Jorge Eliecer Gaitan

Shot on 9 April 1948 in central Bogota by Juan Roa Sierra, a killing that set off the massive riots known as the Bogotazo.

Overview

Jorge Eliecer Gaitan was a populist leader of the Colombian Liberal Party, a powerful orator who attacked the oligarchy of both traditional parties and was widely expected to win the 1950 presidential election. He was shot outside his office as the Ninth Pan-American Conference was meeting in the city. A crowd lynched Roa Sierra, whose motive has never been fully established. Riots destroyed much of central Bogota and spread across the country, leaving thousands dead. The killing intensified La Violencia, a decade of partisan violence that cost an estimated two hundred thousand lives and helped give rise to the guerrilla movements of later decades.