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65-538: The Conservative Party along with the Colombian Liberal Party dominated the Colombian political scene from the end of the 19th century until 2002, in bipartisan political hegemony. The two parties were in direct military conflict between 1948 and 1958, during the civil war period known as La Violencia , after which they established the " National Front ", agreeing to rotate power, intercalating for

130-602: A Liberal candidate. During the parliamentary elections of 14 March 2010, the Liberal Party obtained 17 senators and 37 representatives, placing third in both the Chamber of Representatives and Senate. At the 2010 presidential election Liberal candidate Rafael Pardo finished sixth with 4.38% of the vote, worse than Horacio Serpa's 2006 vote. The Liberal Party went on to join the governing coalition of President Juan Manuel Santos , and supported his bid for reelection in

195-670: A dissident group called the National Salvation Movement . Gómez was murdered in 1995 in unclear circumstances, although some testimony claims that the killers were members of the government and the mafia. In 1982, conservative Belisario Betancur was elected president. After that, the party was in opposition until 1998, when Andrés Pastrana was chosen to be the president. The party used the name Social Conservative Party ( Spanish : Partido Social Conservador ) between 1990 and 1992. During this period many new parties were formed, including some movements that seceded from

260-528: A frenetic attempt to bring order to the country. First, they dismissed President Sanclemente and replaced him with Jose Manuel Marroquin. In response, the Liberals nominated Gabriel Vargas Santos for the presidency. The battles of Peralonso and Palonegro (in Santander) caused substantial damage. At Peralonso, the Liberals achieved victory by the direction of Rafael Uribe Uribe. At Palonegro (May 26, 1900)

325-517: A period of four presidential terms. The election victory of independent candidate Álvaro Uribe in 2002 put an end to dominance of two party politics in Colombia . The Conservative Party is the third largest political force in the country's legislature after the Liberals and the Historic Pact for Colombia . It was part of the coalition of Juan Manuel Santos from 2010 to 2014 and supported

390-616: A power vacuum left by President Manuel Antonio Sanclemente 's inability to lead his office due to illness, eventually boiled over once more, leading to open insurrection and active warfare. On 17 October 1899, official insurrection against the National government was announced by members of the Liberal Party in the Department of Santander, and hostilities began in earnest on 11 November with the Battle of Bucaramanga . The intended date for

455-688: 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. The Liberal Party along with the Colombian Conservative Party dominated the Colombian political scene from the end of the 19th century until 2002, in bipartisan political hegemony. The two parties were in direct military conflict between 1948 and 1958, during

520-543: Is remembered for his conservative positions on moral and religious issues. However, other conservative politicians have sympathized with a reelection of Juan Manuel Santos. Since 2014, due to disagreements with President Santos about the Colombian peace process and opposition to agreements with the FARC guerrillas, the party joined the opposition with the conservative Democratic Center , which also opposed making deals with

585-587: Is understood among indigenous Panamanians as the loss of their struggle for land rights. The definitive peace treaty was signed on the American battleship Wisconsin on November 21, 1902. The Liberals were represented by General Lucas Caballero Barrera, who was in charge of the united army of Cauca and Panama, and Colonel Eusebio A. Morales, who was representing General Benjamin Herrera. The Conservatives were represented by General Víctor M. Salazar, governor of

650-459: The 2014 Colombian presidential election . For the 2018 Colombian presidential election , the party nominated former Vice President from 1994-1996 Humberto De la Calle . De La Calle was eliminated in the first round, and for the second round declined to endorse either of the candidates, announcing he would cast a blank vote instead. The party did not run a presidential candidate for the 2022 Colombian presidential election , and instead endorsed

715-546: The Bogotazo riots. In the rural areas, members of the Liberal Party formed peasant guerrilla forces, which were then targeted by conservative and paramilitary forces. The Liberal Party boycotted the presidential election of 1950, which was won by the radical conservative Laureano Gómez . Gómez became the leader of the most radical faction of the Conservative Party, while Ospina formed a moderate faction friendly to

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780-463: The Cali Cartel to fund his campaign. While Samper had immunity to prosecution as president, a number of his close associates were convicted of involvement in the so-called Proceso 8000 scandal, including Defence Minister Fernando Botero Zea . Partly due to the scandal the Liberal Party lost seats in the 1998 parliamentary election , although it remained easily the largest party. More seriously,

