Timeline of the Colombian conflict

This is a timeline of events related to the Colombian armed conflict.

This timeline is incomplete; some important events may be missing. Please help add to it.

Background

Events that preceded the conflict.

Year Date Event
1899 Thousand Days War, civil war between the two ruling parties Colombian Liberal Party and Colombian Conservative Party,
1902 End of Civil War. Tensions between parties remain.
1928 Banana massacre in the town of Cienaga by the Colombian Army after a workers' strike against the United Fruit Company.
1948 Death of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan triggers El Bogotazo, Liberal and Conservative violence spread as part of La Violencia.
1950s Marquetalia and other enclaves created by radical Liberal and Communist guerrillas.
1953 General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla seizes power and offers an amnesty to Liberal and Conservative fighters, most of whom demobilize.
1958 The National Front created by the Liberal and Conservative parties, after mutual agreements and a December 1957 plesbicite.
1959 U.S. President Eisenhower sent a survey team to Colombia to investigate the political situation in Colombia. As a result, the U.S. decided to help Colombia in counter-insurgency doctrines.[1]

Colombian armed conflict

1960s

Year Date Event
1960 January 11 Jacobo Prías aka "Charro Negro", Chief of the Communist Agrarian Movement is killed. The Colombian government is blamed.[2]
1961 Reports of helicopters were being deployed with US instructors accompanying Colombian pilots.[1]
1962 A United States special warfare team, trained in Kennedy's Counterinsurgency doctrine, and headed by Gen. William Yarborough, was sent to Colombia. Following this cycles of special warfare teams arrived in Colombia between 1962 and 1965 to continue training in counterinsurgency operations[3]
1962 Colombian Army military offensive against Marquetalia fails to eliminate the enclave.
1964 Operation Soberanía (Colombia), launched by the Colombian Army simultaneously with Operation Marquetalia in southern Tolima Department.
1965 Radical Liberal and Communist guerrillas from Marquetalia created the Southern Bloc
1966 Establishment of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) by Jacobo Arenas and Manuel Marulanda, among others.

1970s

Year Date Event
1971 The FARC begin kidnapping as a major source of income.[4]
1975 FARC Kidnaps the Dutch consul in Cali Eric Leupin, demanding a US$1 million in ransom.[4]
1976 October FARC Dutch consul hostage is released.[4]
1977 FARC Kidnaps a member of the United States Peace Corps.

1980s

Year Date Event
1980 Dominican embassy siege by 19th of April Movement (M-19)
1985 Palace of Justice siege by 19th of April Movement (M-19)
1985 Patriotic Union Party (UP)

1990s

Year Date Event
1990 Colombian army launched Operation Centauro against the guerrillas with no significant results.
1991 Operation Casa Verde launched by the Colombian army in an attempt to combat guerrillas concentrated in the area of Uribe, Meta with operations also extending to the region of Yari.
1996 June 16 A confrontation for coca cultivations in Norte de Santander Department between the AUC paramilitaries and the FARC results in La Gabarra Massacre.
1997 Operation Destructor launched by the Colombian army destroying numerous camp sites. According to the army there were 600 guerrilla casualties.
1997 Mapiripán Massacre (1997)
1999 FARC-Government peace process starts
1999 FARC released a hostage held since 1977 (22 years) after a payment of a US$250,000 dollar ransom.

2000s

Year Date Event
2002 Bojayá massacre (2002)
2002 Operation TH launched by the Colombian army to recover the former demilitirized zone after the failed peace process between the Pastrana government and the FARC guerrilla.
2004 Operation JM launched by the Colombian army, first of operation part of Plan Patriota.
2006 Parapolitica scandal broke out.
2008 A humanitarian exchange of important hostages and the release of 15 important hostages, including three Americans and Íngrid Betancourt.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 SOA Watch
  2. ↑ FARC-EP timeline
  3. ↑ Peter Dale Scott Drugs, Oil, and War Rowman and Littlefield Publishers: Oxford 2003
  4. 1 2 3 Military.com - FARC activities

External links

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