The soul-sickening effect of using violence is universal and endemic to children as well as adults. Those who sit in office rooms far from the fields of combat controlling drones or combat robots are not immune. There are good reasons to be apprehensive of them when they return to civilian life.
2
After more than 50 years, the normal for colombians is to have an internal conflict. So normal, that many colombians don't care or don't realize the terrible outcomes of violence, specially in the big cities. Up to date, there is a strong political and neo-paramilitary forces that want to perpetuate the conflict and defeat the guerrillas using the military force. The guerrillas did terrible acts against the government and civilians during the conflict, and that's why most of the people in cities hate them. This article is special because it shows the reality of those fighters —humans that didn't want to go to a war. The peace deal appears to be close, but the post-conflict is not a resolved topic yet. Colombia needs a huge socio-economical intervention, to prevent ex-fighters to join new forms of violence, and to avoid young people to get into the cycle of violence. An examples of positive intervention can be education in farming like Utopia (https://youtu.be/uYIoURJnVdU). I hope the peace deal can lead to a new era of non-violence in Colombia, but we will need tons of help. Thanks for the article Nicholas.
9
What strikes me is that her own father turned her in, in her own words.
And she has to live with that, on top of everything else.
She doesnt know how to love. She doesnt know how to care for her own child, because she hasnt been taught. Instead, she was taught to slit the throats of other human beings and succumb to the wishes of a 40 year old.
Is this part of the marxist ideal?
And what of her Dad. What was he thinking I wonder, literally.
I'm not going to judge him. i dont know what value girls have in these remote poverty stricken villages. Are they a burden to their families, as in many other societies?
i also dont know what it's like to be dirt poor. So I'm not going to judge.
Nor do I know what its like to loose your child. Consequently, I'm not going to judge.
Was he in fact thinking of her well being, hoping she might turn her life around, once in custody?
Was that comment with regards to the motorcycle taken out of context?
I also doubt he was wanting to buy a Harley and go for a Sunday cruise.
Motorcycles, not unlike donkeys and mules in these remote villages can make all the difference between earning a meagre living and consequently putting food on the table, or starving. So I'm not going to judge.
How my heart breaks though when I think of Mélida.
Every child wants to think that their parents love them, that they're looking out for them, that all is well.
I'm not a praying man but I hope she can find some semblance of peace.
As for the FARC, well, go to hell.
And she has to live with that, on top of everything else.
She doesnt know how to love. She doesnt know how to care for her own child, because she hasnt been taught. Instead, she was taught to slit the throats of other human beings and succumb to the wishes of a 40 year old.
Is this part of the marxist ideal?
And what of her Dad. What was he thinking I wonder, literally.
I'm not going to judge him. i dont know what value girls have in these remote poverty stricken villages. Are they a burden to their families, as in many other societies?
i also dont know what it's like to be dirt poor. So I'm not going to judge.
Nor do I know what its like to loose your child. Consequently, I'm not going to judge.
Was he in fact thinking of her well being, hoping she might turn her life around, once in custody?
Was that comment with regards to the motorcycle taken out of context?
I also doubt he was wanting to buy a Harley and go for a Sunday cruise.
Motorcycles, not unlike donkeys and mules in these remote villages can make all the difference between earning a meagre living and consequently putting food on the table, or starving. So I'm not going to judge.
How my heart breaks though when I think of Mélida.
Every child wants to think that their parents love them, that they're looking out for them, that all is well.
I'm not a praying man but I hope she can find some semblance of peace.
As for the FARC, well, go to hell.
12
JP gives us a glimpse into the violence which has plagued Colombia and so much of Latin America."The grinding poverty and historically rigid and exclusionary society is the base of all this madness. Over 100 years of militarizing the rural populations over putatively political goals is the first overlay. Having just walked out of the Palace of Inquisition in Cartagena I feel it's fair to say that the basic dynamics of political terrorism have been in place for almost half a millennium. "
Nowhere do I read about the role of the US, the CIA, the Colombia Plan.
