The Assassination of Gaitán: Public Life and Urban Violence in Colombia

The foundational English-language study of Gaitán and the Bogotazo. Braun examines Gaitán’s political career and the social dynamics of his movement, arguing that the Bogotazo represented a rupture between elite and popular political cultures. He focuses on the relationship between “convivialistas” (elite politicians who maintained cross-party social ties) and the urban masses who followed Gaitán. Both a political biography and an analysis of April 9 as a social event.