The agrarian crisis in Colombia

1. Social Studies:
The 1930s, the agrarian crisis
and the beginnings of violence
in Colombia.

2. ● Industrial production fell in developed countries and
international trade declined.
● Commodity-producing countries lost income due to lower
prices and reduced exports.
● The availability of loans worldwide decreased, causing many
countries to enter into debt crises.
● President Roosevelt's promotion of the New Deal to alleviate
the problems caused by the Great Depression and stimulate
economic activity.
The world after the Great Depression of 1929 …

3. ● The Bananeras Massacre (December 5 and 6, 1928) discredited
the armed forces and revealed the instability of the
government.
● Protests against clientelism and corruption in the conservative
government.
● Series of protests for better working conditions.
● Protests against the conservative government for its military
measures and failure to comply with agreements with
peasants and workers.
● Sharp drop in exports.
● Last moments of the conservative hegemony.
In Colombia…

4. The Agrarian Problem

5. · What can we conclude from the video, what
are the elements that have persisted in the
agrarian conflict?
· What triggered the conflicts between the
peasants and the landowners?

6. It re-emerged in the 1920's, especially in the regions of Antioquia,
Santander, Tolima and Cundinamarca, mostly colonized areas,
because there was no clarity on the title of ownership of vacant
land.
● Colonization of vacant land
● Expansion of agricultural frontiers by settlers.
● Expansion of properties by landowners.
● Lack of state regulation allowed landowners to expel
settlers and appropriate their crops.
The Agrarian Problem

7. ❖ The peasants demanded the fact of no longer being a captive
and submissive labor force, they asked to work for their own
benefit and to have control of the land they worked. As a result
of the agrarian mobilizations of the 1920s there was a small
degree of organization to confront the monopolizers of the
land, to make demands on the issue of salaries and decent
working and living conditions.
❖ They wanted to regulate land leases and compensation in case
of eviction and expropriation.
The peasant struggle begins

8. ● Faced with inequality and domination by landowners,
peasants began to organize.
● The peasants began to receive support from liberal social
groups such as UNIR (Unión Nacional Izquierdista
Revolucionaria) led by Jorge Eliecer Gaitan.
● In addition to demanding better conditions they also
wanted freedom of cultivation, in this case the cultivation
of coffee, which allowed them to compete with the
landowners.

9. ● These initiatives were not accepted by the landowners and so
they decided to evict the peasants, turning them into
clandestine settlers who invaded new vacant lands. The
struggle reached its maximum intensity between 1930-1936.

10. Alfonso López Pumarejo won the presidency in 1934 and
introduced an agrarian reform as part of his government
program called "En marcha la Revolución Liberal".
● “La Ley 100” whose purpose was to resolve the conflict
between landowners and settlers.
● The law recognized settlers as owners of vacant land if they
had worked it during the previous two years.
● The landowners were against the reforms and gained
legislative representation as did the peasants.
The Liberal Revolution

11. ● In 1937 the representatives of the landowners and the
representatives of the peasants confronted each other in the
Congress of the Republic, in the end there was no
redistribution of land nor legal support for the settlers who
exploited the land for its legal recognition.
● In the 20th century, the figure of the landowner changed
completely due to the modernization of crops and the
implementation of new industrial agricultural techniques.
● The landowner became an agricultural entrepreneur,
modernized his production where he expanded his territories
even more and turned the settlers into proletarian workers in
his companies.

12. The peasants' struggle to improve their quality of life and
legalize their land turned into violent expressions:
● Massacres by isolated peasants eager to appropriate land or
to take revenge for being expropriated.
● Theft of cattle and crops from landowners.
● A combination of discontent over inequitable land distribution
and the political differences inherent in bipartisanship
generated further resentment and hate.
● The acquisition of weapons by peasant groups allowed them to
appropriate land, threatening the lives of the civilian
population.
The Beginnings of violence.

13. ● The Colombian territory became even more divided, due to
political differences, ethnic groups, type of conflicts, type of
land, among other differences that made the illegal groups
grow.
● The first guerrilla movements were born as a response to
particular situations in each region, each with its own military
logistics and ideologies resulting from the political frustration
provoked by the governments in power.
● The conservatives reacted to these events by creating "La
policia Chulavita" the first paramilitary groups, whose
objective was to assassinate liberals, led massacres,
robberies, lootings.
● Peasant self-defense groups were formed and forced
displacements began for families and population persecuted
by the different armed groups.

14. Between 1948 and 1953, 16 liberal guerrillas
emerged, including “Las Fuerzas
Revolucionaria de Colombia” (FARC).

15. Why is land ownership at the root of Colombia's armed
conflict?

16. ● How was agriculture transformed during the
agrarian crisis in the 20th century in Colombia?
● How has Colombia's armed conflict transformed?
● Can it be said that there is currently an agrarian
crisis?
● What would be the difference between the
current agricultural crisis and the crisis of the
1930s?
To keep in mind …

18. Resources
★ Melo, J. O. (2017) Historia Mínima de Colombia, Madrid, Turned
Publicaciones.
★ Ardila, B. Alfonso López Pumarejo y La Revolución en Marcha.
https://www.revistacredencial.com/ . Revista Credencial.
★ Política Criolla. Canal de Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/@politicacriolla8765
★ Reyes, A. (2020) Origen del Conflicto por la Tierra en Colombia. Video
Columna, Canal de Youtube. https://bit.ly/ColombiaMás20.
★ Study Guide, Social Studies, The 1930s, the transformation of agriculture
and the beginnings of violence. 10th Grade, 2023.