First modification:
On May 2, 2002, one of the most unfortunate events in the history of that country took place in the municipality of Bojayá, in the Colombian department of Chocó. This population was caught in the crossfire between members of the now extinct FARC guerrilla and paramilitaries of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). In the confrontation, the explosion of a cylinder bomb that fell on the town church caused the death of 86 people, including adults, minors and the elderly. A wound that is still open.
At the height of the combat in Bojayá, the guerrillas launched a cylinder bomb against the paramilitaries and it fell on the town’s church, where a large part of its inhabitants had taken refuge. The explosion left 86 dead, although other figures estimate that there were between 102 and 120 fatalities.
Sadly, the inhabitants of Bojayá tried to save themselves and defend themselves in total solitude because the Army and the Colombian State could not guarantee them one of the most basic points of the country’s Constitution: security.
Two decades later, national and international human rights organizations such as the Comprehensive System for Peace; the Catholic Church of Chocó; The office in Colombia of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement warn that the inhabitants of this municipality are once again exposed to human rights violations and a new tragedy.
These organizations affirm that the population of Bojayá has denounced homicides, threats, attacks, forced recruitment of minors, forced displacement, confinements, restrictions on mobility, forced disappearances, and rapes.
Both human rights defenders and the civil population demand the full presence of the Colombian State; collective reparation; “full” implementation of the Peace Agreement; guarantees of the economic, social and cultural rights of the population; search for disappeared persons and the dismantling of non-state armed groups.
After 20 years of this massacre, various questions arise: why is it so difficult for the State to establish a presence in remote areas and guarantee security to its citizens? Why does the implementation of the Peace Agreement continue to cost so much, particularly in the remote areas that were the scene of the most difficult years of the war in Colombia? What do the inhabitants of towns like Bojayá say today? What does the Government say 20 years after this tragedy? What do the members of the then FARC guerrilla say? We analyze it in this edition of El Debate together with our guests:
– Naryi Vargas, researcher and analyst on issues of security and organized violence.
– Camilo González Posso, president of the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz)
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