Power & Place

Jorge Eliecer Gaitan had done it again. The rabble-rousing Liberal leader followed up his victory in the congressional elections last March by another in last week's municipal voting. Henceforth, Liberals will control 465 municipal councils, Conservatives 321. Gaitan had mopped up among the workers in the newly industrialized towns and cities, more than offsetting Conservative gains in the countryside, where twelve people died in Harlan-County-style election-night fights.

If anything more had been needed to cement Gaitan's position as Liberal leader, the municipal elections did it. They also proved--680,438 votes to 524,974--that Conservative political power is still minority power. Conservative President Ospina Perez, who already had Liberals in his Government, got ready to move in further.

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