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174 Chapter 6 living under a state of siege and writhing under the lash of escalating Violencia-some places like Liban0 were relatively free of the phenomenon . Even after the whole northern cordillera of Tolima had fallen into anarchy} the unique municipio of Isidro Parra maintained a degree of governmental responsibility. Through 1950 and 1951} tough military alcaldes directed a successful running battle against cattle thieves} outlaw bands} violence-prone Conservatives and Liberals} and every other kind of illegal activity. Lieutenant Colonel Ram6n Pefiarranda Yanez} nicknamed ((Colonel Danger" by the Liberals) who heartily disliked and feared him} kept the municipality under draconian rule throughout his months of command. Between his direction of military operations and the steady pressure of vocal civic leaders} the rising violence was to some extent bottled up. Then} in February 1951} an official in the government of Laureano G6mez made a decision that set Libano on its road to ruin. Ordering the withdrawal of U Colonel Danger" and his troops of the regular army} he apparently hoped the national police and a newly fOImed departmental corps called the Rural Police could keep order.58 Liberals later claimed that the action was part of a Conservative plot to throw the municipio open to Violencia} thus more easily prostrating it before the G6mez dictatorship. This conspiracy theory is one of the many ex post facto accusations common in Violencia study and must be taken with a grain of salt. But one part of it is absolutely certain: withdrawal of the army troops so weakened Libano that the forces of order could no longer slow the rush into Violencia. During the early months of 1951} a new kind of lawlessness appeared in the long-suffering uplands around Murillo. Heavily aImed strangers crossed the mountains from Caldas and spread panic with warnings that death awaited all who did not flee. This the campesinos of the region did in increasing numbers over the course of the year} and caldense outlaws plundered their property.59 Some of the Liberals who were driven from their homes found refuge in parts of eastern Libano} where they joined other refugees to form ((self-defense" units) or guerrillas} as the authorities called them. During the first two weeks of July} the northern cordillera was in a state of tUImoil. Reports of killings poured in from the countryside} large bands of armed men wandered through the mountains committing heinous crimes} and law-abiding citizens tried to stay as close to Libano 175 their homes as possible.80 On July 14 Antonio Almansa) a person well known around the cabecera as a militant Liberal and an alcoholic as welt sat in a cantina drinking with several companions. He grew violent-some say he attacked a Conservative with a knife-and was arrested. \Vhile in jail) he was beaten to death by the police. Security chief Pablo E. Casafranco informed his family that he died of Uacute uremia/' but the true story was soon known by Liberals allover the municipio. Many were in the party that accompanied the horse-drawn hearse bearing Almansa's body out of town for interment in the nearby municipal cemetery. Those who watched the procession pass that afternoon noted an ominous detail: following close behind were two truckloads of police. Less than fifteen minutes later) the sound of gunfire coming from the cemetery informed libanenses that Violencia had at last made its appearance among them.81 Police later claimed that the Liberals planned to attack their headquarters after the burial and that they had followed en masse to prevent trouble. Although it was never proved) Liberals accused police of planting one of their own men among the mourners. \\Then the group neared graveside) someone never subsequently identified started a harangue against the Conservative government and its chulavita minions. Words were exchanged ) the police opened fire) and seven libanenses fell. Hugo Forero Parra and Juan Sarmiento were killed outright) and several others were gravely wounded. None of the police were injured.82 Word of the cemetery massacre spread quickly over Libano. Usually the story was told angrily by one campesino to another as they met along some winding mountain trail in the veredas of Convenio) Tierradentro ) and Santa Teresa. Life had grown more disturbed in the eastern part of the municipality since refugees from economic violence in the western highlands had started arriving earlier in the year bearing shotguns) pistols) and old Gras rifles last fired in anger during the War of the Thousand Days...

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