History History

The first inhabitants of present-day Colombia arrived from the north, through the Isthmus of Panama. They settled on the Caribbean coast, before moving inland. Their nomadic lifestyle was organized around fishing, hunting and gathering. Rock pictographs on rock faces in the Serranía de Chiribiquete confirm a human presence of at least 20,000 years.

With the first crops (corn, manioc...), certain tribes settled down and the work of ceramics developed.

The monolithic sculptures of the archaeological park of San Agustin testify to the existence of a mysterious civilization that would have disappeared around 1250

In Tierradentro, the hypogeums dug in the volcanic tuff are the legacy of an advanced sedentary culture. Corn, manioc, beans, cotton and agave, among others, were cultivated in different climatic stages.

In the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, Teyuna, the Lost City of the Tayronas Indians, was abandoned at the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century. It is one of the most important archaeological remains of the country

The pre-Columbian peoples formed a mosaic of cultures distributed in different regions: Tumaco (600 BC - 400 AD), Tolima (200-1000) and Nariño (7th-12th century), in the south; Calima (from 1600 BC), between the Pacific and the Cauca Valley; Quimbaya (300-1550) in the current department of Caldas; Muisca (Chibcha) in the Eastern Cordillera... Most of these cultures mastered goldsmithing, with a subtle work of gold that can be admired in the Museo del Oro in Bogotá

Alonso de Ojeda explored the coasts of Guajira and landed at Cabo de la Vela. The conquistador was accompanied by Juan de la Cosa, author of the first map showing the "New World" and Amerigo Vespucci, whose name was chosen to baptize the continent.

Martín Fernández de Enciso and Vasco Núñez de Balboa founded the colony of Santa María la Antigua del Darién in the Gulf of Urabá, the first permanent Spanish settlement on the continent.

Departing from Santa Maria la Antigua del Darién, the expedition of Vasco Núñez de Balboa crosses the jungle in search of the South Sea and of legendary cities of gold. The discovery of the Pacific Ocean by the white man announces a vast enterprise of conquest of the continent.

Rodrigo de Bastidas founded Santa Marta. The process of colonization is launched. The first to fall under the fire of the muskets are the Tayronas and the tribes of the valley of Upar. The expeditions went up the Magdalena and Cauca rivers to penetrate the land. The Indians were killed in battle or reduced to slavery, many of whom did not survive the diseases imported from Europe (measles, smallpox, tuberculosis...).

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada founds Santa Fe, the future Bogotá, in place of the Muisca city of Bagatá. A chapel and a dozen huts were built on the site of today's Plazoleta del Chorro de Quevedo.

Rivalry arose between the conquistadors Jimenez de Quesada, Sebastián de Belalcázar (founder of Quito in 1534, Cali in 1536 and Popayán in 1537) and Nikolaus Federmann, a German explorer who took part in the conquest of Venezuela and eastern Colombia.

Bogotá became the seat of the Real Audiencia del Nuevo Reino de Granada, in charge of pacifying and administering New Granada (Colombia, Panama, Ecuador and Venezuela) for the Viceroyalty of Peru.

Founded in 1533 by Pedro de Heredia, Cartagena de Indias became an obligatory point of passage for storing tons of gold, silver and emeralds from the Inca Empire and other conquered peoples, waiting to be sent to Spain on heavily escorted galleons. Cartagena was also the main center of the African slave trade, to replace the native labor force dying in the mines. To protect itself from attacks by French, English and Dutch pirates and privateers, the city built imposing walls, fortresses(Boca Chica) and the fortress of San Felipe de Barajas

New Granada is now directly dependent on the Crown of Spain, and no longer on the Viceroyalty of Peru.

The development of the colony caused more and more conflicts between Creoles (children of colonists born in America) and the Spanish elite on the spot. Following an increase in taxes on theencomienda (tribute paid by the natives in exchange for Catholic education to "save their souls"), a massive revolt shook Socorro (Santander), before spreading to Bogotá. This was the prelude to the independence movement that would take shape 30 years later.

