ed that the violence might lead to a peasant-based social rebellion, and so formed a loose alliance with the Conservatives in order to repress the movement. However, when two high-ranking Liberals were assassinated in 1949, the Liberal Party chose to abstain from the 1950 presidential election, which was won uncontested by Laureano Gómez of the Conservative Party. During Gómez' Presidency, there continued to be sporadic uprisings by armed peasants in rural regions of the country. Gómez considered such liberal peasants as communists, and used violent measures to put down each uprising. He dismissed liberal members of the national police force and replaced them with peasants from the Conservative Boyacá district of Chulavista. The "chulavistas" became infamous for their brutal tactics in putting down rebellious Liberals and communists.
             In 1953, Gómez was overthrown by a military coup led by General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. Under his regime, the fighting against the peasants intensified, leading to the War of Villarica in 1955. It was during this war that the armed self-defense movements that would eventually evolve into the FARC came into existence. Eventually, the Liberal and Conservative elites came together to oust Rojas Pinilla. The two parties formed the National Front, which split all public positions equally between Liberals and Conservatives, and alternated four-year terms in the presidency. The formation of the National Front ended the traditional conflict between the Liberals and Conservatives, but the new government still had to deal with the militant peasants. This history is important because it is the basis of the ongoing modern conflict which pits peasants against the ruling elite. The peasants have become firmly entrenched in their Marxist and agrarian ideologies, and will continue to fight for social reform, even if the guerrilla groups should be defeated. This ...