American citizens need to read Chalmers Johnson`s Trilogy. Juan Gonzales`
The Harvest of Empire.
The NYT does us all a disservice with these articles. They tell only a small part of the story.
Nowhere do I read about the role of the US, the CIA, the Colombia Plan.
American citizens need to read Chalmers Johnson`s Trilogy. Juan Gonzales`
The Harvest of Empire.
The NYT does us all a disservice with these articles. They tell only a small part of the story.
5
Haven't read Johnson, but would also recommend 100 Years of Solitude and The Leaf Storm and other stories by Garcia Marquez, who saw the roots of the constant conflict through a journalist's eyes and an artist's pen.
3
Whenever I read articles like this, my first reaction is: This is terrible, this is sad, it has to stop, but it won't. And then I begin to feel that the isolationists are right: Maybe we should just worry about the things we can, like ourselves and our immediate neighbors, as that's all really within our own power to do.
Somebody tell me what else reading this is supposed to make me feel, other than life is sad, which we all already know. How many degrees of sadness can there be?
Somebody tell me what else reading this is supposed to make me feel, other than life is sad, which we all already know. How many degrees of sadness can there be?
5
Your very honest description of your progression of thoughts is commendable. As is your keen sense of empathy and rationality. What I would counter to your inclination, however, is that since we are now inextricably linked to the rest of the world through the globalization of trade and so forth, we DO bear a responsibility to the rest of the world to also take some responsibility for social and environmental issues as they arise. How to shoulder this responsibility is a conundrum and there will be a myriad of responses - but my point is that highly intelligent and emotional people like you and (I hope) me must not stop looking for ways to act.
1
By doing nothing, you are actually making their lives better, especially in the long run.
1
What a world. Mankind does not deserve this beautiful oasis called earth and we will soon lose it because the collective human mind has not evolved quickly enough to rise above the disgusting practices that unfold everyday in the newspaper. Too bad.
1
I am Colombian. Once, in the late 1990s, I had the fearful experience of running into a small group of FARC rebels in a remote Wildlife National Park. One odd and should I say beneficial? consequence of their presence at the time was the pristine conservation of the environment. I am afraid that same National Park is now plagued by excessive tourism, garbage and pollution. Any comments?
1
There are some interesting parallels here between FARC and ISIS.
3
Like the child soldiers in West Africa, the Sudan and the Congo, these poor ones will suffers for years! And it is horrible to read the comments defending their abductions!
4
Let's pray that these Central American countries don't export any more violence to the US. The staggering indictment today of over 100 Latin American gang members in NYC is proof that all is not well at the border.
4
Seriously?
I think they were a US export
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article24771469.html
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/central-americans-flee-us-policies-blame-...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140723-immigration-minor...
I think they were a US export
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article24771469.html
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/central-americans-flee-us-policies-blame-...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140723-immigration-minor...
3
It's funny how each side sees the same issue very differently. For us in Latin America, that gang problem, the "maras" in El Salvador and other Central American countries, originated in American culture, specifically in Los Angeles, and was then re-imported back.
7
Going to assume that you are aware of the fact that Colombia is in South, not Central, America though it is not written that way. The horrific toll of the United States sponsored wars in Central America was far greater in those countries than in the minor uptick in gang violence experience here in the United States. That intervention continues, witness the coup d'état of 2009 in Honduras that led to Honduras becoming the most violent country in the world not actually at war. Central American gang-related violence in the United States is a direct product of US intervention in Central America. It would behoove all Americans to be better educated about the fact and consequences of our interventionist policy abroad. The toll has been horrific.
6
Excellent article. Thank you for illustrating the human issues in this peace process.
1
One short comment about the FARC situation and so–called "ending" of drug production in Columbia. An under reported issue is that the US military in combination with the Columbia government to end drug production (in part, because it provided money for FARC) is resulting in movement of drug production to Brazil, which heretofore has been mostly a supplier but not producer of drugs. How this will play out in the future in Brazil remains to be seen.
