Alternative History

The Humbertistas, also occasionally referred to as Ruizistas, were a political faction that played a pivotal role in the leadership of the Colombian Social Party from the 1930's deep into the 1960's, named after Humberto Ruiz, whose Presidency gave birth to the subgroup. The Humbertistas generally reflected the moderate wing of the Social Party and dominated the party in both a leadership role with Ruiz as President from 1930-1946, and the majority of the party in an opposition role in the PDC era of the 1950's and 1960's were generally Humbertistas.

The 1966 victory of Luis Beltrán Prieto shifted the Social Party strongly towards the left, where it remained for decades, driving many disaffected Humbertistas to the centrist Republican Party, contributing the victories for that party in the 1980 Congressional elections and four straight Presidential victories from 1986-2002. The 2002 victory of Álvaro Uribe was seen by many as a return of the Social Party towards Humbertista philosophy, so much so that Uribe's political coalition was colloquially referred to as the "New Humbertistas" (Span: Nuevos Humbertistas), or just the "Uribistas."