Word: bogot
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Citizens of Bogotá were hauled from their beds before dawn one day last week by the nervous jangle of telephones and the jubilant honking of auto horns in the streets. Joyous news swept the city; after a ten-day period of terror and near-revolution that saw more than 100 killed, President Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, 57, was out. The overwhelming combination of the Roman Catholic Church, rioting university students, the Liberal and the Conservative Parties and the country's tough-minded bankers and businessmen had brought the strongman tumbling down...
...last week, every move the dictator made to keep the upper hand went wrong. He ordered military police to end student demonstrations that broke out when his secret police arrested the joint Liberal-Conservative presidential candidate, Guillermo León Valencia, in Cali (TIME, May 13). But outside Bogotá's La Porciuncula Church the troops stormed the church itself as well as student demonstrators. Just as a priest raised the chalice at the altar, two tear-gas bombs exploded. Eyes streaming, the priest turned to the congregation. "A curse on the tyrant!" he thundered. "A curse upon...
...worked. After he overthrew Dictator Laureano Gómez in 1953, he was hailed as the savior of Colombia. But one year later Rojas' tragic flaw-the strongman's inability to accept criticism-began to show through. With a heavy hand he began censoring newspapers, finally suppressed Bogotá's two leading dailies, El Tiempo and El Espectador. From there his path led only downward. His soldiers and cops shot down political opponents and students. By spending uncounted millions on arms and post-exchange luxuries aimed at keeping his military supporters loyal, he used up most...
...Colombian DC-4 bound for exile in Spain, the junta got to work. Calling in Opposition Leaders Valencia and Lleras Camargo, they began organizing a civilian Cabinet to help govern the country until next year's elections. At week's end, with the list drawn up, Bogotá was almost back to normal. Only one Colombian seemed to have completely missed the significance of the uprising. In Bermuda, where he stopped over with his wife and family, Rojas was asked what caused his downfall. "There was no revolution," he said. "I decided to turn the government over...
...thwart the strongman's second-term ambitions, the Roman Catholic Church under Crisanto Cardinal Luque, the newly united Liberal and Conservative Parties and the belligerent university students took direct action. Caught by surprise, the President hesitated. Then he moved what he said were 35,000 troops into Bogotá to regain control...