A Lapse of Memory

Memories evidently are short in Colombia, the largest of the working democracies remaining in South America. Little more than a decade ago, the country writhed under the dictatorship of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, who was installed by the country's civilian and military leadership in 1953 to help bring an end to la violencia that eventually claimed 200,000 lives. Graft and jack-booted brutality characterized his regime. One memorable day in 1956, when Rojas' banner was raised in the Bogota bullring, squads of plainclothes police with knives and billy clubs closed in on spectators who failed to applaud. After a wave of popular revulsion, a junta sent the general into exile in 1957.

Last week when Colombians went to the polls to choose a successor to President Carlos Lleras Restrepo, a Liberal whose four-year term ends in August, the price of poor memory was near chaos. The early favorite was Economist Misael Pastrana, 46, the "official" Conservative party candidate under the National Front system. The Front was created in 1958, when the warring Liberal and Conservative parties sought to defuse Colombia's explosive politics by passing into law a unique arrangement: until 1974, the parties could campaign for the presidency only in alternate election years.

Almost any number can play, however, and this year--the Conservatives' "on" year--the strongest of Pastrana's three opponents turned out to be old Dictator Rojas, who had conveniently become a splinter Conservative for the occasion. With little support from the basically apolitical army, Rojas, now 70, effectively drummed up enthusiasm among the peasants. Touring the barrios, he played the populist, promising cars for everybody and warning of a "dialogue of daggers" with the ruling elite.

As the first returns came in last week, Rojas quickly claimed victory--but then so did Pastrana. When Lleras Restrepo announced that the close vote would take several days to tally, Rojas charged "bald robbery," and thousands of Rojistas swarmed into Bogota's main intersection. Lleras Restrepo declared a state of siege and threw a cordon of troops around Rojas' house as "protection." After a few tense hours, well-trained riot police managed to clear the streets with no fatalities and few injuries. At week's end Pastrana led by 66,000 votes. The slim margin surprised those who had speculated that the slow count meant that the election results were being juggled in Pastrana's favor.

The Lesson. A National Front defeat would hardly do Colombia any good. Lleras Restrepo has done much to cure the financially sick country during his four years as President. He strengthened the peso through tougher tax collection, a drive on inflation and a strong grip on military spending. He also pushed agrarian reform and a birth control pro gram, notwithstanding the Vatican's opposition. Unfortunately, none of this meant much to the peasants, to whom the diminutive (5 ft. 2 in.) Lleras Restrepo appears as a somewhat abrasive and distant technocrat. "The lesson," he said, visibly shocked at the closeness of the election, "is to be in closer contact with the masses."

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