Last modified: 2010-02-12 by dov gutterman
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In the 1960's communist revolutionaries in Columbia (FARC) proclaimed the Republics of
Marquetalia and Riochiquitos, that is an experiment of
comunist-countryman administration in Latin America.
The flag used was probably the FARC flag (red with the name?).
But I found now the local flag of Marquetalia:
This is green borderes white. In the centre is a torch white and
golden, with flamme yellow and red.
Another city of the territory is named Marulanda, and this is the
name of the FARC head, Manuel Marulanda named too "Tiro
Fijo" (Fix Shooting). The flag of the city is black, white
and green horizontal.
More information?
Jaume Olle , 24 November 1996
About the Communist Revolution and its flag, I'm not aware
that they had a flag, but the actual Independent Republics were
seven: Marquetalia (in the border between the Departments of
Tolima and Huila), Río Chiquito (in the border between the
Departments of Cauca and Huila), El Pato (in the Department of
Caquetá), Guayabero, El Duda, Alto Ariari (all three of them in
the Department of Meta) and Alto Sumapaz (in the border between
the Departments of Meta, Cundinamarca and Tolima) Marquetalia
being the most important. These existed from 1955 through 1965
but they became known in a Congress debate in 1964, and short
afterwards there was a military operation against them. These 7
"Republics" were in an area plenty of mountains and
forrest, along with tall hills and stuff, and they were pretty
much together (if you have a Colombian map you can see that they
are close to each other).
E.R., 19 January 1999
In Colombia there was a split in the Colombian Liberal Party
when several members of this party, after the fall of the
Dictatorship of Lt. General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla in 1957,
returned to the country from exile in 1959. After the fall of the
Dictatorship an agreement was reached by the two political
dominant forces, the Conservative
Party and the Liberal Party
to switch Presidential terms (and all other major branches of
power, but especially the Executive one, at all levels, that is
National, State and Local levels included in this agreement).
First, the Benidorm Agreement (signed on July 24, 1956) between
the leaders of these two political parties, and then the
Declaration of Sitges (July 20, 1957) gave birth to what is known
as the Frente Nacional (National Front) a bipartisan rule of the
country that was supposed to last 16 years (four consecutive
Presidential terms), starting from 1958 and lasting until 1974,
where multipartisan elections where supposed to be held. This
power sharing agreement ended a time of radical violence amid
these two parties (that even went to Civil War many times during
the XIXth Century) and also followed a time of relative peace
after an amnesty granted by Lt. General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla
duirng his tenure, offered to Liberal and Communist armed illegal
forces set up in the country in the 1940's and 1950's, a time
known as "La Violencia" (The Violence).
However this agreement discarded many political views and left no
freedom of determining any other political option, except these
two: thus, several political and guerrilla groups emerged as a
way of showing discontent at this situation. Political parties
such as the MRL (Movimiento
Revolucionario Liberal, founded by Alfonso López Michelsen in
1959) and the ANAPO (Alianza Nacional
Popular, People's National Alliance, founded by Lt. General
Gustavo Rojas Pinilla in 1961) appear. Also guerrilla groups such
as the FARC (founded in 1964), the ELN (founded in 1965), and the EPL (founded in 1967) emerged as a
result of this. At first the MRL was supported by the Colombian Communist Party but later
on it became less radical.
Then in 1974, where multiparty elections where supposed to be
held, an alleged fraud took place "granting" the
Conservative Party its last Presidential term ending the Frente
Nacional at the end of this Presidential term (1978). As a result
of this elections, a radical group within the ANAPO (who was the
party that "felt" it lost the Presidency to this fraud)
formed the M-19 , so that is why this
group based its flag on that of the ANAPO. The MRL lasted from
1959 until 1966, achieving several seats in Congress and also
some victories on the State and Local level, when it returned to
the Colombian Liberal Party mainstream in an agreement to accept
several changes propoesd by the MRL dissident leader. The ANAPO
lasted more than three decades, gaining importance on the State
and Local level as well, but it ceased to exist in 1998. Many of
its members are now part of the PDI
(Polo Democrático Independiente), which at the same time fused
itself with the political movement AD (Alternativa Democrática,
Democratic Alternative), to comply with the rules of the 2006
elections in order to obtain the minimum number of votes to be
recognized as a party by Colombia's Electoral ruling body, the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil.
