Sangilentildes journalists of yesterday. Gallery of newspapers which appeared this century. Auras del Fonce tribune where the present Santandereanas generations tried their writing pen for the public. Pedro Fermin de Vargas, Carlos Martinez Silva and Jaime Barrera Parra anthological journalists.

Toms Rueda Vargas once said that Colombia was known in the international panorama for her coffee, emeralds and literary culture reflected in the press. They all are not abundant but of high quality. El Mosaico and La Gruta Simbolica are excepted since in them, there were summaries of classic European readings. The Colombian literary movement has appeared in Antioquia and Santander. The Santander one has had a hot pen in one hand and a patriotic devotion on the other, against the literary orthodoxy, against the mental paralysis and resentment, and fraud, against the propaganda from the capital. (It is of interest to know that the author only mentions mountainous regions as sources of Colombian literary movement, but there is a big exception: the people of the coast, or “Costentildes”, are proud to be the fellow provincials of the only Noble Prize of Literature that has ever existed in the recorded history of the country, Mr. GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ. To them, he is worth more than all the mountain people or “Cachacos” writers put together, even though Mr. Garcia Mrquez’s novels do not state a single positive word about Colombia).

Jose Camacho Carrentilde, Gabriel Turbay, Jaime Barrera Parra, Toms Vargas Osorio, Arturo Regueros Peralta, Ismael Enrique Arciniegas, Luis and Manuel Serrano Blanco and Jose Fulgencio Gutierrez, Jose Eusebio Caro, Carlos Martinez Silva, Quintero Calderon, Ramon Gonzlez Valencia, Aquileo Parra and Solon Wilches, all were journalists. San Gil gives to the Santandereana culture journalists like Martinez Silva who started modern journalism, Jaime Barrera Parra a chronicler, Pedro Fermin de Vargas, Diego Fernndo Gomez, Luis Domingo Mantilla, Nepomuceno Navarro and Carlos Parra they all had their first training at the Guanent College. General Francisco de Paula Santander sent a letter to his friend Diego Fernando Gomez to congratulate him about a small newspaper which appeared in San Gil, written by hand, with exquisite calligraphy, by a group of Gomez’s pupils, in 1814, for the cause of liberty. It stated: “If arms have given us independence, only laws will give us liberty”. The newspaper was named La Consigna, (The Watchword). We do not doubt it will reappear someday. In 1875, the Federalista was published by Jose Maria Baraya in defense of Rafael Nuntildeez’s candidature against Aquileo Parra.
Since the Departments of Guanent and Galn congurated San Gil as an important center of the reigning political organization, many means of diffusion of thought were established. Some were ephemeral and others had prolonged existence. They have given a continuous cultural movement to the south of the department. I will enumerate the newspapers and magazines which have seen light in the city.In 1906, La Voz de Galn,(Galn’s Voice), a government official agency publication, directed by Jorge Pereira in 1909, La Nueva Era, (The New Era), a newspaper to the service of general interest, directed by Ramon Pentildeafort in 1910, Correo del Sur, (Mail of the South), a weekly publication to the service of conservative cause directed by Patricio Gomez in 1911, El Imperial, (The Imperial), a weekly publication to the service of liberal interests directed by Carlos Parra in 1912, Anales del Municipio, (Annals of the Municipality), an official agency publication of the Municipal Council, directed by Patricio Gomez in 1913, El Esfuerzo, (The Courage), a weekly publication to the service of liberal ideas, directed by Guillermo Galvis Galvis in 1914, La Fragua, (The Forge), a bimonthly publication of independent character, directed by Gabriel Gomez Melendez in 1915, La Idea, (The Idea), a weekly publication to the service of conservative ideals, directed by Marco Melendez in 1916, Santander, a weekly publication for the defense of liberal ideas directed by Alcibiades Arguumlello in 1917, La Defensa, (The Defense)
, a weekly publication to the service of conservative interests directed by Rafael Durn Acevedo in 1918, El Fonce, an informative weekly publication of general character directed by Elias Silva Galvis in 1921, El Ruisentilder, (The Nightingale)
, an informative and humorous publication directed by Luis Cubillos in 1922, Revista del Colegio de Guanent, (Guanent College Magazine), a literary and variety bimonthly publication directed by Manuel Mejia in 1924, El Conservador, (The Conservative)
