The Foreign Page: 300 Dead Counted in Flaming Bogota

Transcript (Download)

The scene of flame and ruin from the riot -torn city of Bogota as mobs wreak vengeance for the killing of Jorge Gaitán, idolized leader of the Liberal Party.

Eyewitness reports now say that student followers of Gaitán began the trouble by seizing his assassin from the police and beating him to death.

The radio station was seized for a few hours and the population was urged to break into hardware stores, seize any weapons and take power from the conservative government.

Already angered by the government's expenditure of five million dollars on the Pan -American Conference, the destitute and bitter part of the population swept into the downtown area to loot and burn, to turn lovely Bogota into a shambles.

Fifteen hundred prisoners were freed from the justice building, most of them thieves and murderers who added their talents to the bloodlust of the mob.

The army did not regain full control for four days.

Scenes like these were common as civilians fled from rebel snipers and government troops mopped up block by block.

Everyone found on the streets was suspected of participation in the rioting and not all prisoners were treated as gently as thieves.

Eyewitnesses tell of brutal slaughter by troops as well as rebels and reports indicate that the official toll of three hundred dead may be well below the actual count.

The Colombian government charges that communists were responsible for this death and destruction and points to the burning of government records in the looted capital building as evidence of planning and direction.

But neutral observers report that the communists probably participated only after the violence was underway, using their favorite tactics to organize an existing situation.

The situation brought about by widespread poverty and dissatisfaction rooted in the tangled politics of an unstable economy.

And the fighting has only made conditions worse, with Bogota's food supply rationed and a long task of rebuilding ahead.

Identifier

F.2012-03-0656g

Date Of Production

April 1948

Abstract

Riots take place in Bogota, Colombia following the assassination of Liberal Party political leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9, 1948.

Description

This film describes the riots and their aftermath known as the Bogotazo, which immediately followed the assassination of Liberal Party political leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in Bogota, Colombia on April 9, 1948. Narrator Hugh James details the alleged seizing and beating to death of Gaitán’s assassin by his followers, as well as the town population’s mass looting of hardware stores in the hopes of seizing weapons to overthrow the conservative government.

Run Time

0:02:44

Format

16mm

Extent

95 feet

Color

B&W

Sound

Optical

Reel/Tape Number

1/1

Has Been Digitized?

Yes

Language Of Materials

English

Element

Print

Genre

Journalism

Form

Newsreels

Subject

Murders
Politicians
Riots

Related Collections

SUBSERIES IX: Military & Foreign Affairs

Related Places

South America ➜ Colombia ➜ Bogota

Distributor

Telenews (Firm)

Main Credits

Koza, Frank (is filmmaker)

Participants And Performers

James, Hugh (is narrator)

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