1
00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,080
First they came for the communists

2
00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:16,400
and I did not speak out, 
because I was not a communist.

3
00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:18,400
Then they came for the Jews

4
00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:21,680
and I did not speak out, 
because I was not a Jew.

5
00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:23,800
Then they came for the workers

6
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,680
and I did not speak out, because I 
was neither a worker nor a trade unionist.

7
00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:29,680
Then they came 
for the Catholics

8
00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:33,080
and I did not speak out, 
because I was Protestant.

9
00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,680
Then they came for me

10
00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,080
and there was no one 
left to speak out.

11
00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:36,800
On March 16th 2007

12
00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:44,000
my husband Daniel Torres and my 16-year 
old son Roque Julio were murdered.

13
00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:47,160
The 16th Brigade based in Yopal did this

14
00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:53,280
and the payment is up to 
3,815,000 pesos (€1.250)

15
00:01:53,400 --> 00:02:00,680
for killing guerrilla members.

16
00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:06,480
I was told there had been an ambush 
and there were two dead guerrilla.

17
00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:11,680
It’s obvious some sectors keen to discredit 
the government’s ‘democratic security’ policy

18
00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,160
see this issue as 
the ideal opportunity

19
00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,160
to make unfounded complaints

20
00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:23,480
and to manipulate the figures and 
discredit the security forces.

21
00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:25,160
Who were the two dead guerrilla

22
00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,680
if my husband and son 
were on the farm,

23
00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:29,880
and they were not guerilla 
in a any shape or form.

24
00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,280
They were working on the farm

25
00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,080
as they were farmers 
and worked with cattle.

26
00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:38,280
Why were they killed?

27
00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:40,160
Because my son had witnessed

28
00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:47,280
two deaths that occurred in the 
same settlement, in 2005 and 2006.

29
00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,160
My son gave evidence 
about these two deaths.

30
00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:59,000
For that he paid 
with his life,

31
00:02:59,120 --> 00:03:03,120
Because he testifiedabout 
what they were doing

32
00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:04,880
to civilians from 
the same settlement.

33
00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:05,960
It wasn’t just them,

34
00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:10,640
many people have died 
at the hands of the army.

35
00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,680
It’s not right.

36
00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:16,720
Who is responsible

37
00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:21,360
for this life we are living?

38
00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:26,160
The government...
the president we have.

39
00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:28,040
He is the only one 
responsible for all this.

40
00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:30,920
We are facing a phenomenon

41
00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,920
or a widespread pattern

42
00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:39,040
of disappearances and 
executions, so to speak.

43
00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:44,440
Look at the yearly figures: In 1996 
one case of human rights violation

44
00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:46,320
1997: 8

45
00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:48,440
1998: 4

46
00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,920
1999: 6

47
00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,120
2000: 4

48
00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:56,040
2001: 3

49
00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:58,880
2002: 12

50
00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:01,240
2003: 37

51
00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,520
2004: 93

52
00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,640
2005: 125

53
00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:12,920
2006: 223, 2007: 397

54
00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:14,800
2008: 112

55
00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:20,120
and the Public Ombudsman says that till 
now around 100 complaints have been made

56
00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,520
against members of the security forces.

57
00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:28,920
My name is Paola Sanabria, I'm a relative 
of one of the extrajudicial killing victims.

58
00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:32,920
My father was called Eiver Mendoza. 
He was my foster father.

59
00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:35,400
He died on March 24th.

60
00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:41,120
He was said to have 
been killed in combat.

61
00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:42,920
He was dressed 
up as a guerrilla.

62
00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:47,200
You will understand that it isn’t 
easy, a father is a father.

63
00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:57,120
As the Army is paid for 
each guerrilla killed,

64
00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:01,600
it’s obvious that it’s easier 
for them to kill civilians,

65
00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,000
and dress them up as guerrilla.

66
00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,200
The Army are said to be 
the heroes of Colombia,

67
00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:11,080
one isn’t supposed 
to feel afraid of them,

68
00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:14,560
but should feel 
protected at their side.

69
00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,840
But i am 
afraid of them.

70
00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:29,400
Casanare: 
Exhuming the genocide

71
00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:30,880
They executed my husband

72
00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:35,560
Payment is up to 
3,815,000 pesos (€1.250)

73
00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:37,560
Discrediting 
the security forces

74
00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:39,080
Carrying out 
selective killings

75
00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:39,880
They were killed

76
00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:40,400
Executions

77
00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:41,560
‘False positive’ 
extrajudicial executions

78
00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:42,760
The 16th Brigade

79
00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:43,800
Distorting reality

80
00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:45,000
Their lives were taken

81
00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:46,600
Who disappeared her?

