COLOMBIA: The Strongman Falters

Dictator Gustavo Rojas Pinilla's barefaced drive to re-elect himself President of Colombia piled up enough opposition last week to bring it to a shaky halt. Joined to thwart the strongman's second-term ambitions, the Roman Catholic Church under Crisanto Cardinal Luque, the newly united Liberal and Conservative Parties and the belligerent university students took direct action. Caught by surprise, the President hesitated. Then he moved what he said were 35,000 troops into Bogotá to regain control.

Rojas himself touched off the show of opposition by a reckless move. His secret police arrested Guillermo León Valencia, the joint candidate of the...

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