7
It's 'Colombia', not Columbia. Let's at least get the geography right before venturing opinions on South America.
6
"More than 220,000 people have been killed..."
The death of one person is a tragedy. The death of hundreds of thousands is an incomprehensibly large tragedy.
how near is the peace agreement, and what do the discussions currently entail? south africa had a truth and reconciliation commission after apartheid. that might be relevant for colombia.
The death of one person is a tragedy. The death of hundreds of thousands is an incomprehensibly large tragedy.
how near is the peace agreement, and what do the discussions currently entail? south africa had a truth and reconciliation commission after apartheid. that might be relevant for colombia.
2
"I wanted to buy a motorcycle." Heart breaking.
10
If one is so lacking in empathy and historical knowledge, why does one bother to read, let alone comment, on such an article?
1
Obstacles to "disarming" include mass murders by the US-armed Colombian military and their "paramilitary" death squads, who are responsible for some 90% of the 250,000 dead in Colombia in the unending war since 1948. They drove hundreds of thousands to join guerrillas. Previously, a large contingent of the FARC disarmed, formed a political party-Unión Patriótica, ran candidates for political office. They played by the rules. Up to 5,000 members of the UP were assassinated, including two presidential candidates. The FARC would have to be crazy to simply disarm and then be killed.
Washington spent billions encouraging the Colombian military since the 1950s and again under Clinton's, Plan Colombia, which specifically, sabotaged the last round of negotiations by giving billions in weapons to the military to slaughter peasants, farm workers, trade union activists, and some members of the FARC. Chiquita Banana and British Petroleum gave millions to military/paramiliary commanders to kill unionists, obtain cheap lands for pipeline right-of-ways, etc. The military/paramilitary commanders have also used the war to steal massive amounts of land. Colombian elites and Washington have a huge financial stake in maintaining the war using the myth of the Drug War to justify military intervention. On the other hand the stalinist leadership of the FARC, denounced by Fidel Castro for its thuggery, wants its piece of the capitalist pie. Want peace? Stop Washington's arms.
Washington spent billions encouraging the Colombian military since the 1950s and again under Clinton's, Plan Colombia, which specifically, sabotaged the last round of negotiations by giving billions in weapons to the military to slaughter peasants, farm workers, trade union activists, and some members of the FARC. Chiquita Banana and British Petroleum gave millions to military/paramiliary commanders to kill unionists, obtain cheap lands for pipeline right-of-ways, etc. The military/paramilitary commanders have also used the war to steal massive amounts of land. Colombian elites and Washington have a huge financial stake in maintaining the war using the myth of the Drug War to justify military intervention. On the other hand the stalinist leadership of the FARC, denounced by Fidel Castro for its thuggery, wants its piece of the capitalist pie. Want peace? Stop Washington's arms.
29
Aaron
I'm not always a big fan of American foreign policy, but I think Plan Colombia was largely successful, I would have to admit. It is important to remember that 64.8% of the expense was paid by Colombian taxpayers and 35.2% by the US. Without it, Colombia would have descended into chaos at that point in time.
I'm not always a big fan of American foreign policy, but I think Plan Colombia was largely successful, I would have to admit. It is important to remember that 64.8% of the expense was paid by Colombian taxpayers and 35.2% by the US. Without it, Colombia would have descended into chaos at that point in time.
1
there should be a book about this
6
I am impressed to see you reading and responding to reader’s comments. I was put off by the last article of your trip into a FARC camp. I'm sure it was exciting (brave for sure) for you, but one Sean Penn raider of the lost Ark article is enough. What your earlier article failed to do, in my opinion, was get at why and how such a situation has come about, what it really means for these people and for society and politics (and the future) in Colombia more broadly. This second article is now getting at these things. Bravo.
The reality out of which the Farc and the paramilitaries emerge is almost unimaginable to the US reader. I can almost see you absorbing this reality article after article. Just don't forget your readers aren't there with you.