82
00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:47,840
They were disappeared

83
00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:49,000
He was disappeared

84
00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:49,840
The paramilitaries

85
00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:50,400
Tortures

86
00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:52,320
Links with the army

87
00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:53,760
They were coordinated

88
00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:54,560
They went around as friends

89
00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:56,000
They were the same

90
00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:56,760
They were accomplices

91
00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:57,960
Of the 25th Brigade

92
00:05:58,000 --> 00:05:59,000
Too many dead

93
00:05:59,040 --> 00:05:59,760
They killed him here

94
00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:00,720
Of course they killed him

95
00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:01,480
That was my son

96
00:06:01,560 --> 00:06:02,040
He was killed

97
00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:03,040
BP

98
00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:04,040
The end of Acdainso

99
00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:04,800
Gaula (anti-
kidnapping unit)

100
00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:06,240
Murderers

101
00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:14,800
Would someone tell me if 
they have seen my son.

102
00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:21,240
He is a pre-medical student.

103
00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,560
He’s called Augustin 
and he’s a good guy.

104
00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,960
He’s sometimes stubborn 
when giving his opinion.

105
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,480
He was arrested.

106
00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,480
I don’t know by which 
of the security forces.

107
00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:49,160
Jairo was 17 
and Luis 19,

108
00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:53,840
they were 
college students.

109
00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,600
Luis was taken from 
the home of a sister.

110
00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:02,560
They forced their way in, battering 
down the doors, they took him out.

111
00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:04,160
And they got Jairo in the street,

112
00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,680
it was 6 in the evening and 
he was there in the street.

113
00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:09,600
That’s when they got him.

114
00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:12,560
They couldn’t be found anywhere.

115
00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,320
We went to the army with the local government 
human rights official and asked them.

116
00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:26,040
They said they didn’t know,

117
00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,160
that the previous night 
there had been a clash

118
00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:31,160
and several had died

119
00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,400
and they didn’t know 
what had happened.

120
00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,120
Nobody could tell us.

121
00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:42,000
We looked everywhere and nobody 
could give us a reason.

122
00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,760
Until the third 
or fourth day...

123
00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:49,640
..a man came out 
to milk his cows

124
00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:54,040
in a pasture near the 
River Chamezano bridge.

125
00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,880
When he arrived he 
found them dead.

126
00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:02,880
They had been terribly... 
massacred.

127
00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:15,080
They pulled their 
fingernails out.

128
00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:24,080
The Army was proven to have 
been there at that moment,

129
00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,000
to have murdered the men.

130
00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:34,080
With this event all 
the violence started.

131
00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,720
that we have suffered for almost 
15 years in our municipality

132
00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:40,840
They were the 
first victims.

133
00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,520
And we were the ones 
who paid the first price.

134
00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:03,720
They would come and take people off

135
00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:06,720
sometimes tied up, 
and sometimes not,

136
00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:11,720
After they were far away, 
they did whatever they wanted.

137
00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:16,680
My husband disappeared 
on February 9th 2003,

138
00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,040
here in Chameza municipality.

139
00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:23,360
He was abducted 
by paramilitaries.

140
00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:27,880
They took him and nothing 
more was known of him.

141
00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:31,360
Along with my husband

142
00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:35,720
22 people from the 
municipality disappeared.

143
00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:42,120
This is my daughter who 
the paramilitaries killed.

144
00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:45,080
They grabbed her at 
the Unete bridge and then

145
00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:49,160
they took her to Tauramenta 
and killed her,

146
00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:54,280
when captain Guerrero 
was the commander

147
00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:59,040
and the Army and the paramilitaries 
were close friends.

148
00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:01,840
They sat down at the tables 
to drink beer together.

149
00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:03,840
They entered the village here.

150
00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:06,480
The Army would note 
down the names

151
00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:12,280
of people who left and 
entered the village.

152
00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:16,080
By day the army was here, 
the police were here, but...

153
00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:20,720
the same things would happen.

154
00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,040
In 2002

155
00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:28,080
the paramilitaries 
kidnapped my husband.

156
00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,720
They took him off.

157
00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:34,240
They held him for 8 days,

158
00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:38,160
abusing him, torturing him.

159
00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:44,120
And that same day we fled.

160
00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:48,840
We abandoned the farm, 
the animals, everything.

161
00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:53,040
We had trusted that the Army

162
00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,200
was going to protect 
us at that time.

163
00:10:57,320 --> 00:10:59,800
Then we became aware that

164
00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:03,440
one day the captain of the army 
had been speaking to the paramilitaries,

165
00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:08,120
he would greet them and we said:

166
00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,120
‘this is serious...

167
00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:12,800
they are all the same’.

168
00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:16,080
We didn’t have any hope.

169
00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:28,480
‘Would someone tell me if 
they have seen my husband,

170
00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:31,120
the lady asked,

171
00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:35,960
‘he’s called Ernesto X, 
he’s 40

172
00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:43,120
and a caretaker at 
a vehicle company.

173
00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:50,080
He was wearing a dark 
shirt and light trousers.

174
00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:53,920
He went out the 
night before last

175
00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,280
and hasn’t returned

176
00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:07,440
and I don’t know what to think 
as this hasn’t happened before.’

177
00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:27,920
My case is about the 
disappearance of 7 relatives.

178
00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:32,560
Among them my father, my mother,

179
00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:36,040
two brothers and three uncles,

180
00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:40,320
who were disappeared in 
February and March 2003

181
00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:42,520
by paramilitary groups.

182
00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:48,000
My husband disappeared 
on 18th

183
00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:52,040
Yes, February 18th 2003.

