Word: pinilla
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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When the first shock of disaster had worn off, bitter questions arose. What was in the trucks? Public Works Department dynamite, said the government. How was the explosion set off? President Gustavo Rojas Pinilla blamed "political saboteurs." Why were six trucks, loaded with so deadly a cargo, allowed to spend the night in a crowded city? That was a question Cali would never stop asking...
Disappearing Divisions.In more formal fashion, another noted traveler also made the rounds. After Panama, U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles dropped in on Colombia's Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. The implied honor to Rojas, who was the Panama conference's No. 1 absentee, angered Colombians who oppose the self-made strongman. Moving to Ecuador, Dulles restored the balance by pointedly praising Ecuador's "firm support of constitutional processes." Then the Secretary of State flew off to the inauguration of Peru's Manuel Prado (see below...
...Attendance of the presidents of Mexico, Honduras and Ecuador was still uncertain; Colombia's President Gustavo Rojas Pinilla probably must stay home to handle a touchy internal situation...
...visit to a ranch, Colombia's cattle-raising President Gustavo Rojas Pinilla enthusiastically admired his host's prize bulls, offered to buy one. "Your Excellency," said the rancher, "I cannot accept money from the President. I will give you a bull as a gift." Replied Rojas, squaring his shoulders: "As President, I cannot accept a gift...
Colombians tell this joke, and several variations of it, to sharpen the point that, as President, Gustavo Rojas Pinilla has done very well for himself. Before taking power, Lieut. General Rojas lived in a modest rented house. In three years he has become a multimillionaire, the nation's No. 1 cattleman. As of last week, Rojas owned at least nine ranches and tens of thousands of cattle, all branded "13," the lucky date in June 1953 when he brought off a swift military coup and began hurrying along the highroad to wealth. Rojas has a fenced-off market...