Description
Book SynopsisAlthough Villavicencio, the capital of the Department of Meta, is located just 120 miles from Bogotá, the mountains of the eastern Andean Cordillera lies between the two cities. As a result, after its founding in 1842, Villavicencio remained an isolated frontier outpost for more than one hundred yearseven though El Portal de la Llanura (the Gateway to the Plains) provided the principal access to Colombia''s tropical plains (Llanos), a vast grassy region cut by tributaries connecting with the Meta and Guaviare rivers and eventually the Orinoco. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century governments in Bogotá regarded the Llanos as the Eastern Lands of Promise, underestimating the geographic and climatic obstacles to their development. From Frontier Town to Metropolis recounts the history of the town and explains how, by the twenty-first century, it became a thriving metropolis with a population nearing three hundred thousand. During the next sixty years, it became the principal urban center of t
Trade ReviewBy looking at Colombia from Villavicencio, Rausch writes a history from the middle, one that looks up toward the somber highland capital of Bogotá and out toward the exuberant eastern plains. This is a history of civic urbanity and the rude countryside, of urban violence and the prosperous plains. The inhabitants of Villavicencio live continuously in times that are both peaceful and violent. Villavicencio turns out to be a microcosm of Colombia. -- Herbert Tico Braun, University of Virginia
This topic is intrinsically interesting as well as important, and Jane Rausch makes it into a good story without shortchanging the requirements of analysis. -- David Bushnell, University of Florida
Table of ContentsChapter 1: The Llanos Frontier and the Founding of Villavicencio Chapter 2: Villavicencio during the Federation Era: 1863–1888 Chapter 3: Villavicencio during the Era of Regeneration: 1886–1899 Chapter 4: War and Dictatorship: 1899–1909 Chapter 5: Capital of the National Intendancy of Meta: 1909–1930 Chapter 6: Villavicencio during the Liberal Republic: 1930–1946 Chapter 7: La Violencia and Its Impact on Villavicencio: 1947–1953 Chapter 8: The Rojas Pinilla Dictatorship and the Pacification of the Llanos: 1953–1958 Chapter 9: Villavicencio during the National Front: 1957–1974 Chapter 10: Villavicencio, 1974 to the Present: The Search for Civic Identity Chapter 11: Villavicencio and the Llanos Frontier