184
00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,640
My son was called Carlos 
Andrés Barrera Pedraza,

185
00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:59,080
he was a zoology student

186
00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:01,920
at Sogamoso university.

187
00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:06,720
And was disappeared 
on February 28th 2003.

188
00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:11,360
He was disappeared 
by the paramilitaries

189
00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:13,080
on February 20th 2003.

190
00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:18,000
Till now I haven’t had a...

191
00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:19,880
concrete explanation 
of what happened to him.

192
00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,120
My great wish is...

193
00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:26,960
is to know...

194
00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:28,400
if he is alive...

195
00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:31,680
or, if he was killed,

196
00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:34,080
to know where they left him 
to collect his remains.

197
00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:50,480
Here in Casanare the ACC -

198
00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:52,640
Autodefensas Campesinas del Casanare 
(Casanare Peasant Self-Defence) were active,

199
00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:55,320
led by Martin Llanos.

200
00:13:56,120 --> 00:14:00,360
These paramilitaries entered 
at the end of 2002

201
00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:03,480
and start of 2003.

202
00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,360
They started to fight 
for control of this region.

203
00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:11,360
The paramilitaries 
disappeared my two sons

204
00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:15,200
on February 2nd 2003.

205
00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:18,160
And till now I don’t 
know where they are.

206
00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:21,720
I only know that 
they were disappeared,

207
00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:24,560
and we still don’t know 
what has happened to them.

208
00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:27,680
From the day when our loved 
ones were disappeared

209
00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:32,040
we have been threatened 
by the same

210
00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:33,960
paramilitaries.

211
00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:37,080
Also

212
00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:38,560
in this period

213
00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:40,240
we have also been threatened

214
00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:43,080
by army troops.

215
00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:49,600
I don’t want my 
face to appear here

216
00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,080
because...
I’m afraid.

217
00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,000
I have so many 
things to say

218
00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:56,000
but  dont  dare 
to say them

219
00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:58,680
out of fear.

220
00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:17,960
At that time I was drafted 
for military service,

221
00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,400
it was the Tauramena Batallion, 
the 44th Batallion.

222
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:28,320
At the beginning

223
00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:32,080
it dawned on me that as 
I was serving in the army

224
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:34,720
I could get some 
kind of help

225
00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:41,360
that they could help me 
rescue my relatives.

226
00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:46,160
I mentioned to my superiors what 
had happened to my family

227
00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:50,840
and asked them if they would help 
rescue them from the paramilitaries.

228
00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,360
Every time I mentioned 
it to my superiors

229
00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:55,640
they mocked me

230
00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:57,840
and criticised,

231
00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:02,120
implying that the disappearances 
from Chameza and Recetor

232
00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:04,240
had been a plus for them

233
00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:08,760
as the paramilitaries 
had removed

234
00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,080
who weren’t farmers 
from the region.

235
00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:19,160
For me the worst thing, 
what hurt me most

236
00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:21,760
when the paramilitaries 
came here,

237
00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:23,360
they had links 
to the Army

238
00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:25,400
because the Army 
was here in Recetor

239
00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:32,560
and the paramilitaries still 
came and took people away.

240
00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:35,800
They always 
came here

241
00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:36,840
armed.

242
00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:41,600
They took food, and 
the Army accompanied them.

243
00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:47,600
They were together...
one with the Army...

244
00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:49,560
let’s say...they were 
part of the same gang

245
00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:53,320
because the Army was 
here in the municipality

246
00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,000
and the paramilitaries were 
right there, that’s why.

247
00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:02,560
They weren’t afraid the Army 
would carry out any operation.

248
00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,200
It’s well known that 
they coordinated together.

249
00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,400
they are notorious for it.

250
00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:11,640
So how could we ask the Army

251
00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:13,760
to help and protect us

252
00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:17,160
if they were all the same.

253
00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:20,320
Well, it’s no secret here that

254
00:17:20,360 --> 00:17:22,840
the guerrilla were active here 
before the paramilitaries came

255
00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:27,640
and large companies 
had held meetings.

256
00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:32,360
When we came into 
contact with the guerilla...

257
00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:33,960
they told us

258
00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:35,840
not to let

259
00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:38,080
the oil companies in

260
00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:41,400
because where the oil 
companies have appeared...

261
00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:44,320
as they arrived with the 
permission of the government...

262
00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:46,840
So we opposed their presence

263
00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:49,200
and organised civil resistance.

264
00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:54,560
That’s why there was a 
delay in oil company activity.

265
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:56,520
First they sent

266
00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:58,560
the paramilitaries 
to carry out

267
00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:00,280
a so-called 
‘cleansing’.

268
00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:03,920
When this did 
in fact occur

269
00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:06,320
shortly after the company 
Petrobras appeared.

270
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:46,040
It was since these companies arrived 
that a new‘social order’came into force.

271
00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:50,640
Before People could 
go out at any time

272
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:53,760
at night, go 
to their farms

273
00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:55,560
and nothing 
happened

274
00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:59,000
and it was because 
of these companies

275
00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:03,120
that it happened that 
bad people came...

