1.     

2.     

Woman – for men FARC was the worst thing ever. When we knew they were coming down from eth mountain we lived in fear   

3.     

GFX 1: Over 53 years of war in Colombia

4.     

GFX 2: FARC killed over 30,000 people.

5.     

EW: Whys this man in chains?

Man: It was the way they held us, with chains around our necks

6.     

GFX 3:  They were funded by extortion, ransom and cocaine.

FARC DUDE: I spent 29.5 years in FARC as a combatant.

PAULA: we were not war machines. And we did not go to war because we felt like it or because we wanted to know how it feels to hold a gun or sleep in the jungle.

7.     

TEXT: Now these former FARC fighters... are returning to society

8.     

FARC VICTIM

Day6 C1 @ 01:12:07:14.. Before they looked like terrorists. In the past they looked at you and you felt very scared. Nowadays they are normal people kind, healthy, friendly

9.     

PAULA: I’ve exchanged guns. I stopped shooting with a rifle to shoot with a camera.

SANDRA: We want people to know the history and not allow it to happen again

10.   

What the FARC?

11.   

Tierra Grata, Colombia

12.   

VO

They were brutal, they were violent and they were known for taking hostages.

13.   

EW ( in car travelling)

DAY 7 @ 01.07.37

We are heading in to mountainous part of Colombia that up until very recently would have meant our probable kidnap and possible death. It’s an area that was controlled by the FARC guerrilla organization one of the most feared guerrilla movements in the world and they had been fighting the Colombian government for 53 years

14.   

The war is now over - Eighteen months ago FARC signed a peace deal with the government.

Now these former revolutionaries are trying to figure out what a normal life might look like.

UPSOT: (village)

I’ve come to Tierra Grata … this is a government funded transitional camp for 150 FARC men and women.

15.   

UPSOT: guy patting pig + filling up bucket

For many, one of the first lessons is how to become a parent.

Day 4 @ 00:19:03:13 -  00:19:12:00

I think that the children when they arrived, felt like strangers,

This is a school for the children of FARC fighters. During the war they had to be separated from their parents, left instead with friends or relatives.

Peace means they are getting to know each other for the first time.

16.   

SCHOOL TEACHER

UPSOT: Teacher handing out papers 00:06:03:00

00:17:20:13  - 00:17:38:23

I imagine that it hasn’t been easy because they weren’t accustomed to having a family nucleus as such, as all of us have had. For them it was also new to meet their families, to have parenting guidelines, coexistence, and rules inside their families.

00:19:20:00 – 00:19:42:00

Now the parents are starting to show their feelings, as fathers or mothers, they are beginning to work at repaying the emotional debt that they owe to their children

MOTHER FIGHTER, SON AND GRANDMOTHER

17.   

Elsa was one of those FARC fighters who had to give up her baby

IT WAS A SACRIFICE MANY WOMEN MADE..

18.   

1:36:03 -1:36:35 The truth is, as far as I was concerned, she was dead. I pretended I didn’t have a real mum. I had the one who was raising me.

19.   

Due to the dangers of guerrilla life when he was 18 months old she took her son Fernando to a friend

20.   

Upsot Elsa

Day 5 C1 @ 01:23:26 - 1:23:51…. there were many dangers, bombings, assaults, shootings; like it happened to me when I had him in my belly

21.   

Day 5 C1 @ 1:29:48 – 01:30:08

 It was a very hard decision. I will never forget the day that I had to leave my son.

22.   

EW Question

Day 5 C1 @  1:28:39 – WHY NOT LEAVE FARC AND STAY WITH YOUR SON?

23.   

Day 5 C1 @ 01:31:18 – 1:31:27

It’s a decision you have to make regardless of your heart, but you can’t.

You know that you have to leave because you can be arrested or killed, or made to disappear.

24.   

Elsa had no contact with Fernando … for 25 years.

The peace deal meant that a year ago they could finally meet.

25.   

I didn’t recognise him.

I looked for a spot on his body

and said “It’s my son.”

I broke into tears.

26.   

FERNANDO –

Day 5 C1 @  01.40.21 – 01:40:00 (rough timecode)

We sat down, we talked. She told me what happened, the situation. And as a human being I understood.

27.   

Because of the war, Elsa knew no family for decades

28.   

