Colombia: is the peace at risk?

by Alberto de Filippis

Camera: Fredy Torres

Editing Fredy Torres and Peter Blazan

Music: youtube archive no copyright

0,00 general pictures of Bogota

Colombia votes for its president.

These elections follow a historic peace accord which ended the 50-year armed conflict between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in 2016. Following the terms of the agreement, in 2017, more than 10,000 FARC combatants surrendered their weapons and consolidated into 26 encampments, transitioning to civilian life. Farc Became a political party with 10 seats granted in the parliament. Implementing the accord, which means cementing the agreement into national legislation and ensuring its provisions reach all corners of the country equitably which remains difficult.

Bogota, the capital city, shows all the facets and contradictions of this country. Modern and antique. Generous and terribly violent.

0,38 picture of colombian Bronx

We are in the so-called Bronx. Yes, like the area in New York. It was a real hell on earth and it was raided by Colombian army two years ago. Thousands of Colombians lived in extreme poverty just some hundreds meters away from presidential palace. When the army took this place they found sex slaves, a well-oiled weapons market and a regular gathering of people for the purchase of every kind of drugs.

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Today, authorities are trying to transform this no-man land. But this is only one of Colombian problems. The very same peace process is at risk after the arrest of Jesus Santrich. He is accused of drug trafficking. He would have conspired with foreign cartels after the signature of peace agreement in Cuba.

1,39 general pictures of Cucuta

(Along with this political turmoil, Colombia is submitted to a very strong migratory wave from near Venezuela. Every day thousands of women and children cross the border escaping Nicolas Maduro’s socialist paradise)

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ITW Elkin Fernandez Botero secretary of the Colombian episcopal conference (in spanish)

The country is split in two. For and against the peace process. Some people looked at the peace agreement as if it was the final step towards the pacification of Colombia (in fact there are still other armed groups). The country, due to political extremism was divided in who wanted peace and who didn’t. Catholic church has always said that all of us want peace.

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2,35 general pictures of Bogota

Pope Bergoglio and the church have often been accused of being too shy in condemning this state of things and also Maduro’s government. Are these accusations right?

2,59 ITW Elkin Fernandez Botero secretary of the Colombian episcopal conference (in spanish)

Botero says: “We have seen to rise again new forms of violence. Above at all from new criminal syndicates, armed groups in the slums and on the countryside but also dissidents from the Farc which didn’t accept the peace agreement. Risk for the priests is real. We have had tied up with courage in order to report this kind of violence. It is not easy because many of these groups are leaded by greed, interests in drug trafficking, land control or simple imposition of their ideas. We cannot recall priests from the ground because they are often a factor of unity which helps to put a term to this violence. Nevertheless we perfectly know that our mission as the church is pastoral. We don’t choose a political side. This is hard to understand for some people. Our criteria are the ones of the gospel, not of the political agenda”.

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4,14 genral pictures of venezuelans in Cucuta

But how can this country handled such a great number of Venezuelans? And what kind of status do they have if Caracas refuses to acknowledge the humanitarian crisis? We decided to meet Yukiko Iriyama, of the UNHCR.

ITW in english, Yukiko Iriyama, deputy representative UNHCR Colombia

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“What we have seen on the ground in terms of protection gaps that exist, it starts from the child recrutement by illegal armed groups operating especially at the border. Also, giving that Venezuela and Colombia share over 2200 km of the border, there are 7 official entry points, but there are many people who decide to come to Colombia in an illegal manner and therefore they are subject to human trafficking, exploitation and we have noticed problems linked to sex and gender based violence, for women and girls but also for men and boys. additionally there are issues of xenophobia and also labour exploitation and lack to healthcare or education”.

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General pictures of other cities (Buenaventura)

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But the shame list is extremely long. If FARC are not the biggest problem anymore, many new cartels and syndicates surged. Criminals use also submarines to transport their cocaine and Venezuelan authorities, according to American DEA, are more than happy to close both eyes in exchange of some bribes.

General Ricardo Gomez Prieto explains the state of the art in the country:

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Itw Ricardo Gomez Prieto in spanish:

“We are developing a peace process with former Farc guerrilla that now has changed into a political party, but all this has meant a change in security of the country. We’ve seen a large number of affiliates who don’t accept the peace agreement and have formed a dissidence which we call residual GAO (acronym for Organized Armed Groups). They are deployed in the north of the country, on the seaside of Choco’ region and in the South. All this has made things a bit more complicated in terms of drug trafficking. Because all these structures formed new alliances with syndicates such as “los peluzos” in Catatumbo and “los puntilleros” in the South or Vichada region. Why these regions? Because they are perfect to cultivate cocaine. The red dot is the fight against ELN (National Liberation Army) tough. The operation is called red thunder. We fight them with units specialized in the ELN’s doctrine. They know how ELN operates. Every criminal actor has its form of operating. ELN for instance, uses often intimidation. But ELN has over 35 years of criminal history. In the territories where they operate, there is some richness. In Catatumbo and Arauca there is oil. In southern Bolivar there are mines. In Tumaco and Choco’ regions there is cocaine. They have their camps. Their work has also a lot to do with their relationship with civil population. They can either intimidating or bribe people. So we had to adapt in order to fight them where they try to impose their control on population. We call “Zeus” to the operation against the dissidents. They put themselves on the route of drug trafficking offering protection or threatening and they are re-organising themselves. We attack them with small and extremely specialized units. Because we had to adapt to changes”.

