United Front (Colombia)

The United Front was founded by Camilo Torres Restrepo in early 1965 with the intention of creating a popular coalition of opposition parties. Torres presented the manifesto of his party on 22 May 1965 at a student rally, which was then criticized by Torres' superior, cardinal Luis Concha Córdoba, for calling for a violent revolution. In response, Torres requested his laicization on 24 June 1965, which was granted by Concha on 24 June. After laicization, Torres devoted himself to building up support for the United Front and expanding its party ranks. Throughout 1965, he travelled the entire country and gave speeches to rally support for his cause; he set up local groups of supporters which he called "comandos" to reflect the revolutionary character of the United Front. Torres also set up the organization's weekly newspaper Frente Unido, where he regularly published articles describing his stances on various political issues. His articles were frequently addressed to a specific group whose support he sought - the newspaper published articles written by Torres entitled "Message to Christians", "Message to Communists", "Message to the Military" as well as to "The Nonaligned", "The Trade Unions", "Peasants", "Women", "Students", "The Unemployed" and to "Political Prisoners". To promote the United Front, Torres gave speeches and organized rallies in major cities of Colombia, which were reported to have drawn large crowds. It was estimated that his rallies were attended by about 2,5 million Colombians. At the height of his popularity in summer 1965, it was widely speculated that Torres would be a presidential candidate for the next election, and the Colombian government considered Torres a serious possible candidate. The National Front also considered allowing the United Front to gain a minority of the seats in the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia. However, Torres' message grew increasingly radicalized, and he rejected participating in the elections, believing that "the elections are more made in the office of the oligarch government than on the voting tables". Instead, Torres stated that the goal of the United Front was "to unify and to organize the popular class for the definite assault for power". By the beginning of 1966, Torres emerged as the leader of the National Liberation Army and oriented the movement towards liberation theology. In February 1966, Torres was killed in battle; there is evidence that he was specifically targeted and brutally beaten at the time of his death. Torres became a martyr for a wide spectrum of leftist movements worldwide, and was honoured by communist leaders such as Fidel Castro, who stated that Camilo Torres "is a symbol of the revolutionary unity which should inspire the movement of the peoples of Latin America". == Ideology ==

The ideology of the movement was defined by its founder Camilo Torres, and changed over time as Torres drifted closer to Marxism-Leninism. In 1964, shortly before forming the United Front, Torres called for a catalogue of reformist and developmentalist programs to improve the socioeconomic situation; his views from back then were considered "liberal-socialist." However, by 1965, Torres concluded "that only profound social, political and economic change, rather than gradual reform and development, could provide the solution to Colombia's problems." As a result, the manifesto of the United Front called for "a type of socialist state and the liberation of Colombia from North American imperialism". The movement's manifesto was heavily religious and made constant references to Catholics and drew on Torres' liberation theology. United Front declared that the Kingdom of God is not "otherworldly", but must rather be established on this world. This Kingdom of God was to be established by the Colombian workers through their participation in "the struggle for revolutionary change". Torres wrote: "We should lead people to love, with that love manifest in surrender of self, we should preach the gospel; we should celebrate external rites - Eucharist and sacraments." The movement was described as highly utopian in nature, and Torres equated the establishment of the Kingdom of God with the implementation of the United Front's manifesto. The movement called for a socialist revolution, stating that "revolution is the way to obtain a government that will feed the hungry, clothe the naked and teach the unschooled. Revolution will produce a government that carries out works of charity, of love for one's fellows". United Front believed that the economy of Colombia was "occupied" by the forces of imperialism, and argued that this occupation could be only be ended with an implementation of a "radical socialist" program. The economic demands of the movement were based on the socialist agrarian reforms in Cuba. The manifesto of the United Front was almost wholly the work of Camilo Torres and proposed a utopian socialist state, with its policies based on those implemented by Castro and Guevara in Cuba. Torres believed that represented "what the popular classes really wanted despite their traditional allegiances to different political parties." Torres openly admitted that the United Front is socialist: The movement also promoted a revolutionary, anti-imperialist form of nationalism. The United Front condemned the close links of the ruling elite of Colombia with "foreign interests to which it is bound", naming the United States as a colonial power that had established a relationship of economic dependence with Colombia. United Front stated that the national independence and socioeconomic development of Colombia is impossible without a revolution, as these goals go against the United States' plan to keep Colombia economically dependent. It argued: Specific demands of the movement included an agrarian reform which would ensure that "the land will belong to the one who directly farms it." In the spirit of the Cuban reforms, United Front adds that "no land will be purchased. What is considered necessary for the common good of the people will be expropriated without compensation." Another demand was also an urban reform that would abolish landlords and ensure that "all the inhabitants of the houses in the cities and towns will become owners of the houses in which they live". The movement also demanded redistribution of wealth from the richest to the poorest through taxes and confiscations, as well as a comprehensive program of nationalization to make the Colombian industries state-owned. United Front also promised "an integral and progressive programme of social security to guarantee to the population the right to health and medical care" as well maintaining the Colombian military, but "without excessive siphoning off of the funds necessary for the health and education of Colombians". The movement envisioned a broad coalition of many social groups and political movements. It argued: "our common goals: against the oligarchy and United States domination; for the winning of power by the people". The movement appealed to Catholics and Communists specifically, but also stated that it sought to work "with all independent revolutionaries and revolutionaries of other convictions". A specific proposal of the United Front was for Catholics and Communists to unite together for the common cause: Over time, the United Front became increasingly radical and socialist-oriented as Torres' views shifted closer to Marxism-Leninism. By late summer 1965, the United Front rejected the participation in bourgeois elections, writing that it would be futile: Shortly before its dissolution, the United Front called for a violent revolution that would install a socialist state in Colombia. Torres argued that the Catholic Church's doctrine of just war provided the moral justification for violent revolution: == References ==