From the Plaza de Bolívar, in the center of Bogotá, the Colombian capital, the Minister of Defense, Iván Vásquez, and President Gustavo Petro led a commemoration event for the families of the 19 young people murdered by the Army in the municipality of Soacha , adjacent to Bogotá, and which were part of the so-called ‘false positives’, extrajudicial executions presented as guerrilla casualties.
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In an exercise of historical memory and restoration of damage, the Colombian State extended its apologies to mothers for the murder of their children at the hands of official forces. An act that, although it does not restore the lives of their loved ones, has the objective of recognizing the government’s participation in said crimes, as well as in the denial of these events and the concealment of relevant information.
“The defense of the homeland was confused with the defense of greed. Concealment has been a process that has prevented the appearance of democracy and freedom. Hiding is the way to kill in Colombia,” stated the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, during the closing of the day.
In 2008, during the government of Álvaro Uribe, these 19 young people were tricked into being captured by the Colombian Army and extrajudicially executed by military agents. Some cases that are part of the 6,402 ‘false positives’ reported in Colombia, according to figures from the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP).
“The defense of the homeland was confused with the defense of greed. Concealment has been a process that has prevented the appearance of democracy and freedom. Hiding is the way to kill in Colombia”: Pdte. @petrogustavo. pic.twitter.com/6oFZ2QfLtn
— Colombian Presidency 🇨🇴 (@infopresidencia) October 4, 2023
As the jurisdiction has pointed out, based on testimonies from the perpetrators, during the harshest period of the confrontation between the State and the guerrillas, the Colombian Army had orders to capture civilians, murder them and present them as ‘war casualties’, with the objective of inflating the numbers of fallen guerrillas and giving a public impression that the Government was winning the conflict. In addition to obtaining prizes and promotions. Victims of this practice are called ‘false positives’.
“To honor their memories, to tell Colombia and the world that the 19 young people whose family and friends we embrace today with respect and solidarity were not guerrillas, they were not carrying out any criminal action, they did not assume any confrontation with the military forces; they were men whose lives, dreams and illusions were cut short by the criminal action of members of the national Army,” said the Minister of Defense, Iván Vásquez.
The fight for the truth does not stop
“I am the mother of Diego Armando Marín Giraldo, a boy murdered by the 15th Brigade of Norte de Santander,” exclaimed, on the verge of tears, Rubiela Giraldo, mother of one of the many young people who were murdered by the country’s Armed Forces between 1988 and 2014.
However, for mothers a “sorry” from the current president is still not enough. At the event they highlighted the need to receive a formal apology from the members of the Administration responsible for the events, to know the whole truth and even find the whereabouts of their children, since many are missing. Their testimonies point directly to the name of Juan Manuel Santos, former president of Colombia and Minister of Defense during one of Uribe’s mandates, and to the former president himself.
“Our fight does not end and we will continue to move forward to find those truly responsible and find and know who gave the order to commit these crimes,” said Jackelin Castillo, sister of one of the boys.
Forgiveness, memory and compensation for damage. These are the slogans to which the Petro Government has committed itself, which seeks to address the country’s armed conflict that has lasted for more than six decades with a different approach. The first left-wing president of Colombia emphasized this Tuesday the need to clarify the facts and promise non-repetition. However, the families of the ‘false positives’ have been repeating the same question since their biggest nightmare began: Who gave the order to kill them?
With EFE and local media
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