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General pictures of Bogota

9,34 pictures from educational video courtesy of Reconstruyendo Rostros ngo

War on trafficking, war against civil population and war against women. Colombia is one of the countries in the world with the highest rates of acid attacks against women. Gina Potes, founder of “Rebuilding faces”, tries to help the victims of the attacks to get control on their lives again.

10,03 itw Gina Potes founder of Reconstruyendo Rostros, in spanish

“22 years ago, in October will be exactly 22 years, I was the first registered victim of this kind of attack in the country. They came at the door of my home, they knocked. I went out together with my son and my sister with no idea of what was waiting for me. They throw acid against me which burned us severely. Thanks God I took the biggest part and not them. I suffered of three degrees burning.

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10,30 Gina Potes in front a wall

Gina Potes was attacked over two decades ago. Why did she start this organization only many years later?

10,39 itw Gina Potes founder of Reconstruyendo Rostros, in spanish

“(I decided) it in 2012 after having seen a tv report on another attack against a girl. I was shocked of seeing that for the first time they arrested the perpetrator and they let him go because the maximum of the penalty was 30 days. It brought me back in time. It made me clear that all this doesn’t last 15 days, or one month or three months. It lasts years. I have been facing operations all 22 years long. One year ago I got another surgery and I am waiting for more and other treatments. You understand that it never ends. You will not erase your scars. You will not get back the chances you lost. Your family and your children will always suffer for that. Aggressions have not diminished, on the contrary, they go on. The answer of authorities is extremely slow, often against the interests of the victims. We have reached something but it is not enough and we need more. Usually I am the one who met these girls. Mainly these women come to the foundation. The first thing we do is to look in each others eyes. I do understand what kind of drama, of tragedy they are living, what kind of pain they suffer. What do they need. I believe they want a friendly hand capable of understanding them, but also someone willing of listening to them without morbid, someone able to help them”.

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12,20 pictures of Bogota, El Espectador newspaper

In Colombia, there are some jobs more dangerous than others. Like journalism. Even more difficult if you are a woman.

Maria Baena is, without a doubt, the most important political columnist of the country at the moment. She works for the newspaper el Espectador, but her work can be extremely unpleasant sometimes.

12,57 Itw, in spanish, Maria Baena “la pulla” political columnist

Sometimes I ask myself, when these insults in the social media can become real threats. We really don’t know it. There is where the fear is. We suffer for what is happening in this country. That’s why we HAVE to say it. We buried this so called journalistic neutrality. This kind of objectivity, the fact of watching and judging everything from above. We are in all this and we suffer for what is happening in this country.

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Pictures courtesy of “la Pulla”

13,52 Are emotions good for journalism? Maria Baena has her own explanation.

13,54 Itw, in spanish, Maria Baena “la pulla” political columnist

“Emotions alone are maybe quite useless. But if you put journalistic investigation into this, the very same journalistic rigor we have been using for years, you can have a good result. We put emotion into aseptic journalism. And, above at all, one emotion: rage. We speak with rage in our columns. In Colombia rage has always been seen like something no to show. People has always been very diplomatic and respectful. All this because of the very same armed conflict. We asked ourselves: why has rage been in this country. To make war. Then we said, and why don’t we use it to communicate and we put informations in this rage? It is not just rage for itself but to communicate. We wanted to make journalism with our guts. We move ourselves between bravery and naivety. They told us to be aware, watch out some journalists have been already been killed for that. I don’t know. I never felt threatened. I never felt that someone was observing me on the street. But I receive insults, critics, memes, fake news on our team and on my private life on the web. That’s hard. Sometimes you say enough is enough. But I have very clear why I do that. For what we do that. For whom. At the end of the day insults and comments that are very offensive and hurtful goes on second plan. Because we are very focused on doing a good journalistic product, a good column for the people. that’s our purpose. If we forget our purpose, if we go after the comments we could start to make gossip. But we are not interested in this. We are journalists and we speak like that. We want to generate debate in a country and within a population which didn’t have it.

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16,08 pictures of public events in Bogota and pictures in Sebastian Bravo Guerrero’s studio

Colombia is a very multiform country. Where violence and beauty lives side by side. Worldwide known artists like Sebastian Bravo Guerrero have an explanation for all this.

16,40  itw Sebastian Guerrero, artist, in spanish

“When you have very few opportunities, you have to take your chance. When you live in a difficult reality, there are places where people have nothing, this is not my case, but there are, maybe learning to sing is your only chance. Drowning is the only option you have. When art and expression become something vital, extremely important to have a target, a sense of life, you cannot avoid to play along.”

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17,19 pictures of “Seba” Guerrero at work

But we still do not understand why Colombia is still split in two. Why it is so polarized? Sebastian explains:

17,40 itw Sebastian Guerrero, artist, in spanish

“People are scared. People are often scared of changes. There are two very important factors. Fear and lack of education. It is very difficult for someone with no education at all, to form a real consciousness. To understand different political messages and protect himself from this bombing. It is almost impossible to meet a person able to say on the street that I am a leftist or telling someone else “hey, I think you are saying something very extremist”. Is very possible that all the people around you, either you are right or not, took distance from this person. The reasons are fear and misinformation.”

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General pictures of Petro’s and Duque’s campaign

Colombia will rest divided even after the election of the new president. On one side Gustavo Petro, former mayor of Bogota and accused of proximity to Venezuelan chavism. On the other Ivan Duque, champion of the conservatives and suspected of being former president Alvaro Uribe’s muppet. In the middle Colombia, a country yanked between a past which could return and a future that is not clear.

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