the Battle of La Amarilla or the Battle of La Laja, was a major battle in the Santander Campaign of the Thousand Days' War in Colombia. It was fought between the Conservative government and the Liberal rebels between 15 and 16 December 1899, ending in an important Liberal victory. The Liberal rebels had suffered a series of major defeats culminating in the failed attack on Bucaramanga on 13 November. Afterward, the Liberal forces splintered into three autonomous forces, led by Rafael Uribe Uribe, Benjamín Herrera, and Justo L. Durán, but they first regrouped in Cúcuta. The autonomous rebel armies shifted to new positions on and around the heights of Cerro Tasajero, north of Cúcuta and close to the border with Venezuela.
