27 November 1949

In Colombia, la Violencia has only gotten larger and larger, more and more violent, and more unstable. Although some of the states and territories of the Republic stayed largely untouched by the violence, the outer rural territories have been hit by the brunt of the political instability. Current President, Mariano Ospina Pérez has promised that elections will continue despite the instability claiming that "...Democracy does not halt under the demands of terrorists...". While this strong stance has been emulated by the rest of the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and its affiliates have pulled out of the election citing public security problems, corruption, and the recent attempted assassination of Presidential candidate Darío Echandía. Due to this, the Liberal Party has declared a boycott against the election and demanded that any 'true sons of Colombia' would abstain from the political process.

Of course, with no Liberal Party the Conservatives were easily able to 'secure' the Presidency.

Colombian Elections of 1949

As the previous President Mariano Ospina Pérez declined to run for re-election, the far-right Laureano Gómez was able to win the completely uncontested election. In his maiden speech he said:

"The Bogotazo was not only a demonstration of the pitfalls of popular rule, but also a sign that Colombia will succumb to communist revolution if nothing can be done to stem the tide of increased popular political participation, the majoritarians cannot silence us!"

Even with the Liberal boycott of the Presidential election, none expected the man who flirted with authoritarianism to gain the support of the Conservative Party. The Liberals had made their bed and now they have to sleep in it. Already there has been large-scale critiques and attacks made by the Liberals against President-Elect Laureano Gómez but with an inauguration of August 1950, he had time to settle in and wait until the Liberals crossed the legal line.