276
00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:06,800
Nobody was allowed 
out at night.

277
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:13,360
At any moment we would 
find killed people on the paths.

278
00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,600
My husband wasn’t killed 
here on the farm,

279
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:35,040
he died in Aguaazul.

280
00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:37,280
And my brother was killed 
here on the farm.

281
00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,160
My husband is 
among those

282
00:19:41,360 --> 00:19:44,400
‘false positive’ 
extrajudicial executions.

283
00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,280
It happened on 
March 24th 2008

284
00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,320
in Monterralo 
settlement

285
00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:54,760
at the hands 
of the National Army,

286
00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:56,840
to be precise 
the 16th Brigade.

287
00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:01,040
BP pays the army for 
the security of the drill holes.

288
00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:02,800
Following this problem

289
00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:07,200
the only thing I have received 
are threats from the Army.

290
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:12,040
8 days after his death 
we were threatened.

291
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:15,720
When the men 
were here

292
00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,080
the Gaula (anti-kidnap unit) 
came for them and locked them up.

293
00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:21,360
They were taken 
away tied up.

294
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:24,040
Tied up

295
00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,120
and were 
definitely killed.

296
00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:29,800
The other man, the 
one from the house

297
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:31,360
was released

298
00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:33,080
and he went up 
with someone else

299
00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:35,720
apparently he 
heard shooting.

300
00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:38,760
They said there 
were clashes

301
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:40,360
but there was 
nothing over there.

302
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,880
When they had them they couldn’t see 
anything, he didn’t see anything.

303
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:47,840
And apparently he heard 
bullets and bombs.

304
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,960
Soon after a helicopter came.

305
00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:56,680
They obviously killed them and 
then took them to Yopal.

306
00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:01,040
Yesterday we were 
threatened again.

307
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,440
Yesterday at 7.40 in the 
morning they called my daughter.

308
00:21:05,120 --> 00:21:07,600
I don’t understand why the 
Army does these things.

309
00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:12,360
They are the ones supposed to 
protect the community, the farmers,

310
00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:15,440
but they turn out to 
be just murderers.

311
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,560
When the president 
came to Yopal

312
00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:21,160
he told the Army

313
00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,360
that they had 
to produce

314
00:21:23,360 --> 00:21:25,800
results.

315
00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:28,720
He asked what they were doing

316
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,520
and that they 
shouldn’t give up.

317
00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:38,840
So they started killing farmers 
and passing them off as guerrilla.

318
00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:41,840
Farmers as guerrilla and...

319
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:46,400
the government was supposedly 
finishing off the...

320
00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:50,080
the insurgency. Lies, because 
they were killing farmers.

321
00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:53,320
People were afraid at 
the time to complain

322
00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,040
out of fear of being 
killed themselves.

323
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,520
When the poor speak out,

324
00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:01,720
speak out to complain,

325
00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:04,760
they are accused of 
being a guerrilla.

326
00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:07,080
Always mistreated,

327
00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:09,080
having their 
rights trampled

328
00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:10,680
as if not human

329
00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,680
and to the boss their 
lives are only worth a cent.

330
00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:16,920
For equal rights,

331
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,200
for rights we 
should be struggling,

332
00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,200
united as one,

333
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,200
the trade unions and 
workers’ bodies as one.

334
00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:28,440
Showing with open heart

335
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:30,000
that we have never been silenced

336
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:34,080
and that we know how to 
defend ourselves from the wicked.

337
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:36,560
That is the situation,

338
00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:40,360
the situation in 
my dear country,

339
00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:43,320
where today 
we speak out,

340
00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:47,160
we speak out for 
all those suffering,

341
00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:50,120
in the voice of a singer, 
who wanders the paths

342
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:54,200
driven by the wind of 
liberty for the worker and farmer.

343
00:22:57,640 --> 00:22:59,200
The people 
have organised

344
00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:04,120
and...demanded 
their rights,

345
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:05,800
and the leader who 
demanded their rights,

346
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:07,480
who was most 
insistent, was the first...

347
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:09,200
to be killed.

348
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,120
The one who speaks and makes 
demands is the first to disappear.

349
00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:19,000
They killed 
our leaders

350
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:29,040
who...were trying 
to speak to BP

351
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:32,000
to large companies

352
00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,080
but...I don’t 
know why

353
00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,920
these leaders 
were disappeared.

354
00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:42,920
Look...they are 
the armed forces,

355
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,480
and are in Tauramena where 
there is a military base

356
00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:47,840
the whole time

357
00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,000
and the paramilitaries 
scattered over the hills

358
00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:55,400
how can they not 
know they are there?

359
00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:01,440
My son was called 
Nelson Raúl Pinto,

360
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,000
he was 18.

361
00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:10,840
I don’t know what 
happened to him,

362
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,080
he disappeared 
in 2002.

363
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,000
He went to Yopal

364
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,600
and never came back.

365
00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,120
I haven’t had 
any kind of news

366
00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:41,000
neither that he’s alive or dead.

367
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,760
Well...I hope 
he’s alive

368
00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:46,960
but I know 
that he isn’t

369
00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,400
I know that he isn’t alive.

