Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (January 23, 1903 - April 9, 1948) was a politician and a leader of a populist movement in Colombia, and member of the Liberal Party. He was assassinated during his campaign for President in 1948.

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. It is speculated that he would likely have been elected President had he not been assassinated.

Gaitán was assassinated during the 9th Pan-American Conference , which was being led by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall, a meeting which led to a pledge by members to fight communism in the Americas, as well as the creation of the Organization of American States.

Another major event in the country's capital Bogotá was taking place: a Latin American Youth Congress , one of whose attendees was a young Fidel Castro. The assassination provoked a violent riot known as the Bogotazo (loose translation: the sack of Bogotá, or shaking of Bogotá), and a further ten years of violence during which at least 300,000 people died (a period known as la violencia). Some writers say that this event influenced Castro's views about the viability of an electoral route for political change.

Gaitán's murderer, Juan Roa Sierra , was killed by the mob, and his motivations were never known.

A popular story, perhaps apocryphal, relates that during a debate with the Conservative candidate for president, Gaitán asked him how he made his living. "From the land," the other candidate replied.
"Ah, and how did you get this land?" asked Gaitán.
"I inherited it from my father!"
"And where did he get it from?"
"He inherited it from his father!"
The question is repeated once or twice more, and then the Conservative candidate concedes, "We took it from the Indians".
Gaitán's reply was, "Well, we want to do the opposite: we want to give the land back to the Indians". (Gaitán advocated land reform).