Press and national construction in 1886: Eliseo Payán or the boadbil of Colombian radicalism

Prensa y construcción nacional en 1886: Eliseo Payán o el boadbil del radicalismo colombiano

After 46 years of absolute freedom of the press during the governments of radical liberalism, the country underwent a profound political transformation led by President Rafael Núñez, which materialized with the new Constitution in 1886 and laid the foundations for a State order under conservative governments.
The need to subject its exercise and freedom of expression under the imposition of severe press laws originated resistance processes, but an enormous proliferation of newspapers. The political press subject to the crimes of libel and slander, together with the inquisitive look of the probable interference in the subversion of public order,show how important it was for the governments of La Regeneración to adjust the laws to the socalled printing crimes. Historical science as a theoretical and methodological source is a tool to make visible the tensions arising between political groups, whose systemic representation is supported by the critical contrast of primary sources, and allows the generalization of social phenomena. In the case of the presented text, the transit of the political press of Bogota towards the limits of contents imposed by the Constitution of 1886 is analyzed, with a view towards the collective interests threatened by the social conflagration, under the concepts of national identity and the control of the State. During the period between 1886 and 1898 a double process took place in Colombia, on the one hand, the political press whose editorial and content tendencies sought to influence the literate elites by undermining the political support to the so-called National Party.