370
00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:55,520
Well I never 
made a complaint...

371
00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:57,080
to the authorities 
because...

372
00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:00,120
I always hoped that...

373
00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:02,760
one day he would 
suddenly appear

374
00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:08,680
and I still hope, 
although now not very.

375
00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:14,440
And...till now nothing 
has been known about him

376
00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:18,760
so...I just don’t know.

377
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:20,200
I don’t know...

378
00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:22,960
who killed him, 
who took him off.

379
00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:26,160
I think it was 
the paramilitaries.

380
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:30,840
Around 1998

381
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:36,160
the farmers began 
to be persecuted

382
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:40,280
by the military.

383
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:44,040
The Army, 25th Brigade...

384
00:25:44,120 --> 00:25:47,960
I went with two 
men and one person

385
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,160
who was mentally ill.

386
00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:53,160
We were on our way 
to a smallholding

387
00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:55,920
when we ran 
into the Army

388
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:57,360
and each one of 
us was taken aside

389
00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,120
and we were kicked and 
beaten with rifle butts.

390
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:04,120
We were kicked and beaten, 
they did what they wanted

391
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:06,640
And why?

392
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:11,120
Because we didn’t tell 
them where the guerrilla were

393
00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:15,240
And we didn’t 
know why...

394
00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:17,400
one who lives and 
works on one’s farm

395
00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:20,120
isn’t after anything 
or anyone.

396
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:22,880
That time they told 
me if I made a complaint

397
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:24,240
they would come for me,

398
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:25,320
so I left the farm.

399
00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:28,040
At that time they would 
come for anyone.

400
00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:31,280
They would just capture you
and make you out to be a subversive.

401
00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,840
The Army would 
benefit from that...

402
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:37,120
they get rewards,

403
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:39,000
they get holidays

404
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,480
for each person 
handed over.

405
00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:48,120
They get a 
load of money

406
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:56,080
and also when they 
commit an assasination.

407
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:06,880
I went and 
asked them

408
00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:08,120
and they told me:

409
00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:10,360
they told me: ‘we can’t give you 
an account of what happened,

410
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:12,440
we can only tell 
you that

411
00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:15,600
there was a clash and 
a subversive was killed’.

412
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:17,160
I told them: ‘what
 kind of subversive,

413
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,240
that was my son.’

414
00:27:19,360 --> 00:27:22,480
Then I was treated 
very badly,

415
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:25,680
I was told that I was 
an old ‘son of a bitch’,

416
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,480
that he was a guerrilla.

417
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,520
I told them: ‘he wasn’t 
a guerrilla at all’.

418
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:33,840
..and he left and while 
he was walking up a field

419
00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:35,120
by the river

420
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,080
the Army was already there. 
They followed him.

421
00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:38,120
They caught 
up with him.

422
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:39,720
They held him 
and beat him.

423
00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:42,000
They beat him all the way

424
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,520
down the hill.

425
00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:48,760
When they reached the bottom 
they put him in some bushes

426
00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:50,920
and simulated a shoot out.

427
00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:55,320
They said there had been clashes 
and they had killed him.

428
00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:57,080
The guy had just 
been at home,

429
00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,040
without a weapon 
or anything.

430
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:02,160
Then they legitimised it,

431
00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:06,160
because they dressed him 
in camouflage and gave him weapons.

432
00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,920
And the helicopter came 
and picked up the body.

433
00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,600
That must have 
been in 2005.

434
00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:17,880
When the companies started 
arriving everyone was happy

435
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:21,920
bacause they paid 
a very good salary.

436
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,520
Everyone was going 
to have plenty of money.

437
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:27,640
And it was lies, 
because...

438
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,080
maybe they made 
money but...

439
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:37,000
but too many people died 
for it to be worth it.

440
00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:45,680
This war started in 
aboriginal times

441
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,600
when muiscas and quimbayas 
killed each other out of greed.

442
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:50,320
Spanish plunderers

443
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,240
arrived without warning, 
shooting and enslaving

444
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:54,560
many of our indigenous.

445
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,000
However, the warriors of 
these lands have changed.

446
00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,800
Now, it’s the insurgency 
against state forces

447
00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:03,720
youth gangs 
against militia groups,

448
00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:06,720
the war of the drug lords, 
the war among killers,

449
00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:09,840
the war of the races 
and between social classes,

450
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:12,720
the hunter 
against animals.

451
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:14,200
This is a society

452
00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:15,760
largely forged 
from lead,

453
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,720
where there have been 
wars for land and gold.

454
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,920
Limited wars, silent 
ones, never declared

455
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,720
which result in death and 
displaced families.

456
00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:30,040
Despite the 14,000 barrels of 
crude leaving El Morro daily,

457
00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:35,560
El Morro district 
lacks a doctor and roads.

458
00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:40,120
The farmers 
don’t have electricity.

459
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,920
domestic gas 
is very limited

460
00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:45,280
and the cost 
is very high.

461
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:56,040
Acdainso was formed...

462
00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:59,120
was formed by 17 
or 18 settlements

463
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:00,760
and fought

464
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:03,960
permanently for 
workers’ rights

465
00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,680
and achieved some things.

