The National Popular Alliance or ANAPO (''Alianza Nacional Popular'') was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in Colombia. It was founded in 1961 as a movement by the ex-president

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (12 March 1900 – 17 January 1975) was a Colombian Army general, civil engineer and dictator who ruled as 19th President of Colombia as from June 1953 to May 1957. Rojas Pinilla gained prominence as a colonel during L ...

and was disbanded in 1998. Many ANAPO leaders and militants joined the

Independent Democratic Pole The Independent Democratic Pole (''Polo Democrático Independiente'') or (PDI), was a left-wing social democratic political party in Colombia. Origins Originally formed as a left-wing congressional coalition, the party itself was officially found ...

coalition. Anapo's political platform has been labeled as left-wing.Ayala, C. (1995). Nacionalismo y populismo. Anapo y el discurso político de la oposición en Colombia: 1960-1966. Bogotá: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, p. 55. Nonetheless, Anapo made it clear that they differ from Communists regarding the rights of private property.

History

The party's political height grew during the mid-to-late 1960s and the beginning of its decline came in 1970, after what is commonly perceived as its

zenith The zenith (, ) is an imaginary point directly "above" a particular location, on the celestial sphere. "Above" means in the vertical direction ( plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location ( nadir). The zenith is the "high ...

by historians. It was founded in 1964 by a group of politicians led by

, who left the Conservative Party of Colombia.

The 1970 Elections

Defeat or Fraud?

The year of 1970 saw the electoral defeat of its presidential candidate, the former dictator General

, at the hands of the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate of the National Front,

Misael Pastrana Borrero Misael Eduardo Pastrana Borrero (14 November 1923 – 21 August 1997) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served as the 23rd President of Colombia from 1970 to 1974. He was also the father of the 30th President Andrés Pastrana Arango. ...

, after a close April 19 election which ANAPO and several prominent figures of Colombian public opinion condemned as fraudulent at the time. The accusation has been maintained by ANAPO and most opposition parties ever since. Polls have shown that subsequently it has almost become a fact accepted by the political mainstream in Colombia , specifically due to the gradual surfacing and historical evaluation of supporting evidence, memoirs and testimonies.

Aftermath

Initially, ANAPO tried to declare the elections illegitimate, both by actively calling for a citizen protest or uprising, and also by demanding that Colombia's Electoral Court abstain from supporting the official result. The Court denied this request and recognized Misael Pastrana as president elect. ANAPO's reaction created alarm in many National Front politicians and media outlets, who supported the announced result. President

Carlos Lleras Restrepo Carlos Alberto Lleras Restrepo (12 April 1908 – 27 September 1994) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served the 22nd President of Colombia from 1966 to 1970. Biographic data Lleras was born in Bogotá, on 12 April 1908. He was the ...

vehemently denied the charges of fraud and argued that his responsibility was to hand over power to the legally recognized winning candidate. The government declared a

state of siege A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

in order to try to stop riots from erupting, signs of which appeared mainly in Bogotá but also in some other regions of the country. In 1972, a group of National Congress deputies from the ANAPO formed a splinter group called Broad Colombian Movement (Movimiento Amplio Colombiano, abr. MAC) which soon joined the left-wing National Union of Opposition. In 1974, the

19th of April Movement The 19th of April Movement ( es, Movimiento 19 de Abril), or M-19, was a Colombian guerrilla organisation movement. After its demobilization it became a political party, the M-19 Democratic Alliance (), or AD/M-19. The M-19 traced its or ...

(M-19), a Colombian guerrilla group, came into the public scene and claimed that its struggle was a reaction to what it called the illegitimacy of the 1970 elections, the nation's

bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing political parties find co ...

political system, and the National Front agreement that had supported them. Initially, the M-19 hoped to actively incorporate ANAPO leaders and party members as its political representatives, but many, including ANAPO chief Maria Eugenia Rojas, ultimately rejected any attempt to actively establish such an association.

Recent Electoral Status

After the political reform of 2003, it disappeared entirely, joining a coalition of leftist parties known as Polo Democrático Independiente that became the political party Polo Democrático Alternativo in 2005.

Notes

{{Authority control 1961 establishments in Colombia Defunct political parties in Colombia Left-wing parties in Colombia Political parties established in 1961