Colombia at a Crossroads, 1966–72: Urban and Rural Struggles for Land, Housing, and Sovereignty in Cold War Cali

Colombia at a Crossroads (1966-1972): Urban and Rural Struggles for Land, Housing, and Sovereignty in Cold War Cali

This presentation tells the story of the social upheaval affecting the Colombian city of Cali and the surrounding countryside in the late 1960s linked to powerful land, student, and political movements. It argues that the country’s experiment with agrarian reform provided a language of contention through which urban and rural movements articulated their visions of land’s use and value, justified radical action, and formed connections. Rooted in an analysis of specific urban and rural communities formed by land “invasion,” this presentation also widens the lens to analyze the myriad connections they formed with political parties, elites, student movements, and guerrillas.