466
00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:08,720
It gained the respect 
of the community.

467
00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:11,800
It achieved respect 
for the workers

468
00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,240
and the environment.

469
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:25,040
It was very difficult 
to negotiate with BP.

470
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:28,920
BP didn’t like that 
they were meeting

471
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:31,760
and that its leaders were 
inspiring the communities to rebel.

472
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:34,520
to rebel

473
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:36,720
Until BP...

474
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:39,800
seeing Acdainso as 
a permanent obstacle,

475
00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:42,040
… not know

476
00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:43,520
using any means

477
00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,760
they set about persecuting 
Acdainso’s directors.

478
00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:51,400
People started getting killed.

479
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:58,840
Our colleague Oswaldo 
Vargas was killed in 2004

480
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:05,080
and Acdainso closed 
as a result.

481
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:07,320
A new organisation 
called Asojuntas was set up.

482
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:11,480
Parmenio was elected 
president of Asojuntas

483
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:15,440
on May 7th 2005,

484
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:20,760
And on May 10th, three days 
later he was murdered.

485
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:24,400
He came down to the house to 
have lunch. He was on his way back.

486
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:28,960
Arriving back at work, 
they were waiting for him.

487
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,960
A few gunmen 
intercepted him.

488
00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:35,040
That day they 
killed him

489
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,000
and another friend who 
was on the motorbike.

490
00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:41,120
They didn’t want there 
to be any trace of Acdainso

491
00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,120
because Acdainso 
was an organisation that

492
00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:46,000
put BP in check,

493
00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:48,040
put BP in check 
a few times.

494
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:49,880
We held 2 or 3 strikes

495
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,200
the last one lasted 
around 45 days

496
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:55,160
demanding the 
workers’ rights

497
00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:56,880
because the pay 
was very low.

498
00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:00,040
They were polluting 
the environment a lot -

499
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:02,080
the Cravo Sur river, 
the La Guatoca stream.

500
00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:05,480
There was total 
deforestation.

501
00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:10,640
Regarding the death of my bother 
and the other guy,

502
00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,960
nobody wanted to know.

503
00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:18,800
So the road was 
open for BP

504
00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:24,480
They had achieved what they 
had wanted all along,

505
00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:31,000
But what is said against multinationals 
here doesn’t get acknowledged.

506
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,600
because in effect the multinationals

507
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,680
replace the state 
in the countryside.

508
00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,120
The Colombian state, 
regrettably,

509
00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,000
doesn’t have a presence here 
in the countryside in Casanare.

510
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:48,040
We attribute my brother’s death 
to the 16th Brigade, the Gaula.

511
00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:19,840
On April 16th 2008

512
00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,800
I was detained by the DAS 
(internal security) and the army

513
00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:28,560
in Teislandia in 
Tamara municipality.

514
00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:33,440
Since then I have been 
persecuted by the authorities

515
00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:37,840
and have been harassed.

516
00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:41,960
It has happened at 
home and on the farm.

517
00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:47,720
Both I and my family 
have been persecuted.

518
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:51,160
Sometimes they 
turn up near my house

519
00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:53,080
or I find them 
on the farm.

520
00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:56,000
I can’t walk about alone.

521
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,000
Various people 
have told me that

522
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:03,520
they want to find me alone, 
I don’t know what they want

523
00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:06,760
to do with me.

524
00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:09,200
This worries me.

525
00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:12,320
I am afraid because

526
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,880
with all the extrajudicial 
executions they have carried out

527
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:18,920
they could harm my life.

528
00:34:31,240 --> 00:34:34,880
Here, near to this post

529
00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:37,800
that is, in Campo Hermoso,

530
00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,440
here in Tamara

531
00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:45,200
a lot has happened.

532
00:34:45,240 --> 00:34:49,920
For example, civilians who the 
Gaula and Army have killed.

533
00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:52,520
There are four cases of this.

534
00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:57,160
Some guys working on the farm

535
00:34:57,240 --> 00:35:01,120
were taken off and 
passed off as guerrilla

536
00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:03,680
by dressing them 
in camouflage.

537
00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:08,480
Later the state will 
have to pay them.

538
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:11,520
This is well-known.

539
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:15,560
For example, they seized one 
civilian, put a uniform on him

540
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:17,680
and killed him.

541
00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:56,240
They offered him 300 million pesos 
to allow an oil company onto the reservation

542
00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:59,400
and he refused. 
His name was Alvaro Salon.

543
00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:06,160
He didn’t allow it, he wouldn’t 
sell his community at any price.

544
00:36:08,280 --> 00:36:12,000
so...he was killed.

545
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:17,000
Between the Foothills 
and the Eastern Plains

546
00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:22,400
the department of Casanare had 
the bad fortune to contain enormous oil reserves

547
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:27,240
which made it a prime target 
for state and quasi-state violence.

548
00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:31,160
This has in its turn facilitated 
the indiscriminate takeover

549
00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:33,280
of this precious 
energy resource

550
00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:35,760
by multinational companies.