The grinding poverty and historically rigid and exclusionary society is the base of all this madness. Over 100 years of militarizing the rural populations over putatively political goals is the first overlay. Having just walked out of the Palace of Inquisition in Cartagena I feel it's fair to say that the basic dynamics of political terrorism have been in place for almost half a millennium. But here is the point: the Farc (and other violent leftist groups) have further trapped many of the impoverished and excluded populations they claimed originally to fight for in relentless poverty and further exclusion. And this for 50 years.
The reality out of which the Farc and the paramilitaries emerge is almost unimaginable to the US reader. I can almost see you absorbing this reality article after article. Just don't forget your readers aren't there with you.
The grinding poverty and historically rigid and exclusionary society is the base of all this madness. Over 100 years of militarizing the rural populations over putatively political goals is the first overlay. Having just walked out of the Palace of Inquisition in Cartagena I feel it's fair to say that the basic dynamics of political terrorism have been in place for almost half a millennium. But here is the point: the Farc (and other violent leftist groups) have further trapped many of the impoverished and excluded populations they claimed originally to fight for in relentless poverty and further exclusion. And this for 50 years.
26
The earlier article was indeed superficial and disappointing. This one is much better. It is heart wrenching. But I fear for the lives of the youth who allowed themselves to be photographed, given Colombia's recent history.
1
And let's not forget the role of the United States in assisting the Columbian Government militarizing those rural societies.
2
There's no question that successfully reintegrating former fighters into society is the largest obstacle facing the Colombian peace process. As Mr. Casey noted, there're multiple criminal enterprises in Colombia willing and able to offer employment to former guerrilla members, many of whom will face a life of little economic opportunity unless the government makes it a priority to make sure this doesn't happen.
Something like this has actually occurred before in Colombia. Every time an armed organization has been defeated or abolished in the past, their former members have gone on to join the next big thing. It happened with the Medellin and Cali Cartels whose former members joined other drug-trafficking organizations including the right-wing paramilitaries. It also happened when the paramilitaries disbanded voluntarily earlier this century: many of their former members moved on to smaller criminal enterprises.
Hopefully the government, and Colombian society at large, have learnt something from these past failures and actually do something about it. Unfortunately, former president Uribe is doing all he can to sabotage anything related to the peace process, including addressing the reintegration of former fighters, be they children or not.
Something like this has actually occurred before in Colombia. Every time an armed organization has been defeated or abolished in the past, their former members have gone on to join the next big thing. It happened with the Medellin and Cali Cartels whose former members joined other drug-trafficking organizations including the right-wing paramilitaries. It also happened when the paramilitaries disbanded voluntarily earlier this century: many of their former members moved on to smaller criminal enterprises.
Hopefully the government, and Colombian society at large, have learnt something from these past failures and actually do something about it. Unfortunately, former president Uribe is doing all he can to sabotage anything related to the peace process, including addressing the reintegration of former fighters, be they children or not.
7
Colombia does not have the financial muscle to resist the burden of thousands of former guerilla soldiers seeking a job, salary and medical insurance. Especially with dropping oil prices.
1
Colombia has suffered enough on the dirty hands of those drug dealers.
11
Not to mention the US-backed military, I believe you meant to add.
5
FARC is a collection of thugs, hiding behind some hippy-dippy Marxist free-love mythology. If it weren't for the support of Chavez and some loopy celebrities, they would have been destroyed long ago. It's a pity that wasn't the case...
19
There is no doubt Alvaro Uribe roughed up the guerrillas real good and cornered them deepn in the jungle and if it wasn't for the shelter the then Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez gave them in his Country, nowadays those terrorists would be a thing of the past. During the 8 years of Uribe's Goverment (2002-2010), the kidnappings were reduced to the minimum and Colombia's Armed Forces became the best trained in the region.
9
Rubbing out Marxists, communists, is the right thing to do whether it was in Cambodia, Colombia, or anywhere in between.
I note that the Khmer Rouge also relied heavily on conscripted/kidnapped child soldiers, exactly as FARC has, and also executed those who tried to escape. This isn't a coincidence, it's a regular feature.
