The Battles of Cali: The History of the City Through Its Conflicts and Resistances (1900-1970)

Origins: A City Built Amid Tensions

Cali was not always the world capital of salsa or the sugar epicenter we know today. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was a small city, with bahareque houses and tile roofs, crossed by the Cali River and marked by an agrarian economy centered on coffee, sugarcane, and trade with Buenaventura. However, behind that apparent provincial calm, the city lived deep tensions: between liberals and conservatives, between landowners and day laborers, between the center and the neighborhoods that grew haphazardly toward the east and south.

The history of Cali between 1900 and 1970 is not limited to its festivities and its urban growth. It is also the chronicle of its conflicts: strikes, civic protests, repressions, and resistances that shaped the character of a city that, with every blow, found the strength to rise again. To understand these conflicts, it is crucial to understand the context. Cali went from having about 30,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the 20th century to more than 900,000 by 1970. This explosive growth, driven by migration from the countryside to the city, the arrival of the railroad, and later industrialization, created an unequal city, where public services arrived late and poorly to working-class neighborhoods. That inequality was the fuel for the struggles that unfolded next.

Timeline: Historic Milestones of Cali in Conflict

Before delving into each episode, it is useful to have a mental map of the moments that marked the city between 1900 and 1970. Not all were violent, but all left a mark on the collective memory.

• 1900-1930: Cali consolidates itself as the commercial center of the Valle del Cauca. The Pacific railroad arrives and the aqueduct is inaugurated. The city begins to expand beyond its historic center.
• 1928: The Masacre de las Bananeras in the Santa Marta area shocks the country. Although it occurred far from Cali, its echo reached the unions and liberal circles of Cali, which already sympathized with workers' struggles.
• April 9, 1948: The Bogotazo. After the assassination of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in Bogotá, Cali becomes one of the cities where violence erupts with the greatest intensity. Buildings are burned, businesses are looted, and the city is marked forever.
• 1948-1958: The bipartisan Violence. Cali receives waves of displaced people from the countryside and becomes both a refuge and a stage for political persecution.
• 1960: The Toma de Cali. A student and popular civic strike is met with the Army. There are dead, wounded, and detained. It is one of the most silenced episodes in local history.
• 1971: The Paro Cívico. The city is paralyzed by the lack of public services and the rising cost of living. The repression leaves a toll of victims that is still remembered in working-class neighborhoods.

Key Figures and Events

Behind every conflict there are names, faces, and decisions worth knowing. Not all are heroes or villains; many were ordinary citizens who were forced to take sides.

Jorge Eliécer Gaitán and the echo of the Bogotazo in Cali

Gaitán was not from Cali, but his figure struck deep in the city. His discourse against the oligarchy and his promise of social justice resonated in the working-class neighborhoods of Cali, where life was hard and opportunities scarce. When he was assassinated on April 9, 1948, the reaction in Cali was immediate. According to accounts from the time, crowds took to the streets, attacked conservative newspaper offices, and set public buildings on fire. The city was placed under curfew and violence spread for several days.

The Bogotazo in Cali was not a simple replica of the one in Bogotá. Here it mixed with local tensions: the discontent of railroad workers, the rage of street vendors, and the frustration of a population that saw how wealth was concentrated in a few hands. The subsequent repression was harsh and left a wound that took decades to heal.

The Toma de Cali in 1960: The Strike the City Forgot

Few people from Cali know this episode, and yet it was one of the most tense moments of the 20th century in the city. In 1960, students from the Universidad del Valle and other educational centers, along with unions and popular organizations, called a civic strike to demand improvements in education, health, and public services. The protest spread over several days and paralyzed much of the city.

The government's response was militarization. The Army occupied the streets, a curfew was declared, and clashes occurred that left a toll of dead and wounded that was never officially documented. The press of the time, controlled by the elites, minimized the events. But in working-class neighborhoods, the memory of those days was passed down from generation to generation.