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen of 1789 is translated and published by Antonio Nariño.

Napoleon's invasion of a weakened Spain in 1808 was an opportunity for independence movements in the colonies to take off. In Bogotá, the Free State of Cundinamarca declared itself independent on April 4, 1811, followed by Cartagena (November 11), Tunja (November 21), and other large cities. Santa Marta and Popayán remained royalist bastions.

The rebels are divided. The federalists demanded autonomy, sovereignty and equality among the provinces, while the centralists supported a strong central government. These ideological differences led to great instability and even to regional wars, which weakened the country just freed from the colonial yoke. This period is known as the Patria Boba, the "Silly Fatherland.

The division between independence fighters facilitated the reconquest of New Granada by Spanish troops led by Pablo Morillo. Morillo instituted a regime of terror. Most of the pro-independence leaders, intellectuals and civil servants were executed, including such prominent figures as Policarpa Salavarrieta ("La Pola"), Antonia Santos, Camilo Torres, Francisco José de Caldas and Antonio Villavicencio. Others took refuge in the eastern plains to organize the resistance.

Simón Bolívar and his lieutenant, Francisco de Paula Santander, were the great figures of Colombian independence. On July 25, Bolívar won the battle of Pantano de Vargas, with the support of a British battalion. The Spaniards were definitively defeated on August 7, at the Boyacá Bridge. Bolívar made a triumphal entry into Bogotá on August 10. The Republic of New Granada was proclaimed on September 17.

After his liberating campaigns in Ecuador and Venezuela, El Libertador ("the Liberator") Simón Bolívar was appointed president of Gran Colombia - a name named after Christopher Columbus - which united the liberated territories of Colombia, Panama, Venezuela and Ecuador. But Bolívar's project went further: to unite all the former Spanish colonies in this Greater Colombia. Regional disparities and political differences between conservatives and liberals put the brakes on this ambitious dream of unification. In 1830, Greater Colombia broke up into three independent states: Colombia (including Panama), Venezuela and Ecuador. Bolívar died of tuberculosis the same year, in Santa Marta, in the Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino.

After the dissolution of Gran Colombia, the current territories of Colombia and Panama form the Republic of New Granada. The first decades of the young nation were very unstable, with several civil wars. The conservatives (the Bolivarians) wanted a centralizing state and an important role for the church, while the liberals - the followers of Santander's ideas (the Santanderists) - demanded federalism, the abolition of slavery and a secular state. The Liberal Party was formed in 1848, the Conservative Party in 1849. Both parties came to power in succession for more than a century.

The constitution of 1858 transformed the Republic of New Grenada into a short-lived confederation of states. Conservatives and liberals clashed in a new civil war, from 1860 to 1862.

The constitution of Rionegro of 1863 created a federal state. The central government lost many of its prerogatives to nine "sovereign states. These years were marked by several civil wars.

Liberal President Rafael Núñez, supported by some conservatives, introduced a new constitution (in force until 1991). It abolished federalism and created the Republic of Colombia, with a strong central state and departments with reduced powers. Relations with the Catholic Church improved.

The liberals tried to take back power from the conservatives by force, but without success. The Guerra de los Mil Días resulted in 100,000 deaths. The conservative party remained in power until 1930.

The province of Panama seceded, proclaiming itself an independent republic on November 3, under the timely protection of Theodore Roosevelt's United States, which wanted to resume construction of the Panama Canal, abandoned by the French. Colombia bowed without a fight to the North American navy present off the coast of the isthmus. The Republic of Panama was not recognized by Colombia until 1921.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the country developed (industrialization, transportation, communication, intensive agriculture...). A working class emerged, with legitimate social demands. But the demonstrations are repressed in blood. The most infamous is the " Masacre de las bananeras ", which inspired García Márquez in One Hundred Years of Solitude . The Colombian army shot coldly at the striking workers of the North American United Fruit Company, in Ciénaga, killing between a hundred and a thousand people according to sources

The Liberals return to power after more than forty years of conservative government. Social reforms were initiated: union rights, strike rights, property rights...