I note that the Khmer Rouge also relied heavily on conscripted/kidnapped child soldiers, exactly as FARC has, and also executed those who tried to escape. This isn't a coincidence, it's a regular feature.
16
What about the human rights abuses committed by the paramilitary forces he created? Does rubbing out one evil condone the other?
7
I agree with Enemy of Crime, as far as the Khmer Rouge are concerned.
It ought to be said however that Marxists and Communists do not hold a monopoly on the exploitation of child soldiers....
It ought to be said however that Marxists and Communists do not hold a monopoly on the exploitation of child soldiers....
5
Mr. Casey, your reporting provides a glimpse into "la vida fariana" or the "world and culture of the FARC." However a few snapshots of a few camps provides only a small window into such a complex organization that has been at war for over fifty years. Unfortunately, your descriptions present the FARC as a mysterious "other" in the way that the Palestinian thinker Edward Said discussed in his seminal work on "Orientalism." There Said takes the West to task for its tendency to turn the unknown into an exotic "other," rather than try to understand the lives of real people with real interests.
I do have a question: As the Havana negotiations advance, one of the key issues left concerns how the FARC will disarm and reintegrate into society. The FARC insists that it does not want to demobilize in the way that the paramilitaries did a decade ago. They want to maintain their cohesion as a political movement, but without arms, or so they say. It may be that a reintegration agreement that allowed the FARC to maintain its organizational structure without arms would exclude former child soldiers, a violation of international law. But these former child combatants would still be free to join an unarmed FARC political organization later. How do you think FARC fighters, young and old, will adapt to the reintegration process? How will they respond to the continued allure of "la vida fariana" on the one hand and the pull of family, community and in some cases modern life on the other?
I do have a question: As the Havana negotiations advance, one of the key issues left concerns how the FARC will disarm and reintegrate into society. The FARC insists that it does not want to demobilize in the way that the paramilitaries did a decade ago. They want to maintain their cohesion as a political movement, but without arms, or so they say. It may be that a reintegration agreement that allowed the FARC to maintain its organizational structure without arms would exclude former child soldiers, a violation of international law. But these former child combatants would still be free to join an unarmed FARC political organization later. How do you think FARC fighters, young and old, will adapt to the reintegration process? How will they respond to the continued allure of "la vida fariana" on the one hand and the pull of family, community and in some cases modern life on the other?
7
Obstacles to "disarming" the FARC include a long history of mass murders by the Colombian military and their "paramilitary" fronts. Previously, a large contingent of the FARC disarmed, formed a political party-Unión Patriótica, ran candidates for political office. They played by the rules. Up to 5,000 members of the UP were assassinated, including two presidential candidates. The FARC would have to be crazy to simply disarm, and then be killed.
Washington has spent billions encouraging the Colombian military to kill hundreds of thousands going back to the 1950s and again under Clinton's, Plan Colombia, which specifically, sabotaged the last round of negotiations by giving billions in weapons to the military to slaughter peasants, farm workers, trade union activists, and some members of the FARC. Chiquita Banana and British Petroleum gave millions to military/paramiliary commanders to kill unionists, obtain cheap lands for pipeline right-of-ways, etc. The military/paramilitary have used the war to steal massive amounts of land. Colombian elites and Washington have a huge financial stake in maintaining the war using the myth of the Drug War to justify military intervention. Perhaps 90% of the dead in Colombia were killed by the military and their paramilitary killers, who have drove thousands to join the guerrillas. On the other hand the stalinist leadership of the FARC, denounced by Fidel Castro for its thuggery, wants its piece of the capitalist pie. Forget the propaganda.