After relatives were murdered by right wing paramilitaries Elsa joined FARC at just 15.

To protect her own parents she had no contact with them… for 30 years

1:10:23 – 01:10:44:00

Elsa - No. I never called them and for safety reasons I never went to the house. Because, as relatives of the guerrillas of the FARC they were in danger, they were looking for them and they could kill them, the paramilitaries. So I took care of my family and never contacted them.

After the peace deal Elsa

learned her mother was alive and searching for her

Another reunion was planned

29.   

00:58:11 I thought that it was a lie. But they assured me it was true. Then I closed my eyes and came here

00:58:20 Elsa – to visit me and to see whether it was true…

00:58:22 Mercedes – Of course

00:58:23 Elsa -What did you think mum when you couldn’t find me, when you didn’t know my whereabouts?

00:58:32 Mercedes – That you were dead, that I wasn’t going to see you anymore

00:59:04 Elsa – Don’t cry mum… you found me… we are fine

00:59:16 Mercedes – I am still thinking that it’s not real… but thank God… we are together

FINALLY TOGETHER BUT THE SCARS ARE STILL RAW FOR THIS FAMILY AND MANY OTHERS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE CONFLICT… 

30.   

FARC formed as a guerrilla force in 1964 after government forces attacked rural communist enclaves.

From that point on, its main targets were police, military and political leaders.

In decades of war seven million were displaced and 250,000 killed – most of them by the right-wing paramilitaries fighting for the government against FARC.

At its height FARC had 20,000 fighters and is thought to have earned $300 million a year from extortion, bank robberies, taxing and trafficking cocaine and kidnapping for ransom.

FOR MANY VICTIMS THEIR BRUTAL AND BLOODY ACTS LEAVE A PERMANENT WOUND

31.   

DAY 2 C2

00:04:31:24 – 00:04:46:00

They put cords around our necks and hands.  It was a moment of total uncertainty because we didn´t know if they were to shoot us or what was going to happen to us.

32.   

DAY 2 C2 @ 00:12:17:00 – 00:12:57:18 

00:12:17:00 When we were in a fixed place, they built the cages and we were locked inside.

…. and the worst was thinking in that they could kill us at anytime.

In 2001, FARC fighters attacked a remote police post - general Luis Mendieta was taken hostage.

33.   

EW: Why is this man in chains?

It was the way they held us there,

with chains around our necks,

and...

And at night, the other end

of the chain was tied to a tree

So, for many years

we were chained to trees.

34.   

He was held for 14 years

And it was this fading photograph of his family that kept him going.

35.   

DAY 2 C2 @ 01:32:36:19 – 01:32:49:00  (looking at the picture)

This was my daily motivation: to see them, greeting them in the morning, during the day to look at the photograph, and in the afternoon and night to say good bye. So, It was also the hope that I would be able to see them again, one day.

36.   

All of the captives held with him wrote messages of hope on this shirt. some later died, some were killed and many were eventually released

So this is the memory,

the voice of the victims of the FARC.

37.   

 DAY 2 C2 @ 00:54:05:23  - 00:54:14:00

What happens is that some hostages had to pay ransoms and give up their proprieties to be released,

Now, if there’s going to be no compensation, they are demanding that the guerrillas should pay with prison for the crimes they committed.

VO:

A COUNTRY ONCE TORN APART BY WAR, FACES DIFFERENT FRACTURES IN PEACE..

THAT’S BECAUSE former FARC fighters are not facing jail time

a deal has been made not to prosecute the crimes of war COMMITTED BY EITHER SIDE

Instead the government is HELPING THEM … BY paying a monthly income until the end of the year. After that, they’ll need to start supporting themselves

AND THAT MEANS THE EX GUERRILLAS NEED SOME ENTREPRENEURIAL INNOVATION

38.   

39.   

VO:

I’m heading to a FARC camp very similar to the one where General Mendieta was held.

Instead of forcing people to pay ransoms to leave this camp - they hope people will now pay to get in.

(reveal camp)

SANDRA

Day 6 C2 @ 00:08:16:16 – 00:08:32:20

Our camps during the struggle

were like this.

00:09:34:00 – 00:09:52:00

Here is where you will sleep tonight.

Here?

Yes, of course. Here. You’re all sweaty!

40.   

