Colombia: Territorial Rule and the Llanos Frontier

"Fascinating and well-researched account of the efforts by the three Colombian presidents who ruled during the so-called 'Liberal Republic' (1930-46) to develop and incorporate the vast expanses of territory to the east of the Andes known commonly as the Llanos. Concludes that although some progress was made in the more accessible departments of Meta, Arauca, and Casanare, the reforms 'did not change the basic structure of the Llanos frontier or its relationship to the highlands as it had been developing over the previous three centuries' (p. 216). Instead, the advent of the Violencia largely halted efforts and reinforced status of eastern Colombia as a haven for people fleeing from conflict elsewhere. Essential reading for anyone wishing to better understand why the Llanos became the focus of the Colombian drug trade and the main stronghold of the country's largest guerrilla force"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.http://www.loc.gov/hlas/

"A path-breaking study in the field of comparative frontier analysis. Professor Rausch’s study of Colombia’s several frontiers during 1930-46 aids in the understanding of serious problems besetting those regions today."–James D. Henderson, Coastal Carolina University

Jane Rausch examines the efforts of four presidential administrations to establish effective rule over Colombia’s frontier territories between 1930 and 1946. She focuses on the impact of their policies and reforms on the region of the Llanos Orientales (tropical plains). Her close investigation of the ultimate failure of these initiatives helps explain both the intensity of the long civil war of 1948 to 1964 (known as the Violencia) and the continuation into the 1990s of the area’s reputation as a seedbed for guerrilla activity and drug cartel operations.
 Rausch demonstrates that multiple frontiers have played a far greater role in the evolution of the country than has been previously understood. She focuses first on Amazonia and the Afro-Colombian region of Chocó as well as the Llanos; then she provides an in-depth history of the Llanos, a strategically important region gaining interest now because of its newly discovered oil fields as well as its intense guerrilla activity.
Colombia will be of great interest to scholars of 20th-century Latin America and to those interested in the role of frontier management in nation-building.

Jane M. Rausch is professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and the author of A Tropical Plains Frontier: The Llanos of Colombia, 1531-1831 and The Llanos Frontier in Colombian History, 1830-1930.