Washington has spent billions encouraging the Colombian military to kill hundreds of thousands going back to the 1950s and again under Clinton's, Plan Colombia, which specifically, sabotaged the last round of negotiations by giving billions in weapons to the military to slaughter peasants, farm workers, trade union activists, and some members of the FARC. Chiquita Banana and British Petroleum gave millions to military/paramiliary commanders to kill unionists, obtain cheap lands for pipeline right-of-ways, etc. The military/paramilitary have used the war to steal massive amounts of land. Colombian elites and Washington have a huge financial stake in maintaining the war using the myth of the Drug War to justify military intervention. Perhaps 90% of the dead in Colombia were killed by the military and their paramilitary killers, who have drove thousands to join the guerrillas. On the other hand the stalinist leadership of the FARC, denounced by Fidel Castro for its thuggery, wants its piece of the capitalist pie. Forget the propaganda.
6
Just more proof of Robert E. Lee's famous statement, "It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it". These kids' lives have been altered for good, it'll be very difficult for them to have a peaceful, prosperous existence. In all likelihood they'll be relegated to living in squalor, as pictured here, with just the bare essentials. Life will be boring, difficult, and painful, and then on top of that they'll be haunted by their experiences, of having killed, of being sexually assaulted, of having to seek cover from bombs. As if all that weren't enough, many Colombians will hate and fear them for having been with the rebels, despite their having mostly been forced into it, and retributive violence seems likely.
It's a terrible thing, and it applies to too many groups of children around the world by now, in Syria, Sudan, Rwanda, Yemen, and a long list of others. It'd be great if there were some way for modern, rich nations to save these kids, setting them up in civilized, prosperous communities, educating them, and giving them hope for a good future. But somehow I don't think this is likely for the vast majority of them.
I guess the best thing to come out of this would be the realization that all civilized countries should work together to crush these local wars as soon as they occur, that the longer they continue, the more children's lives are irreparably ruined.
It's a terrible thing, and it applies to too many groups of children around the world by now, in Syria, Sudan, Rwanda, Yemen, and a long list of others. It'd be great if there were some way for modern, rich nations to save these kids, setting them up in civilized, prosperous communities, educating them, and giving them hope for a good future. But somehow I don't think this is likely for the vast majority of them.
I guess the best thing to come out of this would be the realization that all civilized countries should work together to crush these local wars as soon as they occur, that the longer they continue, the more children's lives are irreparably ruined.
28
Your letter brings tears to my eyes, Dan, because it is such a great idea: setting up civilized, prosperous communities where the young could be nurtured and educated like they were our own children.
If the 80+ individuals who (according to Oxfam) own some 70 percent of the wealth of the world would use it for the good of children in the many countries torn by war and conflict, what a different place this sad old planet could become.
When I think of the terror of millions little children who at this very moment are hiding from bombs and drones, dreading the approach of armed men in jeeps and trucks, crying and cowering in fear, it breaks my heart. Their trauma and the post-traumatic stress it inevitably leads to will haunt them all their days.
How strange and tragic that so few of the uber-rich can see their money gives them the power to change countless lives --and even history itself--for the better. They could leave shining legacies of goodness that would never be forgotten in the nations where they saved the children and gave them hope and opportunities for a future none can even imagine now.
“Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one."
--John Lennon
If the 80+ individuals who (according to Oxfam) own some 70 percent of the wealth of the world would use it for the good of children in the many countries torn by war and conflict, what a different place this sad old planet could become.
When I think of the terror of millions little children who at this very moment are hiding from bombs and drones, dreading the approach of armed men in jeeps and trucks, crying and cowering in fear, it breaks my heart. Their trauma and the post-traumatic stress it inevitably leads to will haunt them all their days.
How strange and tragic that so few of the uber-rich can see their money gives them the power to change countless lives --and even history itself--for the better. They could leave shining legacies of goodness that would never be forgotten in the nations where they saved the children and gave them hope and opportunities for a future none can even imagine now.
“Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one."
--John Lennon
2
I find the discussion of the woman's relationship with the older commander as reeking of value judgements that I believe don't apply to the FARC. The FARC is a Marxist organization that promotes free love. FARC rebels often form shirt relationships with other members, including commanders. This polyamorous lifestyle is to be envied. Also, if we are going to write a million comments about how it is right for a 70 year old man to be with a 25 year old man in America, we shouldn't say 40 and 15 is any worse in Colombia.