845-653: The Popular Action Movement . Rojas censored and closed important newspapers and began seeking re-election. Fearing a possible dictatorship, members of the Conservative and Liberal parties created an alliance called the National Front ( Spanish : Frente Nacional ) that prevented Rojas from being re-elected. The National Front was a pact in which for sixteen years, Conservatives and Liberals would share power locally and nationally, and govern

910-799: The United States . The overt partisanship and the use of the state power exacerbated old tensions, which would ultimately lead from small scale conflicts like the war of 1895 to historical periods such as "La Violence". Two notable violent episodes occurred in this period: the Thousand Days' War and the Banana massacre . During the Hegemony, the Central Bank (later the Bank of the Republic )

975-563: The " Liberales ministeriales ". After the war, known as the War of the Supremes ( Spanish : Guerra de los Supremos ), General Pedro Alcántara Herrán won the presidency. Alcántara created a new constitution, with conservative and centralist characteristics. Mariano Ospina Rodríguez , a prominent member of Alcántara's government, supported the return of the Jesuits to the country and reformed

1040-600: The 1970 election, losing against Pastrana. During the National Front the ideological differences between the parties started to disappear; however, the parties themselves survived because most of their members came from traditional families and political clans. Both parties were taken over by regional political lords, while traditional factions of the Conservative Party survived with new leaders. The Ospina faction survived through Misael Pastrana's son Andrés Pastrana , while Álvaro Gómez Hurtado , son of Laureano Gómez, led

1105-456: The 19th century, Colombia was a politically unstable country. Different political forces – largely coalesced into conservatives and liberals – pushed for a unitary state on one side versus a federalized state on the other. Following the Civil War 1885, when radical factions of the Liberal Party rebelled but ultimately failed against the administration of Rafael Nuñez – a moderate liberal who had

1170-692: The Conservative Party. Among them were the National Salvation Movement (mentioned above), the "Independent Conservatism" movement of the Gerlein family , Pastrana's independent party New Democratic Force , the National Conservative Movement, and the movement in Antioquia called "Unionismo". In 2002, although most Conservative senators and representatives initially backed Juan Camilo Restrepo in his bid for

1235-545: The Conservatives halted the enemy in what was an extraordinarily bloody encounter. After Palonegro, the Liberals were divided into two different factions, this time pacifists and the warmongers . The Nationals of the Conservatives believed it was time to end the war, which by this time was mainly in the province of Panama and on the coast of the Caribbean Sea . With that decision, internationalization of

1300-526: The Conservatives, and therefore was inclined to surrender, albeit with certain conditions. The first peace treaty, which formalized the cessation of hostilities, was signed on the plantation Neerlandia on October 24, 1902; the fighting had ended by the mid-point of that year in Panama. From late 1901, fighting occurred between the ships Admiral Padilla (Liberal) and the Lautaro ( Chilean property , lent to

1365-483: The FARC. At the command of former president Andrés Pastrana, the party joined the movement to reject the peace agreements, claiming that signing an armistice agreement would allow the former guerrilla group to go unpunished. Despite attempts from President Santos to be inclusive and allow input from the opposition in the final agreement, the party's anti-peace stance did not permit them to collaborate. The party's primary focus

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1430-452: The Liberals were defeated in the presidential election held the same year. The Liberal Party suffered a major split in the lead-up to the 2002 elections. Horacio Serpa Uribe , the party's unsuccessful 1998 presidential candidate was nominated to run again. However Álvaro Uribe , a former senator and governor from the party launched an independent presidential campaign, backed by the Conservatives and dissident Liberals. Whereas Serpa supported

1495-429: The National Front agreement in 1974, the Liberal Party dominated Colombian politics until 2002; Liberal candidates won five of the seven Presidential elections and the party was the largest in both the Chamber of Representatives and Senate throughout the entire period. In the 1994 election the Liberal Party's Ernesto Samper was narrowly elected president. Immediately afterwards he was accused of accepting millions from

1560-467: The Social Party of National Unity have become ideological partners. In December 2011, the caucuses of the Conservative Party and the Social Party of National Unity created a pact to maintain the majority of both parties in the Chamber of Representatives. The party was one of the most impacted by the Colombian parapolitics scandal , and it has been affected by corruption scandals that happened during

1625-405: The antipathy it provoked among party members and liberal leaders. In the rural area, Gaitanism faced a bloody repression to which its scrupulous respect for legality did not prepare it: 15,000 militants were murdered between 1945 and 1948 by death squads supposedly close to the conservatives. Gaitán himself, who was a likely winner of the next presidential election, was assassinated in 1948. After