551
00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:38,000
The extractive zeal 
hasn’t stopped,

552
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:41,200
not even for the right to 
life of the Casanarians,

553
00:36:41,720 --> 00:36:43,240
willing to use any means

554
00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:47,720
to eliminate any obstacle to 
the seizure of the black gold.

555
00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:50,880
Out of a population of 
just 300,000 inhabitants

556
00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:52,760
in the last 20 years

557
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:56,120
over 2,600 have been disappeared

558
00:36:56,800 --> 00:36:59,520
while thousands have been murdered.

559
00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:02,520
The world is divided between 
those who possess the word

560
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:05,240
and those who have to borrow it.

561
00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:08,720
Faced with a government that 
tries to forgive and forget

562
00:37:08,720 --> 00:37:10,600
for itself and
 the executioners,

563
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:12,440
today the victims have 
broken the silence,

564
00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:14,240
have put aside the fear

565
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:17,040
and are taking up the word.

566
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:24,680
There are things which 
are highlighted nationally,

567
00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:26,080
and with much enthusiasm

568
00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:29,760
about the guerrilla, 
the kidnapped,

569
00:37:29,920 --> 00:37:32,040
those to be exchanged,

570
00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:33,280
politicians, soldiers.

571
00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:36,480
But what happened here 
also concerned human beings.

572
00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:39,920
And what happened here 
should also be publicised.

573
00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:42,960
And what happened here 
should also be given due importance.

574
00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:46,680
We, as victims,
only want

575
00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:50,160
to get to the truth,

576
00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:52,560
to be helped to to 
clear up all the cases,

577
00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:53,960
for justice to be done,

578
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,800
to be able to establish 
the truth of the events,

579
00:37:57,240 --> 00:37:59,760
so that there can 
be truth and justice,

580
00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:03,320
and compensation

581
00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:06,520
for the damage these 
groups have caused

582
00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:09,360
us and the relatives 
of the disappeared.

583
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:12,160
I don’t agree with the 
‘Justice and Peace’ law

584
00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:15,080
as I don’t sense 
any justice there.

585
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:17,120
It’s just a way of

586
00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:19,160
fooling people.

587
00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:26,680
they were all complicit 
in doing those things

588
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:28,440
well now,

589
00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:31,800
they say that with this 
‘Justice and Peace’ law...

590
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,760
this can’t happen.

591
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:37,840
Well...the government is the 
one who will forgive and forget

592
00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:41,000
because it doesn’t feel what 
the relatives of the victims feel.

593
00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:43,960
We, as victims of 
the relatives, can’t...

594
00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:46,520
We can’t forget.

595
00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:48,760
It’s convenient 
for the government...

596
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:50,040
to forgive and forget

597
00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:51,360
because it doesn’t 
feel any pain.

598
00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:56,080
It doesn’t feel any pain doing 
those things to farmers.

599
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:28,000
What I grow on the banks of 
the river Ariporo are plantain and yucca.

600
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:32,320
That’s why I won’t 
leave this Casanare.

601
00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:35,960
Corn cobs,

602
00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:38,280
there are corn cobs there

603
00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:41,600
I have enough plantain,

604
00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:44,600
half a hectare of yucca.

605
00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:48,280
We are able to live off it.

606
00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:12,160
October 31st – November 1st 2009. 
National Pilgrimage to Casanare

607
00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:39,760
We have been called 
together here today

608
00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:41,440
in Chameza

609
00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:47,440
by the painful memory of what happened 
on this day 20 years ago.

610
00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:54,440
On October 31st 1989

611
00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:59,040
when the brothers Jairo Antonio 
and Luís Álvaro Acosta

612
00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:02,560
were violently taken 
from their homes,

613
00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:05,880
subject to 
barbaric tortures

614
00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:10,480
and executed by 
state officials

615
00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:13,560
who were supposed 
to protect lives

616
00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:16,600
not destroy them.

617
00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:22,600
But that was only 
the start of the horrors.

618
00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:26,840
While the mass media

619
00:42:27,080 --> 00:42:29,640
rejoiced in the discoveries

620
00:42:29,720 --> 00:42:34,800
of large hydrocarbon deposits 
in Cusiana and Cupiagua,

621
00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:40,560
and the progress in 
agreements with multinationals

622
00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:44,960
who would exploit these riches 
and so benefit the country.

623
00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:49,440
These areas were 
increasingly subjected

624
00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:52,680
to military and 
paramilitary control

625
00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:56,920
who brought death and devastation

626
00:42:57,080 --> 00:43:02,200
to residents who should have been 
the first to benefit from those riches.

627
00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:07,480
It’s very tempting 
to forget the past

628
00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:11,240
so its horrors don’t 
continue to torment us

629
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:13,880
like impertinent ghosts

630
00:43:14,240 --> 00:43:18,080
that haunt the days 
of life we have left.

631
00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:21,920
How can we create 
a future of dignity

632
00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:23,960
and solidarity

633
00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:29,160
if it’s accepted that no one

634
00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:32,200
will be held accountable 
for the past.

635
00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:37,400
It will never be possible to construct 
accountability in the future

636
00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:42,560
based on a lack of 
accountability in the past.

637
00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:47,640
Peace isn’t simply 
an absence of war

638
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:51,000
as the church tells 
us in so many documents.