This is meant to be a tourist destination – for these FARC fighters it’s their ticket to making a NEW KIND OF living.

00:23:43:24 -00:23:52:15

We’d call this place “La Rancha”. It’s where we prepared our food.

41.   

LUCAS

00:24:52:03  -00:25:05:22

This is a typical camp for a unit

we call “Compañía”.It has 54 combatants.

00:35:54:12 – 00:36:13:18

We are going to walk towards an area where we will build a toilet.

I expected hiking and campfires. but digging a toilet isn’t what I consider a holiday activity

00:44:34:08 – 00:45:14:00

The idea is that people

have the full experience of the activities we performed in our daily routine, of the way we used to live when we were combatants and those who want to get involved

can have the full experience.

That’s the idea we have about

what we want to offer tourists.

and there are plenty of war stories from the guides

What caused that?

000:40:16:07  A shot, a bullet wound 

Lucas: she has another one, but it is a little bit up so you have to pay to see it

Sandra: I have another here, and here. I have three.

LUCAS: Big wounds. She was very sick.

SANDRA: I almost died.

It’s a miracle that I am alive.

LUCAS

00:47:31:13 – 00:47:42:00

Most Colombians only knew about the conflict through the mainstream media.

00:48:07:01 – 00:48:35:08

We want people to see it from a different perspective, from another angle. So they can have a full understanding

of the conflict and be able to make a critical analysis of what happened and why.

Day 6 C2

LUCAS

00:52:51:22 different style of bed that we used to build, with stones.

EW: Is it soft?

00:53:05:24 yes, soft soft, tender

EW: So theres no smoking in bed

00:53:40:09 Yes of course… very dangerous.

As the sun sets over Tierra Grata I head off to my leaf lined bed – the first ever guest of what we’ve dubbed, the FARC Hilton

42.   

SANDRA

Sandra waking Evan up

DAY 7 @ 00:05:15:24 – 00:05:33:00

You slept in! It’s already daylight. Get up. Let’s go for coffee.It’s getting cold.

Is the blanket stuck on you?

43.   

It’s early days and they are still working out how to attract paying tourists

But as part of their new approach to changing society, the fighters want this to be much more than a chance to sleep under the stars.

44.   

Day 7 @ 00:29:26:00 – 00:30:19:15

We can explain things to them, tell them our story. So people can know the reason for our struggle.

45.   

DAY 7 @ 00:24:18:00 - 00:24:49:00 

The founders of FARC were peasants. They were demanding rights. Rights like having a school, a health centre, land to work on... But all those demands were rejected. But instead of giving them

what they were requesting,

what they did was to send paramilitaries to kill them.

00:25:17:00 - 00:25:35:00

Then the only option

was to take up arms.

46.   

 EW: It was a war, bad things happened on both sides FARC was responsible for murder, executions, many people were very afraid of FARC. Some people might say this is romanticising the story of FARc, what would you say to them?

00:33:37:05 – 00:33:54 No ... well, we respect each one's opinion, each one's perceptions. But it's not the time to bring back those memories, no

We want people to know the history and not allow it to happen again. That’s our aim.   

47.   

48.   

TO CONFRONT THAT HISTORY FARC FIGHTERS AGREE TO MEET VILLAGERS CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE DURING THE WAR

49.   

WHITE SHIRT MAN

A group would come, paramilitaries or guerrillas or even the government, I don’t know. Then they accused us of collaborating with this or that group.

Those situations led to many deaths in our Colombia

Many of those deaths were caused among the people FARC thought it was fighting for.

BLACK TOP WOMAN

01:09:05:16 – 01:09:36:06

For me, FARC was the worst thing ever. When we knew they were coming down the mountains, we lived in fear.. because we had several family members killed.. nephews, cousins, uncles.. they didn’t give you a reason why, they just took the person away and later they’d tell us where the body was.

50.   

But those days we’re told…. are over The new age FARC is committed to peace.

51.   

Thousands of FARC members are now located in 26 transitional zones across Colombia.

But some have chosen to live right in the heartland of their former enemy – the country’s capital Bogota.

52.   

53.   

Around 1998-99 my family was forcibly ejected by the paramilitaries. My uncle was taken away and murdered and we never found him. Then we had to flee.

54.   

Aged just 15 Paula Roch-ee joined the rebels and spent 12 years in the jungle with FARC

55.   

