La Victoria was founded in 1835, initially under the name of "La Cañada" in the Los Micos region, but the aim was to make the region a river port, so it was moved to the Cauca River. The name La Victoria was given on December 23, 1850, the date on which the Catholic Church commemorates the feast of Saint Victoria. It began as a hamlet belonging to Obando, but developed so quickly that in 1928 it re-emerged as a new municipality.
The territory includes extensive flat areas and a few mountainous areas whose relief corresponds to the western slope of the Central Andes Mountain Range. Among the orographic accidents, the Guacará, Aguja, Montecristo, Santa Barbara, Sierramocha and Taguales peaks stand out, as well as the Pan de Azúcar hill and the heights of Alegrías, El Convento, Gallinazo, La Cruz and La Pintura.
Its main economic activities are agriculture, livestock, mining and commerce. The crops of coffee, corn, soybeans, cotton, beans, cassava and bananas stand out.
In the mining field, gold, gypsum and talc are exploited.
Previously, it had a strategic position that made it an obligatory passage between cities such as Zarzal, Cartago, Roldanillo and Pereira. However, with the development of the Pan-American highway, it gradually lost the flow of vehicles, along with a notable deterioration in the access roads to the municipality.
Like many municipalities in the Valle del Cauca, La Victoria was the epicenter of drug trafficking within the well-known Cartel of the north of the valley. Although there were no violent events as critical as in neighboring towns, it was one of the causes of the displacement of 236 people in the period between 2000 and 2008.
Translated by Google •
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