The Assassination of Gaitan: Public Life and Urban Violence in Colombia - Softcover

Braun, Herbert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0299103641 ISBN 13: 9780299103644

Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press, 2003

Synopsis

Drawn in part from personal interviews with participants and witnesses, Herbert Braun's analysis of the riot's roots, its patterns and consequences, provides a dramatic account of this historic turning point and an illuminating look at the making of modern Colombia. Braun's narrative begins in the year 1930 in Bogota, Colombia, when a generation of Liberals and Conservatives came to power convinced they could kept he peace by being distant, dispassionate, and rational. One of these politicians, Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, was different. Seeking to bring about a society of merit, mass participation, and individualism, he exposed the private interests of the reigning politicians and engendered a passionate relationship with his followers. His assassination called forth urban crowds that sought to destroy every visible evidence of public authority of a society they felt no longer had the moral right to exist. This is a book about behavior in public: how the actors-the political elite, Gaitan, and the crowds-explained and conducted themselves in public, what they said and felt, and what they sought to preserve or destroy, is the evidence on which Braun draws to explain the conflicts contained in Colombian history. The author demonstrates that the political culture that was emerging through these tensions offered the hope of a peaceful transition to a more open, participatory, and democratic society. "Most Colombians regard Jorge Eliecer Gaitan as a pivotal figure in their nation's history, whose assassination on April 9, 1948 irrevocably changed the course of events in the twentieth century. . . . As biography, social history, and political analysis, Braun's book is a tour de force."-Jane M. Rausch, Hispanic American Historical Review

About this title

Review:

"Most Colombians regard Jorge Eliecer Gaitan as a pivotal figure in their nation's history, whose assassination on April 9, 1948 irrevocably changed the course of events in the twentieth century. . . . As biography, social history, and political analysis, Braun's book is a tour de force."--Jane M. Rausch, "Hispanic American Historical Review"

" Most Colombians regard Jorge Elie cer Gaita n as a pivotal figure in their nation's history, whose assassination on April 9, 1948 irrevocably changed the course of events in the twentieth century. . . . As biography, social history, and political analysis, Braun's book is a tour de force." -- Jane M. Rausch, "Hispanic American Historical Review"

On April 9, 1948, Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, then a popular political leader likely to become the next president of Colombia, was shot and killed by a drifter whose motivations remain obscure. Gaitan s death touched off a spontaneous riot, known as the "Bogotazo," and left hundreds dead, razed the center of Bogota and had far reaching consequences.
"

On April 9, 1948, Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, then a popular political leader likely to become the next president of Colombia, was shot and killed by a drifter whose motivations remain obscure. Gaitan s death touched off a spontaneous riot, known as the Bogotazo, and left hundreds dead, razed the center of Bogota and had far reaching consequences.

"

About the Author:

Herbert Braun is assistant professor of history at the University of Virginia. Born in Bogota, Colombia, he has also taught at the Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0299103641
• ISBN 13: 9780299103644
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 296