Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala Spanish pronunciation: ['xoɾxe eʎ'eθeɾ gai'tan aʝala] (23 January 1903 – 9 April 1948) was a Colombian politician and statesman who was the leader of the Liberal Party. A nationalist, he served as the mayor of Bogotá from 1936–37, the national Education Minister from 1940–41, and the Labor Minister from 1943–44.[2] br br He was assassinated during his second presidential campaign in 1948, setting off the Bogotazo [3] and leading to the outbreak of a brutal ten-year civil war in Colombia known as La Violencia (1948–1958). His ideas, known as Gaitanismo, are considered a form of liberal socialism in Colombia.