E.R., 16 July 2007
Next Sunday, March 12, 2006, there will be general elections
for Congress. There is a website by the country's electoral
authority where they show an example of a voting sheet at <www.registraduria.gov.co>.
This image includes all current political parties that have
candidates for Congress (both Senat and House of
Representatives). There you will find logos of each political
party/movement.
E.R., 9 March 2006
The following list of Political Parties is based on the last
elections results of 2006 and thus states the official list of
legal political parties in Colombia (based on the Registraduría Nacional
del Estado Civil and the Consejo
nacional Electoral, through Resolution No. 1057 of July 13,
2006). It is also worth mentioning that all other movements that
call themselves parties are not since they did not achieve the
minimun number of votes to either have a candidate take office on
any given government post or the minimum number of votes to be
recognized as a party by the new Colombian law.
The list (in no particular order of importance or foundation
date) with official websites (when available):
- Movimiento MIRA (Movimiento
Independiente de Renovación Absoluta) <www.webmira.com>.
- Movimiento ALAS-Equipo Colombia
<www.equipocolombia.org>.
- Movimiento Alianza Social Indígena
(Indigenous Social Alliance Movement)
- Movimiento Apertura Liberal <www.aperturaliberal.com>.
- Movimiento AICO (Autoridades
Indígenas de Colombia).
- Movimiento Colombia Viva <www.movimientocolombiaviva.org>.
- Movimiento Político Afrounincca.
- Partido Cambio Radical Colombiano <partidocambioradical.org>.
- Partido Colombia Democrática <www.colombiademocratica.com>.
- Partido Conservador Colombiano.
- Partido Convergencia Ciudadana <www.convergencia.org.co>.
- Partido Liberal Colombiano.
- Partido Opción Centro.
- Partido Social de Unidad Nacional <www.partidodelau.com>.
- Polo Democrático Independiente.
E.R., 16 October 2006
The Law which regulates the actions of Political Parties is
called Ley 974 of July 22, 2005, known as Ley de Bancadas (Bench
Law, referring to the seat or bench each party occupy in
Congress).
Some of the most important rulings are:
- Seats in Congress belong to Parties, not Individuals (thus if a
Congressman retires from his party, he cannot affiliate his
candidacy/term with another party)
- A Congressman cannot vote against the majority of the Party's
decision (unless citing special motives, such as conscious
objection, religious, moral or welfare issues.
- Members from a political movement that lost its legal
representation for not having enough votes, cannot subscribe
their names in a legal represented party that obtained the valid
number of votes to be recognized as a party.
- Parties and movements that lost its legal representation due to
low number of votes can merge with other parties and abide by the
current law.
E.R., 25 December 2006
Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil and the Consejo
nacional Electoral, through Resolution No. 1050 of July 10, 2006,
determines the proceedings to terminate all other political
movements and parties that did not achieve the minimun number of
votes.
E.R., 15 July 2007
For a political party to be established in Colombia, among
other requirements, there needs to be a minimum of 100,000
signatures to establish the party, and obtain at least one seat
in any of the elections it participates.
E.R., 4 November 2007
The Colombian government issued Decree No. 53, of January 15,
2008, estabilshing the rules for new political parties. It raises
the top from 2% to 5% of the electoral votes casted for any
political party to gain political and legal status. It also
sanctions political organizations that endorse and/or support
illegal armed groups and allows political candidates in
collegiate bodies to switn only once from the party they got
elected from to another party.