The assassination in downtown Bogotá of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, a liberal leader with close ties to the people and likely winner of the presidential elections, provokes an unprecedented popular revolt. The capital was set on fire and 1,900 people lost their lives in the riots.

The Bogotazo turned into a civil war, of rare savagery, between liberals and conservatives. La Violencia will kill 300,000 people and displace millions more.

The first and only dictatorship of the 20th century in Colombia. General Pinilla came to power in a coup d'état and pursued an authoritarian left-wing policy, with some social advances, such as the right to vote granted to women in 1954. The general tried to calm down the armed conflicts by granting amnesty to liberal guerrillas, while continuing to repress the "communist" peasants. A strike of the influential classes paralyzed the country and caused his fall in 1957.

To get out of the fratricidal episode of the Violencia and to ward off any danger of revolution, the liberal and conservative parties agreed to form the Frente Nacional. This system imposed the alternation of a liberal and a conservative president, with any other political party being denied access to power.

The seizure of power by the conservative and liberal elite, the concentration of land and the growth of inequality have led to the emergence of two communist-based guerrillas in the countryside: the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), inspired by the Cuban revolution.

The April 19 Movement (M-19) is a rather urban guerrilla movement that made a name for itself with symbolic feats of arms, such as the theft of Simón Bolívar's sword from the museum of the same name, leaving the message: Bolívar, your sword returns to the struggle. The sword was returned in 1991, when the peace process with the M-19 was finalized.

Marijuana production is soaring and dollars are pouring in. This is what has been called the " Bonanza Marimbera ". The Medellin and Cali cartels are growing and diversifying with the production of cocaine that will soon flood the major North American cities.

Faced with the risk of kidnapping, the large landowners create private self-defense militias. These right-wing paramilitary groups, often linked to the drug cartels and the army, took advantage of the armed conflict to seize more and more land, committing all kinds of abuses. The country is entering a whirlwind of violence.

Journalist and writer Gabriel García Márquez wins the Nobel Prize for Literature in Oslo for his body of work, including his masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude.

The leader of the Medellin cartel was elected as a substitute deputy for the Liberal Party. His political ambitions are as great as his financial means to corrupt the system with plata o plomo ("money or lead"). The position of deputy also allows him to avoid extradition to the United States. But the valiant Minister of Justice, Rodrigo Lara, refused him access to Congress, publicly accusing him of being a drug trafficker. After this outrage, El Patrón unleashed his forces against politicians, police, judges and journalists.

On Holy Thursday, a violent earthquake shook the Cauca and destroyed a large part of Popayan, killing 250 people.

The assassination of the young Minister of Justice marks the beginning of an all-out war between the State and Pablo Escobar. At the same time, the cartels of Cali and Medellin clash for the control of the juicy drug market.

Conservative President Belisario Betancur obtained a cease-fire with the M-19 and the FARC. 380 guerrillas surrendered and were pardoned, despite the fierce opposition of the army leaders.

This party, created in 1985 by demobilized FARC guerrillas, saw more than 5,000 of its members (activists, mayors, deputies, presidential candidates) assassinated between 1985 and 2000, by paramilitaries, the army and the cartels.

The M-19 took 350 people hostage in the Palace of Justice in Bogotá. The commando demanded that President Betancur come to be judged by the Supreme Court for not respecting the protection promised to demobilized guerrillas. The government then ordered a soccer match to be broadcast on television and sent tanks into the building, which ended up in flames. The operation left around 100 people dead or missing, including 11 judges. Investigations suggest that the seizure of the Palace of Justice was orchestrated by Escobar in order to make the files concerning the Medellín cartel disappear.

The worst natural disaster of the country. At 48 km from the volcano, the city of Armero and nearby villages were swept by huge flows of mud, ash and rocks, born of the melting of glaciers caused by the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz. 23 000 people lost their lives.

