The Colombia Herald

The above Caracol TV news report compares the way Colombian Senate treated pro-Cuban ELN leader Francisco Galán and paramilitary leaders Salvatore Mancuso, Ramón Isaza, and Iván Duque alias Ernesto Báez three years ago, with its scorn and indifference towards 30 victims of the violence by these groups, FARC, and some members of the Colombian Army this week. While Galán and the Mancuso boys were listened and applauded, the relatives of the dead Colombian common people puts to this “40-year low intensity war” weren’t even heard by almost 80 of the 91 Senators (from 102). Most of them were from pro-Uribe parties, even though some of the victims have suffered from attacks, massacres, death threats and murders perpetrated by FARC or ELN guerrillas (Uribe’s enemy number 1), such as El Nogal car-bomb in 2003, or the violence from the drug-dealing cartels, as former police officer Ricardo Gómez. Victims from Machuca and Bojayá massacres, relatives of FARC hostages and people murdered by paramilitaries because they belonged to the Patriotic Union party in the 1980s narrated their tragedy, but around 24 July at 20:00 only 35 of the 91 Senators who signed the attendance list were listening their testimonies. (more…)

After the murder of 11 deputies by FARC guerrillas, Colombians decided to go to the streets and yell “No More Kidnappings“. It started as a citizen initiative, but soon the democratic security government, big companies and mainstream media supported it and invited people to join. The huge demonstration took place on Thursday 5 July at noon. Even Second Lifers protested. But leftist Alternative Democratic Pole preferred to convoke its “own march”, because it didn’t want to be supportive of president Uribe, who is also considered [by them] responsible for the death of the local lawmakers.

equinoXio had a big special with some pictures from its “correspondents” in 5 cities (Bogotá, Medellín [twice], Cali, Manizales, and Pasto). Padrino José, writing from Cali, recalls his experience:

They marched today, I was there, but what I felt was the loneliness of the deputies’ families, amidst callings from political caudillos taking advantages from banners, flags and puppets calling for rejection [of kidnappings], I saw the pre-candidates for next elections fishing in Cali river’s troubled waters. But the saddest thing and that what I didn’t want to listen was the way deputy [Carlos] Charry’s daughter [Carolina] was treated while she read a grateful letter in behalf of the families and who was booed by the crowd as she said:

“… Our deads belong to us. Thank you for mobilizing to reject the government’s policies…”

And it’s them, the relatives, who in a unobjectionable mix of pain and loneliness sheltered by a blanket have in my opinion the best version of what happened: unfulfilled promises, cancelled appointments, begs everywhere in a 5-year restless search for their release and nothing could achieve it, the will of the parts in order to help in the right moment was an already earned right and they couldn’t get it, and to their surprise, now, when they clamour for their deads the voices of pain seem to be selfish and strategic and they will surely hold up the path to reach an ending.

(more…)