E.R., 23 January 2008
The current list of Colombian Political Parties (as of
November 2009) is in the Registraduría.
The only change being made is that the Movimiento Político
Afrounincca has split into two, forming the MOVIMIENTO NACIONAL
AFROCOLOMBIANO "AFRO" (<www.movimientoafro.com>)
and the MOVIMIENTO ALIANZA SOCIAL AFROCOLOMBIANA "ASA".
Also, The political movement called Convergencia Ciudadana has
changed its name to Partido de Integración Nacional (National
Integraction Party, PIN in Spanish) since November 9, 2009.
Thus the list is currently composed of 16 officially recognized
political parties.
E.R., 24 November 2009
There are or were leftist guerrilla groups that had no symbols
or whose symbols are unknown:
- Movimiento Jaime Bateman Cayón (Jaime Bateman
Cayon Movement, usually abbreviated as JBC, or Frente Jaime
Bateman Cayón - Jaime Bateman Front).
This movement takes its name from former M-19
Commander Jaime Bateman Cayón, alias ´Pablo´, a.k.a. 'El
Flaco' (The skinny one). It was created in 1992 as an offshot
group of the M-19 after the M-19 were in negotiations to
demobilize as they in fact did on March 9, 1990. The JBC had its
main operation area in the Departments of Cauca and Valle.
Most of its members merged into the Eln
in 1997, and by 1999 it is considered that the remnant elements
of this group ceased its armed activities basically due to the
action of the Armed Forces and their merger with other groups
The flag of this group is unknown. However it its very likely
that they used the ANAPO flag as this
was the main core of members of the M-19 movement, although some
ANAPO members were part of the Farc
guerrilla as well.
Sources: English
wikipedia, Spanish
wikipedia, <www.mediosparalapaz.org>.
- Frente Francisco Garnica (FFG, Francisco
Garnica Front):
This armed illegal group took the name from Francisco Garnica, a
communist youth leader, member of the JUCO (Juventud Comunist,
Communist Youth), which in part was an organization within the Partido Comunista Colombiano. Later
he was a member of the Partido
Comunista - Marxista Leninista. In 1968 The PC-ML ordered him
to set up a fraction of the already existing armed illegal
movement Epl, in the Municipality of San Juan Bautista de Guacarí in the
Department of Valle, but he and other two members of the would-be
group were arrested. Later a fraction of the Epl took the name of
Francisco Garnica and afterwards this fraction, split from the
Epl, when the core of the Epl laid down its weapons in February
1991.
The Frente Francisco Garnica became an independent entity in mid
1993 and it operated mainly in the southern part of the
Department of Bolivar. The Frente Francisco Garnica laid down its
weapons on June 30, 1994 through a peace process and an agreement
with the national government.
No flag is known of this armed illegal group.
Sources: Spanish
wikipedia <www.mediosparalapaz.org>.
- Ejército Revolucionario Guevarista (Guevarist
Revolutionary Army, Erg) was a guerrilla group operating in
Colombia. It was formed in 1992 as an offshoot of the Eln. It was named after and inspired by
the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, known as
'Ché Guevara'. It operated in the Departments of Risaralda,
Antioquia and Chocó.
This group laid down its arms on August 25, 2008 through a peace
process observed by the OAS and an
agreement with the national government.
The flag of this group is the same color scheme of the Eln flag
and charged plus its logo in the middle. I cannot seem to find an
image of the logo.
Sources: English
wikipedia, <www.mediosparalapaz.org>,
<www.mapp-oea.org>,
<www.terra.com.co>,
<www.elcolombiano.com>.
- Milicias de Medellín (Medellin Militia)
This name Refers to three armed factions:
1) Milicias Populares del Pueblo y para el Pueblo (Popular
Militia of the People and for the People, MPP, also known as
MPPP)
2) Milicias Independientes del Valle de Aburrá (Aburra Valley
Independentist Militia)
3) Milicias Metropolitanas de la Ciudad de Medellín
(Metropolitan Militia of the City of Medellin).
