Timeline of Colombian armed 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$1 million in ransom.[4] |
| 1976 | October | FARC Dutch consul hostage is released.[4] |
| 1977 | | FARC Kidnaps a member of the United States Peace Corps. |
1980s
1990s
| Year | Date | Event |
|---|
| 1990 | | Colombian army launched Operation Centauro against the guerrillas with no significant results. |
| 1991 | | Operation Casa Verde launched by the Colombian army in an attempt to combat guerrillas concentrated in the area of Uribe, Meta with operations also extending to the region of Yari. |
| 1996 | June 16 | A confrontation for coca cultivations in Norte de Santander Department between the AUC paramilitaries and the FARC results in La Gabarra Massacre. |
| 1997 | | Operation Destructor launched by the Colombian army destroying numerous camp sites. According to the army there were 600 guerrilla casualties. |
| 1997 | | Mapiripán Massacre (1997) |
| 1999 | | FARC-Government peace process starts |
| 1999 | | FARC released a hostage held since 1977 (22 years) after a payment of a US$ 250,000 dollar ransom. |
2000s
See also
References
External links