Pablo Escobar is the 7th richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine. For the poorest people in Medellin, he is a Robin Hood, who offers houses, hospitals, or churches to the poorest. But for most Colombians, he is the devil himself, responsible for thousands of murders and dozens of deadly attacks

During a meeting in Soacha, Luis Carlos Galán, champion of the democratic renewal and favorite of the presidential election, is assassinated by a criminal in the pay of Pablo Escobar and corrupt politicians.

Explosion in full flight of the Boeing 727 of the company Avianca connecting Bogotá to Cali. The attack, ordered by Escobar and aimed at César Gaviria (who was not in fact on the plane), killed 110 people. Ten days later, Escobar blew up a bus in front of the headquarters of the intelligence service (DAS) killing 52 people.

The electoral campaign focused on the fight against drug trafficking and the question of extradition of narcos. It took place in a climate of terror: bombs, assassinations of candidates, hostage-taking of journalists... With the death of Galán, it was César Gaviria of the Liberal Party who won.

The new constitution restored political pluralism and promoted decentralization. This very progressive text, which replaces the 1886 constitution, establishes a secular state and recognizes the linguistic, cultural and political rights of Amerindian and Afro-Colombian minorities.

The government negotiates with the capos, promising not to extradite them to the United States and to reduce their sentences if they surrender. Pablo Escobar accepted and was incarcerated in a luxury prison nicknamed " La Catedral ", which he himself had arranged and which became his new headquarters, safe from his old enemy, the Cali cartel. Shortly before being transferred to a standard prison, Escobar escapes.

After a long manhunt mobilizing 600 soldiers, the police located Escobar, in Medellín. The powerful narco is shot. " The end of the worst Colombian nightmare ", for Cesar Gaviria. The cartels of Medellin, then of Cali (in 1995) disappear, but paramilitaries and guerrillas take over.

Most of the country's paramilitary groups join forces in the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC). According to the United Nations, paramilitary militias are responsible for 80% of the massacres committed during the armed conflict. Their abuses against civilians are encouraged by the army to destroy the guerrillas' popular support bases.

Liberal President Ernesto Samper is implicated in one of the country's biggest corruption scandals. His election campaign was largely financed by the Cali cartel.

The United States provides substantial financial aid (10 billion dollars in 15 years) to the fight against drug trafficking, without real success.

As part of the negotiations with FARC, Pastrana conceded them a demilitarized territory the size of Switzerland. Drug production exploded and FARC consolidated its forces. The government's economic and social policies were a fiasco. Pastrana ended up as the most unpopular president in the history of Colombia.

From the start of his term, President Álvaro Uribe led a fierce offensive against the guerrillas. His policy of "democratic security" brought security to most of the country, but his links with the drug cartels and paramilitary militias were notorious. The most powerful and feared man in the country (see the viral series "Matarife" on Youtube) has not really been worried for the moment, but the tide could turn one day.

The support of the United States against drug trafficking forced the end of the indulgence of the government towards the exactions of the AUC, qualified as a terrorist organization by the North American country. The Justice and Peace Law organized their demobilization in exchange for virtual impunity. Some of the ex-AUC joined the "emerging criminal gangs" (the Bacrim), which operated on the same model.

Shortly after the death of natural causes of the commander in chief and founder of FARC, Manuel Marulanda, alias Tirofijo, it is the turn of Raúl Reyes, N° 2 of the organization, to lose his life during a bombardment by the Colombian army. The guerrilla camp was located in Ecuadorian territory, which provoked a serious diplomatic crisis between Colombia and Ecuador, but also with Venezuela of Hugo Chávez, accused by Colombia of protecting the FARC and ELN on its territory.

The scandal of the falsos positivos has shaken the upper echelons of the army and Uribe himself. More than 6,400 young civilians, peasants or from poor neighborhoods, were recruited by the army or kidnapped by paramilitary militias. They were taken to combat zones, disguised as guerrillas and then killed, in order to collect bonuses and inflate anti-guerrilla statistics

Kidnapped by FARC in February 2002, with her campaign manager Clara Rojas, the French-Colombian environmentalist candidate was held in the jungle for more than 6 years. She was freed with 14 other hostages during the Jaque operation.

