President Alfonso López Pumarejo

Alfonso López Pumarejo assumed the presidency in August 1934 as the second Liberal leader in what has since become known as the Colombian Liberal Republic. The 1930s were a turbulent period, both in Colombia and globally, and López recognized the potential for serious social unrest. Many of his actions as president were aimed at containing the labour movement and keeping it under the auspices of the Liberal party. He thus instituted his Revolución en Marcha, a radical project that sought to increase working-class participation in politics and society as well as reforming Colombia’s electoral, tax and land distribution systems and its constitution. For the constitutional reform project, in particular, López found inspiration in the 1931 Constitution of the Second Spanish Republic.

The López administration was therefore sympathetic towards the Republican cause and so, when news of the Spanish Civil War reached Colombia, it immediately came out in favour of the Spanish government. López and his supporters believed that Republican Spain was inherently democratic and therefore in tune with their own political values. Both chambers of Congress adopted resolutions of solidarity with the Spanish Republic during the installation of parliament in July 1936, and they sent similar messages in 1937 and 1938. The Colombian government maintained friendly relations with Republican Spain despite several diplomatic incidents during the first few months of the war.

As a result of its support for the Spanish Popular Front, the López government came under fire from Catholic and Conservative opposition, and even from more members of his own party. These groups felt that the president’s incitement of the Colombian working class was leading the country down the same path as Spain. They therefore evoked the Spanish example frequently in their criticisms of López and his Revolución, even coining the term ‘creole Popular Front’ to refer to his government. Partly as a result of this strong domestic opposition, the López administration was never able to turn its rhetorical support for Republican Spain into tangible aid initiatives.

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