1690-547: The backing of the Conservative Party – the federalized Constitution of Rionegro of 1863 was replaced by the Constitution of 1886 , thus beginning a centralist political process known as the Regeneración . The Regeneración brought relative peace to Colombia, but ultimately failed to resolve the internal political and economic disputes between the disparate departments of the country. Continued tensions, coupled with

1755-469: The beginning of the civil war was October 20, 1899. However, due to the imprudence of some of the Liberal generals, especially Paolo Emilio Villar, who wished to begin the war on October 17, it was changed. The reaction of many Liberals was hesitant, since they believed that they did not have sufficient numbers or organization. Despite this, the rebellion began in the municipality of Socorro, Santander , and

1820-568: The candidacy of Federico Gutiérrez . For the second round, the party endorsed Rodolfo Hernández Suárez . Thousand Days%27 War Colombian government victory [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Republic of Colombia Manuel Antonio Sanclemente José Manuel Marroquín José Vargas Santos Manuel Casabianca Welsares Guillermo Quintero Calderón Próspero Pinzón Romero   † José Domingo Ospina Camacho Ramón González Valencia Pedro Nel Ospina The Thousand Days' War ( Spanish : Guerra de los Mil Días )

1885-478: 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. As an international conflict,

1950-405: The city's harbor and order Venezuelan general José Antonio Dávila to manage Venezuelan troops alongside the Liberals. Errors by Venezuelan forces resulted with Colombian reinforcements landing near Riohacha and countering the joint Liberal-Venezuelan forces, resulting in a mass retreat and a victory for the Colombian army. Eventually, General Uribe saw that the Liberals would not be able to defeat

2015-558: The civil war period known as La Violencia , after which they established the " National Front ", agreeing to rotate power, intercalating for a period of four presidential terms. The election victory of independent candidate Álvaro Uribe in 2002 put an end to dominance of two party politics in Colombia . Currently, the Liberal Party is the largest party in Congress and supported the left-wing presidency of Gustavo Petro until leaving Petro's coalition on 28 November 2023. The party

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2080-416: The conservative government of Álvaro Uribe from 2002 to 2010. It currently supports the leftist government of Gustavo Petro , despite noticeable differences in ideology. Lawyer José Ignacio de Márquez was elected president of Colombia in 1837. During his government, tensions between civil politicians and generals grew into the first civil war in Colombia. Marquez's supporters in the conflict were called

2145-517: The conservative program that became the ideological platform for the new party. In 1851, in the Cauca department , certain fractions of the Conservative Party took up arms to fight against the abolition of slavery. In 1863, the Liberal party created a new constitution in the city of Rionegro , which was opposed by the Conservative Party. The country began an unstable period of economic decay and multiple short civil wars between states and parties. In 1876,

2210-538: The conservatives), which was defeated by the former in front of the City of Panama on January 20, 1902. Later the threat was from the American navy, sent by the government of Theodore Roosevelt to protect the United States ' future interests in the construction of the Panama Canal . The Liberals, commanded by General Benjamin Herrera, were then forced to surrender. The subsequent assassination of Victoriano Lorenzo

2275-511: The country by taking turns in the presidency. The Conservative Party would not present a candidate for the 1958 and 1966 presidential elections, and the Liberals would support the Conservative candidate in 1962 ( Guillermo León Valencia ) and 1970 ( Misael Pastrana ). During this historical period conservative dissidents led by Jorge Leyva Urdaneta opposed the pact, and presented him as presidential candidate in 1958 and 1962. Conservatives Belisario Betancur and Evaristo Sourdis were candidates for

2340-517: The education system. Alcántara was succeeded in office by General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera , whose supporters created the Liberal Party in 1848. One year later, Mosquera's detractors Ospina Rodríguez and José Eusebio Caro formed the Conservative Party, which grouped the ministerial liberals, most of the authorities of the Catholic Church and important landowners. In the newspaper La Civilización of October 4, 1849, Ospina and Caro published

2405-551: The first decade of the 21st century in agencies of the government such as the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Dirección Nacional de Estupefacientes scandal. Conservative former president Andrés Pastrana spoke in favor of a change in the direction the party had taken. His comments generated a dispute with the party president, José Darío Salazar, who was being investigated by the Dirección Nacional de Estupefacientes at

2470-490: The first decade of the 21st century. In the legislative elections of 2002 , the Conservative Party won 13 of 102 seats in the Senate and 21 of 166 in the Chamber of Representatives. The party had the second highest number of votes, after the Liberal Party. Four years later , the Conservative Party won 18 seats in the Senate (5 more than in 2002) and 29 Representatives in the lower chamber (9 more than in 2002). The party stayed in

