Colombia: Emerging Labor Movement and the State Colombian Drug Problem: Effect onthe Peace Process between the M19 and the State

摘要

On the morning of 7 January, 1918 Columbia awoke to the sights and sounds of itsfirst massive labor collective action in the form of the portworkers' strike in the coastal port city of Cartagena. The strike sent the government reeling. The government had recently established itself in a manner befitting the likelihood of developing Colombia into a prosperous nation after decades of devastating political violence. The ongoing 1918 presidential electron campaign was tearing at the very fabric of the country. The ruling elite was split into three competing factions: the Conservative party, the Republican coalitionists, and the Liberal party. These different elite factions were seeking voter support in all quarters of Colombian society, including the newly emerging working class. The government believed that the manipulation of labor by the political factions had the potential of threatening the relatively new stability of Colombia. (sdw)