Also, to all who believe 15 is too young to have sex, I'd ask you to think of when you lost your virginity. The average age is 17, but I definitely lost mine at 15, and I know plenty of other people who did as well. Sex in the world of the FARC is also not an activity with all the baggage that Americans throw on it, and rightfully so.
The FARC needs to be judged and adequate punishment should be handed out to people who committed atrocities. However, I believe the social model of their ideology is to be praised. Polyamory, education and civic participation for all, socialist economic models, free health care....that's a platform I can really believe in.
Also, to all who believe 15 is too young to have sex, I'd ask you to think of when you lost your virginity. The average age is 17, but I definitely lost mine at 15, and I know plenty of other people who did as well. Sex in the world of the FARC is also not an activity with all the baggage that Americans throw on it, and rightfully so.
The FARC needs to be judged and adequate punishment should be handed out to people who committed atrocities. However, I believe the social model of their ideology is to be praised. Polyamory, education and civic participation for all, socialist economic models, free health care....that's a platform I can really believe in.
4
“Imagine waking up next to someone who was that old when you are that young,”
Did you catch that the girl was repulsed? I definitely put a "value judgement" on this particular encounter, whatever the validity (or lack there of) of your larger philosophy.
Did you catch that the girl was repulsed? I definitely put a "value judgement" on this particular encounter, whatever the validity (or lack there of) of your larger philosophy.
41
Well, a lot of us don't see it as appropriate for someone over 40 to coerce a 15 year old into having sex. It's because a 15 year old doesn't really know what they're doing, or what consequences might occur. A 70 year old and a 25 year old is a little different, because the 25 year old presumably does understand sex, and is looking for a major payoff like Anna Nicole Smith was.
So that's where the opposition to this is coming from, like a lot of us are also against incest and rape and so forth.
So that's where the opposition to this is coming from, like a lot of us are also against incest and rape and so forth.
38
You romanticize her life while skipping one crucial detail: she did not consent to the relationship. How could she, given that this man had the power of life and death over her? This has nothing to due with polyamory, 'free love', or Marxism, and everything to due with consent and power imbalance.
60
No doubt they'll immigrate here.
4
Look, to say that the FARC is evil because it employs child soldiers is to look at the issue in a America-centric way. Yeah, 15 year Olds ideally should never fight. However, if by not fighting I resign myself to starvation and death, then I think I'd decide to fight. FARC may have lost its way with drugs, but they should have won. The FARC also teaches it's soldiers to read and write, gives them classes and education on other topics, and basically cares for thousands of people in the rainforest that were essentially forgotten by he government. I mean, this girls father was willing to trade her for a motorcycle. They did an incredible amount of good, and fought for a righteous cause. Just because they lost doesn't mean everything they built is wrong. While war always leads to atrocities, the FARC fought for equality and workers rights, and those things should not be forgotten.
16
"Look, to say that the FARC is evil because it employs child soldiers is to look at the issue in a America-centric way."
Anyone who uses child soldiers is evil. Case closed.
Anyone who uses child soldiers is evil. Case closed.
2
Don't romanticize these criminals. Hitler and Castro had their good points too.
2
Your defense of FARC and child soldiers is repulsing. Utterly, and absolutely.
2
These articles on the evolution of Colombia are successful in showing the intersection of humanity (including our contradictions, adaptations, and search for meaning) with not only political ideology but also social and environmental realities in unique contexts. Fantastic, complex, at once nuanced and brutal, reporting of (mostly) tragic realities.
8
What about the paramilitaries, (who were created and funded by the U.S., School of the Americas, etc and who were responsible for 75-80% of the 200,000+ deaths)? Do they get a free path/pass?
31
The paramilitaries underwent a similar demobilization process in the 2000s. Unfortunately many of them rearmed. That's a similar concern as Colombia writes its deal with the FARC.