639
00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:54,600
Peace is the 
fruit of justice,

640
00:43:54,960 --> 00:43:58,400
Christian peace is 
the fruit of justice.

641
00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:01,160
And we are certain 
that the violence

642
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:05,160
won’t be totally 
eradicated

643
00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:07,880
until there 
is justice

644
00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:12,240
because justice 
is the root of peace.

645
00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:43,720
Even surrounded by death,

646
00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:46,720
even surrounded by torture

647
00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:48,720
there is hope.

648
00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:52,200
A hope that lies 
in the right to memory,

649
00:45:53,200 --> 00:45:55,200
the right to remember.

650
00:45:55,360 --> 00:46:00,560
We shouldn’t be ashamed 
of our past, our people,

651
00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:02,800
of the struggles 
we have fought,

652
00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:06,600
no more impunity, 
no more torture,

653
00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:09,360
no more state violence.

654
00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:14,720
but the victims of Colombia 
have the ethical and moral authority

655
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:18,760
of a right to a free, 
sovereign country.

656
00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:33,480
Through this pilgrimage 
we want to encourage

657
00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:36,080
all the families 
of this region,

658
00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:43,600
with the spirit 
of courage and valor,

659
00:46:43,640 --> 00:46:47,560
to continue this struggle 
and search for the truth,

660
00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:49,640
searching for justice,

661
00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:55,000
trying to reconstruct 
all that has been destroyed.

662
00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:58,080
And we also live 
with the awareness

663
00:46:58,360 --> 00:47:01,840
that the society 
we are immersed in

664
00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:06,000
is like this and 
not otherwise

665
00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:08,680
due to the 
extermination

666
00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:14,040
of those violently 
deprived of life.

667
00:47:14,080 --> 00:47:18,960
Their dreams were annihilated

668
00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:23,840
their vital energy,

669
00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:30,440
their social and life 
projects were crushed.

670
00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:33,960
The reality 
that surrounds us is

671
00:47:34,040 --> 00:47:37,760
an illegitimate 
and perverse reality.

672
00:47:53,600 --> 00:47:56,440
But one thing 
is for certain

673
00:47:57,120 --> 00:48:00,600
the whole feast of 
horrors and cruelty

674
00:48:01,200 --> 00:48:03,960
had a precise purpose

675
00:48:04,040 --> 00:48:07,040
which was clearly a result

676
00:48:07,280 --> 00:48:09,280
of state policies.

677
00:48:09,440 --> 00:48:13,040
Conspiring with 
global capital,

678
00:48:13,600 --> 00:48:16,400
working to the 
same timetable,

679
00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:19,360
we can see the 
undeniable coincidence

680
00:48:19,560 --> 00:48:24,280
of oil multinationals establishing 
their presence in the region

681
00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:26,640
and the spread of terror.

682
00:48:27,080 --> 00:48:30,520
But I want 
to tell you:

683
00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:34,000
fear paralyses, 
fear is blinding.

684
00:48:34,080 --> 00:48:38,640
But out of the love that we feel 
for our country, for our loved ones

685
00:48:39,040 --> 00:48:42,320
we are not afraid 
of the threats

686
00:48:42,360 --> 00:48:46,160
we are not afraid of 
the phrases that justify

687
00:48:46,240 --> 00:48:50,320
in the name of god and democracy 
the murdering of a people.

688
00:48:50,480 --> 00:48:52,840
A lot of people 
can be killed

689
00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:55,160
but thoughts 
can’t be killed.

690
00:48:55,240 --> 00:48:57,400
We have to work 
for memory,

691
00:48:57,480 --> 00:48:59,480
for truth, 
for justice.

692
00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:01,400
And to a state

693
00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:04,320
that has direct links 
with paramilitaries,

694
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:07,120
drug smuggling 
and organised crime

695
00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:09,360
we say: enough.

696
00:49:09,440 --> 00:49:12,320
No more crimes, no more impunity.

697
00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:23,640
Last night I heard 
several explosions.

698
00:49:27,440 --> 00:49:31,680
Shots from a 
shotgun and revolver.

699
00:49:34,240 --> 00:49:38,000
Cars accelerating, brakes, shouts.

700
00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:45,200
An echo of boots 
in the street.

701
00:49:46,920 --> 00:49:53,360
The banging of doors, 
curses, broken plates.

702
00:49:55,240 --> 00:49:59,520
A soap opera was on

703
00:49:59,640 --> 00:50:02,880
so no one 
looked outside.

704
00:50:03,160 --> 00:50:06,600
Where do the 
disappeared go?

705
00:50:06,880 --> 00:50:10,240
Look in the water 
and the thickets

706
00:50:10,440 --> 00:50:13,600
And why do 
they disappear?

707
00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:17,160
Because we are 
not all equal

708
00:50:17,400 --> 00:50:20,640
And when will 
the disappeared return?

709
00:50:21,160 --> 00:50:24,200
Each time they 
come to mind

710
00:50:24,280 --> 00:50:28,040
How does one talk 
to a disappeared person?

711
00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:31,320
With emotions squeezing 
together inside.