2535-418: 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

2600-401: The independent liberal politician Rafael Núñez was defeated by the official liberal candidate Aquileo Parra . Núñez was in favor of reforming the state and ending the federal system, replacing it with a centralist system administered from the capital, Bogotá. He was the Liberal candidate for the presidency in 1880 and won the election, despite many leaders of his own party opposing him. Núñez

2665-412: The less extremist members of the Liberal Party. In 1953 a coup d'état against Gómez was led by the conservative General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla . Rojas was close to Mariano Ospina Pérez and his faction of the Conservative Party, as well as to some moderate liberals. Rojas began his government with the support of prominent politicians of both parties, yet he decided to make his own political party in 1955,

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2730-416: The nation's population at that time, the conflict was the deadliest and most destructive civil war in the history of Colombia. It led to severe economic, political, and social repercussions for the country, including a partial collapse of the nation's economy, continued governmental instability, and the eventual loss of the Department of Panama as an incorporated territory of the republic in 1903. Throughout

2795-559: The need for a reform of the 1991 constitution in order to correct some of its flaws to promote the modernization of the state, to fight unemployment, poverty, and lack of security and to extend and defend property rights. The Colombian Conservative Party is usually the second largest single party in the Colombian Congress, though far behind the numbers corresponding to the Colombian Liberal Party or those of multiple independent factions and candidates. From 1958 to 1978 it, and

2860-445: The ongoing idea of negotiations with FARC, Uribe advocated confronting the guerrillas. Uribe was victorious in the elections , securing a majority in the first round. In the aftermath, the "Government endorsed" leadership of the party continued to oppose Uribe's administration, but many senators and representatives supported the government, becoming known as the "Uribist" faction. As a compromise, former president César Gaviria Trujillo

2925-472: The other major party, the Colombian Liberal Party , shared power as the result of the National Front agreement that followed the fall of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla . The Colombian Conservative Party has become a close political ally of President Álvaro Uribe , who was formerly a member of the opposing Liberal party. The party did not present its own candidate for the 2006 presidential elections, and instead supported President Uribe's reelection. In 2010,

2990-542: The party held for the first time, primary elections to choose a candidate for presidency. Noemí Sanín was nominated presidential candidate of the Conservative Party, the first woman to do so. In legislative elections of 2006 the party won 29 out of 166 seats in the Chamber of Representatives and 18 out of 100 seats in the Senate. In 2010, the party won 23 seats in Senate and 37 in the chamber of Representatives. Colombian Liberal Party The Colombian Liberal Party ( Spanish : Partido Liberal Colombiano ; PLC )

3055-399: The period known as La Violencia the Liberals and the Conservative Party reached an agreement to share power from 1958 to 1974 in the so-called National Front agreement that followed the fall of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla . Nowadays there are many critics of the 16-year agreement but it greatly reduced the intensity of the violent political warfare that preceded it. Following the end of

3120-498: The presidency because the Liberal Party presented two candidates Gabriel Turbay and Jorge Eliécer Gaitán , neither of whom could gain a majority. Political violence had been on the rise during Ospina's term, and Gaitán became a victim of it during his second presidential bid. He was murdered in Bogotá on April 9, 1948. After his assassination, the period known as La Violencia began, in which popular unrest in cities caused uprisings like

3185-423: The presidency, the Conservative Party supported Álvaro Uribe in his campaign. Uribe was a former Liberal who ran as independent against the official liberal candidate Horacio Serpa . Restrepo was close to the government of Andres Pastrana and was criticized by members of his party who supported different candidates like Uribe and Noemí Sanín . In 2006, the Conservative Party supported Uribe's re-election and became

3250-404: The rebels awaited military reinforcements from Venezuela. The Conservative government, however, was not idle while this was occurring. They prepared a military force to be sent to Bucaramanga , the capital of Santander. The force never arrived, however, because the troops refused to accept payment by "tickets", which the government had to use due to the dire economic situation. No one expected, or

3315-521: The ruling party, the Democratic Center, and receiving favors. The party's current program includes several objectives: to continue the search for peace in Colombia (following the examples of former presidents Guillermo León Valencia , Belisario Betancur and Andrés Pastrana , as members of the party), to preserve national unity and the continuing belief in God held by the majority of Colombians,

