From Alternative History

Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (January 23, 1903 – September 17, 1977) was a politician and a leader of a populist movement in Colombia, and member of the Colombian Liberal Party.

Gaitán was from a poor background, but worked through universities in Colombia and Italy to attain a degree in law, and become a professor at the National University of Colombia. From there he became a popular leader of the left-wing movement, gaining nationwide popularity following a banana workers' strike in Magdalena in 1928, in which strikers were fired upon by the army.