The Toma de Cali of 1960 was not a revolution, but it was a sign: the city was no longer the quiet provincial capital of the beginning of the century. It was a space in effervescence, with a youth that demanded changes and a State that responded with force.

The 1971 Paro Cívico: The Fight for Public Services

If there is an episode that marked the civic consciousness of Cali in the 20th century, it was the 1971 Paro Cívico. By then, the city had grown without control. Neighborhoods such as Siloé, Aguablanca, and El Popular had been formed by invasion and lacked drinking water, sewage, electricity, and dignified transportation. People lived in precarious conditions while the center was modernized with bank buildings and luxury stores.

The strike began as a protest against the increase in transportation and the cost of living, but it soon became a mass movement demanding public services for all. For several days, Cali was practically paralyzed. Universities joined in, unions organized, and working-class neighborhoods took to the streets. The government's response was repression: there were mass arrests, raids, and clashes that left a toll of victims that has still not been officially recognized.

The 1971 Paro Cívico did not achieve all its demands immediately, but it planted a seed. From then on, the city began to talk about "civismo" and "citizen participation." Working-class neighborhoods organized into community action boards and began to demand their place in the city. That awareness is still alive today, when Cali faces new challenges of inequality and violence.

Memories of the Armed Conflict: Guerrillas in the Nearby Mountains

Although Cali was not a direct stage of combat between guerrillas and the Army during the 1960s and 1970s, it did experience the consequences of the armed conflict that was brewing in the nearby mountains. The corregimientos and veredas of the Farallones de Cali and the Western Cordillera became areas with a presence of insurgent groups, especially after the birth of the FARC in 1964 and the ELN in 1965.

The city received thousands of peasants displaced by violence. Many came to swell the belts of misery that surrounded the city. Others joined the incipient urban guerrilla organizations, which operated clandestinely. The Cali of those years lived a double reality: on one hand, the party, salsa, and economic growth; on the other, the shadow of a conflict being fought in the mountains and reaching the city in the form of disappearances, attacks, and military operations.

There is no need to exaggerate: Cali in the 60s and 70s was a relatively quiet city compared to other regions of the country. But the war was close, and its presence was felt in working-class neighborhoods, where people knew that a family member or a neighbor could disappear from one day to the next.

Current State: Memory as a Tool to Understand the Present

Today, Cali is a city of more than 2.2 million inhabitants, with a vibrant cultural agenda and a diversified economy. But the wounds of its history remain open. The inequality that fueled the 1971 Paro Cívico has not disappeared; in fact, it has deepened in some sectors. Working-class neighborhoods continue to fight for dignified public services, and urban violence continues to claim lives.

However, there are also signs of hope. Historical memory has become a tool for transformation. Youth collectives, universities, and social organizations work to recover the history of the city's conflicts and resistances. Community museums have been created, books have been published, and commemorative events have been held that were previously unthinkable.

For those who wish to learn this history, there are several places where memory remains alive. The Museo de la Memoria Histórica de Cali, although it is not a permanent physical building, has held traveling exhibitions in universities and cultural centers. The Universidad del Valle, at its San Fernando campus, has been a stage for debates and archives on Cali's social movements. And in working-class neighborhoods, such as Siloé and Aguablanca, there are community initiatives that rescue the oral history of their inhabitants.

If you want to understand Cali, do not stop at salsa and sugarcane alone. Ask about the strikes, the protests, the dead who do not appear in official books. That is the other face of the city, the one that makes it so resilient and so complex.

Frequently Asked Questions About the History of Cali in Conflict

What was the Bogotazo in Cali?

It was the violent reaction that occurred in Cali after the assassination of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9, 1948. Crowds took to the streets, public buildings and businesses were attacked, and the city was placed under curfew. It was one of the most violent episodes in local history.

What was the Toma de Cali in 1960?

It was a student and popular civic strike that paralyzed the city for several days. The government responded with militarization and repression. The toll of victims was never officially documented.

What was the 1971 Paro Cívico?

It was a mass movement demanding public services for working-class neighborhoods, a cry for justice that resonated in every corner of the city.