Day 8 C1 @ 00:27:06:19 – 00:27:22:19

 we were not war machines. And we did not go to war because we felt like it or because we wanted to know how it feels to hold a gun or sleep in the jungle. No, we were the outcome of the repression during the Colombian conflict at the time.

56.   

Now, Paula is a star reporter for New Colombia TV  -  an online news service set up by ex-FARC fighters.

UPSOT: NC TV

Their goal is to continue the farc agenda by championing the poor and dispossessed. 

57.   

DAY 8 @ 00:05:29:00 – 00:05:39:00 I’ve exchanged guns. I stopped shooting with a rifle to shoot with a camera.

58.   

DAY 2 C1 @ 00:06:52:03 – 00:07:19:00 Our editorial policy is to work within vulnerable sectors, places where there are social struggles. Where they are still fighting for social justice.

There are a lot of people who link us with FARC obviously -although NC News is not the propaganda agency of FARC-.

59.   

Today Paula is following up claims local police are harassing street vendors.

60.   

Day 2c1 @ 01:19:44:09 – 01:19:59:03

UPSOT:

Paola: almost one million pesos?

Man: yes, almost one million of pesos, imagine it. And daily you receive one subpoena, two subpoenas, three subpoenas. It’s not fair. Where am I going to get the money to pay it?

61.   

Paula on the street i/v synch

DAY 2 C1 @ 01:30:20:00 – 01:30:47:00 - 

we are living in a polarized country. The rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer, the tax are increasing every year.

One feels anguish, knowing that this has to change one day, that we are who determine what path we take our country on.

NC TV HQ OR AT the exam

62.   

PAULA AND HER TEAM LEARNT ABOUT TV PRODUCTION BY MAKING FARC PROPOGANDA VIDEOS DURING THE WAR.

NOW THEY ARE GETTING OFFICIAL RECOGNITION FOR THEIR SKILLS BY SITTING A COLLEGE EXAM

UPSOT: in class

Manuel is their boss 

63.   

Manuel

00:01:40:12     00:01:45:00

And particularly,

it is very important, teacher, that today we get a certification of skills we acquired during the war. To the service of a process

to build a country with a stable,

and long-lasting peace.

MANUEL IN BOGOTA / BOLIVAR SQUARE ON THE DAY OF THE CONGRESS VOTE

64.   

Manuel doesn’t just run a tv channel…  he’s a key political leader

FARC has now turned itself in to a political party literally swapping guns for votes

65.   

He has brought me to the capital’s most important landmark – Bolivar Square.

It’s the location of the Congress, Presidential Palace, Courts and military.

To him, these are symbols of the power and wealth held by a small elite in Colombia.

Upsot yellow shirt army

66.   

00:48:50:20

In fact, these institutions form

a close circle of powerful families. They cling to power to ensure others do not come in and make important decisions

for this country.

00:48:00:20

We, the FARC represent the possibility of doing politics in another way.

67.   

(breather)

Peace is meant to allow FARC to pursue their goals politically

But a new President is now questioning the deal.

And even since the peace deal was signed, Manuel says the same right-wing death squads they once fought are still active.

68.   

DAY 1 @ 1.34.50:00 – 01:35:16:00

Right now, they are still killing us. We, as the FARC, have had 60 members murdered across the country. Also, social leaders, such as peasants, union members, So far we have around 180 people who have been killed.

69.   

Skeptical of the government’s commitment to the deal, Manuel says some fighters are returning to the jungle mainly to run drugs – they’re called dissidents.

Day 1 @ [02:11:30] – 02:11:41:00

And those who joined the dissidents are guerrilla combatants with 10, 15, 20 years’ experience. They  know how to fight a war!

DAY 3 @ 01:25:14:00 – 01:25:35:00

It means that the cycle of violence

can be galvanised again and in a much stronger way, with much more violence because many more people

will be unhappy

70.   

But for people like this across Colombia the deal means a real change. 

Some want revenge, there are calls for harsh justice and compensation but most just want peace

71.   

For Elsa, peace is more than the end of war…it’s the beginning of life with a family she never had.

ELSA

It was the peace process that let him meet his family, grandmother and uncles.

In this interview I say a million thanks to my son 

who accepted me as a mother…

after so many years.