, a political and general interest weekly publication directed by Manuel Gomez Barrera in 1924 El Sbado, (Saturday), a weekly publication to the service of the community directed by Cesar Casas Medina in 1925, La Voz del Prroco, (The Parish Priest’s Voice), a Catholic weekly publication directed by Monsignor Eliodoro Rios in 1926, Santander a conservative bimonthly publication directed by Telefono Peluchin in 1926, Auras del Fonce, a Guanent College official magazine directed by the institute’s superiors in 1926, Sagitario, a weekly publication to the service of conservative cause directed by Luis Cubillos El Comercio, a weekly publication to the service of the general interest directed by Alberto Bonilla Galvis, in 1928 Revista Diocesana, (Diocese’s Magazine) a monthly publication of religious diffusion directed by Presbyter Efrain Barbosa in 1928 El Tominejo, (The Humming Bird), a literary publication of the Guanent College directed by students in 1929, Ecos del Sur, (Echoes of the South), a weekly publication for the interests of the conservative party directed by the same one as Santander, in 1930, Petalos
, (Petals), a literary and variety publication directed by Manuel Gomez Barrera, in 1931, Miniatura, a humorous newspaper directed by Luis Cubillos La Lucha, (The Fight), a liberal weekly publication directed by Luis Ardila in 1932, El Triunfo, (The Triumph), a weekly publication of political and general interest directed by Fernando Durn in 1933, Justicia y Reforma an official magazine of the Superior Tribunal directed by Francisco Bruno Ensayos, (Essays), a literary and philosophical publication of the Guanent College directed by students in 1934, Antorcha Eucaristica, (Eucharistic Torch), a Catholic magazine directed by Julio Cesar Patintilde in 1936, Doctrina Catolica, an official magazine of the Diocese Seminary directed by Presbyter Ezequiel Traslavintildea in 1938, Heraldo Liberal a weekly publication at the service of liberal interests directed by Rafael Florez Camacho El Progreso, a publication for ideological diffusion directed by the literary center of Guanent in 1939, El Catequista, (The Catechist), a weekly publication of religious character directed by Presbyter Jose Antonio Quijano in 1940, Por la mies, (By the Ripe Wheat), a literary and religious publication directed by the Rector of the Conciliar Seminary in 1940, La Opinion, a weekly publication to the service of the conservative interests and the region directed by Pedro Manuel Arenas and Jorge Patintilde Linares in 1941, Renovacion, an official publication of the Guanent College directed by the Rector in 1942, El Heraldo, a liberal political publication directed by Luis Camacho Rueda in 1944, Bronce, an informative publication to the service of conservative interests directed by Jose Agustin and Carlos Augusto Noriega in 1945, El Porvenir, (The Future), a publication of religious character of the Guanent College directed by Jaime Jorza and Plutarco Leon in 1946, Juventud, (Youth), a publication of literary character of the same school directed by Luis Ramirez and Carlos Manuel Otero in 1947, Tribuna Estudiantil, (Student’s Tribune), a bimonthly publication of the Aurelio Martinez Mutis Literary Academy directed by Jaime Santander and Carlos Arenas (During 1948 and the following two years, the country had the bloodiest civil war of the 20th century, between liberals and conservatives. It seems that those political publications had done their job well in agitating the mountain people to a most useless carnage of unprecedented proportions and, of course, no publications occurred during this time. Most Colombians were fleeing from the killing, abandoning their ancestral lands forever and crowding the cities hoping for an illusive shelter. It is speculative how much Harry Truman’s long arm influence in Washington had on the Pan American Conference, which was perceived with anti -American overtones, to be celebrated in Colombia in 1948. It was disrupted with the assassination of the liberal and socialist leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitn, on April 9, 1948 in Bogot and since then known to history of Colombians as: “Bogotzo”, the beginning of the worst holocaust the country had ever seen during the first part of the century. An equally bloody holocaust occurred in the 1990’s when Ronald Reagan and his successors declared a “war on drugs “. Cocaine was, at the time, one of the main incomes of the Colombian Cartels. Colombians have long resented the fact that earlier this century, in 1903, Theodore Roosevelt with his “Big Stick “ Imperialist Foreign Policy and powerful two oceans navy took from Colombia, Panama, the richest province of the country with the most revenue potential as a result of the most important canal of the century) in 1950, Deporte al Dia, (Today’s Sports, notice the shift from political publications to sports, the great distracter of the people), a publication to the service of the sport interests of the region directed by Manuel Ruiz Arenas in 1951, La Hormiga, (The Ant), a humorous and informative publication directed by Fabio Gordillo Lopera Ya, (Already), a publication to the service of the conservative cause and the interests of the southern provinces directed by Jorge Gomez Silva in 1953, Indice, (Index)
, a cultural character magazine directed by Carlos Manuel Otero and Guillermo Reyes Jurado.
San Gil has had several important printing ofces: the Selecta of propriety of the journalist Roberto Rueda Parra and San Gil owned by Elias Silva Galvis, where many local papers were edited.