All of the above emerged around 1988 and operated in the Aburra Valley but mainly in the city
of Medellin, very similar as the
armed groups in the Brazilian favelas.
All of them laid down their weapons May 26, 1998 through a peace
process and an agreement with the national and local government.
Most of their members were at some point on and off
members part of the armed group of gangs and hitmen of the
Medellin Drug Cartel (see also Movimiento
Civismo en Marcha).
It is important to mention that the concept of Militia in the
Colombian armed conflict is basically that of urban warfare, as
the so called "revolutionary groups" mostly come from
the rural areas, so they have tried to set up urban fronts to
broaden their activities. The first militia or urban fronts were
set up back in the late 1960's as logistics and support
commissions for the rural fronts of the guerrilla, but this model
has been replicated identically by all the other main actors in
the conflict, that is, drug traffickers and paramilitaries
mainly.
Other well known militias are: Comandos Armados del Pueblo (also
Comandos Armados Populares, Cap, in English Armed People's
Commands), which emerged in the 20th of July neighborhood in
Medellin in the mid 1990's composed of members of the Eln and the MPP. Also in 1994 there was
a short-lived alliance between the Farc and the Eln which saw the
"birth" of the Bloque Popular Miliciano (People Militia
Bloc).
No flags reported of these groups. However an armband of the
first group, the Mpp is known to be a white rectangular piece of
cloth, with a circle in the middle in a black fringe with the
black bold capital letters MPP centered. The Cap also used an
armband being a red/green with the white bold capital letters CAP
centered.
Sources: <www.mediosparalapaz.org>,
<www.nodo50.org>.
- Mir-Coar (Movimiento Independiente
Revolucionario - Comandos Armados, Independent Revolutionary
Movement - Armed Commands):
This group emerged in the mid 1990's and acted basically in Medellin. They laid down their weapons
on July 29, 1998 through a peace process and an agreement with
the local government.
- Frente Ricardo Franco or Comando Ricardo
Franco - Frente Sur (Ricardo Franco Front, also known as Ricardo
Franco Command - Southern Front):
This group was established in the mid 1980's and took its name
from a Farc leader, known by the
alias of Ricardo Franco. It is a dissidence of the Farc, as most
of its members were Farc members. They operated mainly in the
Departments of Cauca and Valle.
Some of the members of the Ricardo Franco Front began working for
the Cali Drug Cartel, some others demobilized, and others went to
other armed groups. After the capture of its top leader José
Fedor Rey Álvarez, alias ´Javier Delgado', in 1995, the group
basically ceased to exist.
Sources: <www.mediosparalapaz.org>,
English
wikipedia, Spanish
wikipedia.
- Jega (Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala, also known
as Movimiento Dignidad por Colombia - Dignity for Colombia):
The Jega group started first as Movimiento Dignidad por Colombia
with its own logos and flags. Then it evolved into the Jega in
1996, after the initials of politician Jorge Eliécer Gaitán
Ayala (1903-1948). This politician who was first member of the Liberal Party is the inspiration of
many revolutionary movements, as he himself was a dissident of
the establishment and set up his own political party based on
populist beliefs in a time when there was a constant dispute
bettwen the Liberal Party and the Conservative
Party which in fact led to several Civil Wars in the 19th
century. His assassination on July 9, 1948 marked the era of the
so called "La Violencia", a period of sectarian
violence between members of these two main political parties,
which evolved in armed killing squads throughout the country,
which were the base in turn, for the guerrilla movements in the
late 1950's and mid 1960's.
Some of its members were part of the Medellin Drug Cartel.
The movement ceased after most of its members were captured and
some of them were pardoned and left for Cuba for the exchange of
a prisoner, the brother of former Colombian President César
Gaviria Trujillo (in office between 1990-1994).
Source: <www.mediosparalapaz.org>.
E.R., 21 July 2009