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3380-478: The second largest party of his congressional coalition, after the Social Party of National Unity . In 2010, the Conservative Party won the second-greatest number of votes of any political force in Colombia, and joined Santos' coalition. In November, 2011 senator Efraín Cepeda was elected as the new president of the Conservative Party. The Conservative Party increased its number of seats in the congress during

3445-479: The second place but this time after the Social Party of National Unity and above the Liberals. The situation was better for the conservatives in the elections of 2010 , getting 22 senators and 36 seats in the Chamber of Representatives. As members of the uribista coalition and then of the National Unity Round Table (the government coalition of Juan Manuel Santos), the Conservative Party and

3510-482: The society", was abolished in 1880. Only those over the age of 21 with a "legitimate" trade or profession as means of subsistence, literate, earning at least $ 500 Pesos yearly (a substantial sum at the time) or owner of estates valued over $ 1500 Pesos could vote. Following the events of the Regeneration, the Conservative Party remained in power in Colombia until 1930. During this period the country lost Panama to

3575-412: The time. In January 2012, the new president of the party, Efraín Cepeda, announced a modification of party rules in order to suspend the membership of those politicians who were under investigation. Former attorney general Alejandro Ordóñez has become one of the most visible heads of the Conservative Party, and some groups inside the party supported a possible presidential campaign for him in 2014. Ordóñez

3640-682: The war extended into Ecuadorian and Venezuelan territories. Conservative and liberal factions of those two countries, as well as of Guatemala , El Salvador , and Nicaragua , backed their respective parties within Colombia. American interests in the Panama Isthmus led to an American intervention and naval deployment in Panama (then part of Colombia) under the guise of upholding the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty . With an estimated 100,000 to 180,000 fatalities, about 2.5–3.8 percent of

3705-500: The war was avoided, though internationalization was promoted by Venezuelan president Cipriano Castro (who recognized Uribe Uribe as President of Colombia). Conservative troops commanded by Marroquín managed to reduce Venezuelan aid to the Liberals on 29 July 1901 during the Battle of San Cristóbal , who at this time were suffering defeats by the Conservative General Juan B. Tovar . President Castro of Venezuela

3770-711: 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

3835-419: Was elected party leader in 2005. At the 2006 legislative election , the Liberals lost around half their seats. While they remained the largest party in the Chamber of Representatives, they finished third in the Senate. Horacio Serpa was again nominated as the Liberal candidate for the subsequent presidential elections of 28 May 2006 and won 11.84% of the popular vote, placing him third, the worst ever result for

3900-404: Was established, and the rail transport system that now crossed the country continued to improve. However, the emerging working class felt irritated with the consecutive conservative governments and began supporting the Liberal Party, winning the presidency with Enrique Olaya Herrera in 1930. In 1946, after sixteen years of liberal governments, the conservative candidate Mariano Ospina Pérez won

3965-400: Was founded in 1848 and, in opposition to the Colombian Conservative Party , became one of the two main political forces in the country for over a century. The two parties frequently engaged in armed conflict with one another, precipitating several civil wars . In the 1940s, the liberal party turned towards socialism under the influence of the charismatic lawyer Jorge Eliécer Gaitán , despite

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4030-551: Was on the 2018 presidential election, in which former President Uribe 's appointed candidate Iván Duque Márquez advocated reversing the peace process. In 2017, for the former Conservative president Andrés Pastrana , one of the Conservative Party's few remaining major figures, claimed that the party is "absolutely corrupt". He also called two of the most important Conservative leaders "corrupt": Senate speaker Efraín Cepeda, and senator Hernán Andrade. Commentators believe his complaints are aimed at running independently in coalition with

4095-490: Was prepared for, a war that would last three years and would result in disaster to the country. With time, the war spread to every part of Colombia. The first Liberal defeats came early during the war, with the Conservative victory at the Battle of Magdalena River on October 24. However, the Conservatives were in a delicate situation as well. The Conservatives had split into two factions, the Historical and National , in

4160-405: Was re-elected in 1884 with the support of the Conservative Party, and began the process known as the Regeneration ( Spanish : La Regeneración ), in which a new constitution was written. The modern Republic of Colombia was founded with a centralized and protectionist government, and an education system managed by the Catholic Church. Universal suffrage, "contradictory with the hierarchical nature of

4225-455: Was the driving force of the war in late-1901, eventually pushing its continuation into 1902. In September 1901, Castro deployed 1,200 Venezuelan troops along with cannons, rifles and a machine gun into Colombia, with Venezuelans comprising a large portion of Liberal troops in border area. During the Battle of Riohacha , Castro sent a gunboat to block Conservative reinforcements from entering

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