Uribe's former defense minister is elected president. Juan Manuel Santos quickly detached himself from his predecessor, positioning himself as a fervent defender of democracy and human rights. In October 2012, peace negotiations were opened with FARC, but without a military truce.

After four years of negotiations, the peace agreement was concluded in Cuba and officially signed on September 26 in Cartagena by Juan Manuel Santos and Rodrigo Londoño, alias Timochenko, leader of FARC.

Against all odds, Colombians voted against the peace agreement (50.2%) in a referendum organized by the government to give the treaty popular legitimacy.

Juan Manuel Santos receives the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in favor of the agreement ending half a century of conflict with the FARC.

A new peace agreement was signed that was less favorable to the guerrillas. This time it was submitted to a formal vote in Congress and was widely ratified.

After a very polarized campaign, Iván Duque of the Centro Democrático was elected against the former mayor of Bogotá (2012-2015), Gustavo Petro of Colombia Humana. Like his mentor Álvaro Uribe, Duque is opposed to the peace accords, but is not zealous in enforcing them. Murders of left-wing activists increased and the government had to deal with a massive wave of migration from Venezuela, a country with which diplomatic relations are very tense.

A car bomb exploded in the National Police School in Bogotá, killing 22 young students and injuring 80. This attack, claimed by the ELN, was the deadliest since 2003 and put an end to the peace negotiations initiated by Santos with the guerrillas.

The pontiff is dedicating his stay to peace and reconciliation. A strong support in this very Catholic country to support the peace agreement signed with the FARC and to encourage negotiations with the ELN.

Iván Márquez, former FARC chief negotiator for the peace accords, took up arms again alongside Jesús Santrich (killed in combat in 2021) and other FARC dissidents.

Hundreds of thousands of Colombians are protesting against Duque's policies, corruption, the assassination of activists, etc. They march to the sound of cacerolazos (banging on pots and pans) in front of the riot squad (Esmad) which has been concentrating the anger since the death of Dylan Cruz, 18 years old, killed during a peaceful demonstration

New demonstrations against police violence after the death of a lawyer beaten by police officers during a checkpoint. Thirteen people were shot dead by the police and hundreds injured during the night-time riots that followed.

Colombians are subject to one of the longest and strictest confinements in the world, severely affecting the economy. Social assistance will be negligible and poverty will jump back 20 years (42.5% of the population in 2021).

Colombians once again take to the streets to protest against a president "more dangerous than the virus", who has just announced a tax reform project affecting the middle class, already hard hit by the consequences of the pandemic. Despite the withdrawal of the text (followed by that of the health reform), the Paro Nacional is gaining momentum. This movement, spearheaded by young people and social and indigenous organizations, is demanding a different model of society, based on social justice, respect for peace agreements and protection for social leaders. Roads blocked, statues debunked, police stations torched, and Cali became the epicenter of the protest. The mostly peaceful demonstrators were branded "terrorists" by the government, which sent in the army to support the police. The crackdown left over 60 people dead and thousands injured. Protests continued into early 2022.

The country's most wanted drug baron since Pablo Escobar is arrested after a large-scale military operation. He headed the Clan del Golfo, Colombia's most powerful paramilitary criminal organization. He was extradited to the United States in May 2022, taking with him many secrets about his political and military friendships, and was sentenced to 45 years in prison by the American justice system in August 2023.

With more than 40% of the vote in the first round of the presidential election, left-wing (social-democratic) candidate Gustavo Petro and his vice-presidential running mate Francia Márquez, an Afro-Colombian environmental activist (Goldman Prize 2018 for her work against illegal gold mining) won the presidential election against Rodolfo Hernandez, nicknamed the "Colombian Trump" and a right-wing populist who made his fortune in construction. A former member of the far-left guerrilla group M-19, the new president has announced an ambitious program focusing on peace, social justice and environmental justice. For the first time in its history, after 200 years of governance by conservative and liberal elites, Colombia is celebrating a victory for the left with 50.45% of the vote,