21
Yes, there will be total impunity for the paramilitary leadership aside from a few who annoyed Washington. It all depends on who you kill. Kill poor people (military/paramilitary) - hey no problem, lets have lots of reconciliation and forgiveness. Kidnap some rich people-crime against humanity, kill them all!! The paracos are overwhelmingly the most responsible party for mass killings of the poor. Yes, the death squads will get a free pass because the paramilitary leadership was made up of land barons, military officers and politicians, supported by Washington, whose job was to instill a regime of terror to dissuade anyone from supporting the guerrillas, yes, but more importantly to dissuade workers from demanding higher wages or less inhuman working conditions, and to use the war as cover to carry out one of the most massive land grabs from poor peasants in the history of Latin America. Much of the paraco businessmen leadership couldn't resist taking over the drug business from the previous cartels. The other component of the paramilitary leadership are the parapolíticos-politicians who were key leaders of the death squad operation. A few got slaps on the wrist but they are largely protected. Justice will not be done.
9
"Mélida is one of thousands of guerrilla fighters who were raised during the half-century of conflict in Colombia. Now they face a future for which they are thoroughly unprepared."
Dear Mr. Casey,
Most young Americans adults as known nothing for a permanent undeclared war against terrorism. And most Americans of all ages have no idea what has taken place in Afghanistan or Iraq, or what is happening in Syria, nor have most made even the smallest sacrifice for their country other than observe a minute of silence at a sporting event when veterans are "honored" before they are tossed back into the streets of our cities.
I'd say Mélida is as prepared for the future, after living isolated in the jungle for 50 years, as is any I Phone-wielding, educated American.
Dear Mr. Casey,
Most young Americans adults as known nothing for a permanent undeclared war against terrorism. And most Americans of all ages have no idea what has taken place in Afghanistan or Iraq, or what is happening in Syria, nor have most made even the smallest sacrifice for their country other than observe a minute of silence at a sporting event when veterans are "honored" before they are tossed back into the streets of our cities.
I'd say Mélida is as prepared for the future, after living isolated in the jungle for 50 years, as is any I Phone-wielding, educated American.
2
That's an interesting perspective, though I'd say a very theoretical one. The fact remains that these Colombians are entering society with very few practical skills to help them function in society -- their main skill is warfare in a time where the country is looking toward peace. If they're not properly reintegrated, as Adam Isacson points out, they will be targets for recruitment by criminal organizations. Some I talked to were already approached.
42
(Not Mark) That is a trite comment. How many children here are abducted from their families and forced into the armed forces? How many do not go to school and learn instead to make weapons and fight the enemy? None. No matter how bad a school system is they do try and educate their students and prepare them for the future. It is not even close to being the same thing.
16
Thanks for that reasonable and kind reply Mr. Casey. I'd have to agree that knowing how to set landmines, cut peoples' throats in their sleep, and wield an AK-47, does not make one prepared for the future unless the future is endless guerrilla war. Doesn't look too good on a resume either, I always leave my combat skills off mine.
16
Children taken at a young age are malleable. They know nothing else so the children will believe whatever their abductors tell them. Even as an adult and mother, Mélida still seems to struggle with adapting to nonFARC life. Mélida's father seems guilty that he turned his daughter in for money for a motorcycle that he never got. I like how Mélida thinks her father did it for her
21
Mr. Casey seems to be very conflicted in his reporting on the FARC. How do landmines and child soldiers add up to Marxism and free love?
The previous article was an insult to the thousands of people who have been damaged by this war.
The previous article was an insult to the thousands of people who have been damaged by this war.
7
Samson, much of what journalism shows is that many institutions have contradictions. But because so few people have approached the FARC over the years little has been written about these. Over the course of the year, you'll see more reporting by me about the contradictions -- like the ones between the free love ethic in the camps and building of land mines there.
16
Insult? What's the insult? These articles are successful in showing the intersection of humanity (including our contradictions, adaptations, and search for meaning) with not only political ideology but also social and environmental realities in unique contexts. Fantastic, complex, at once nuanced and brutal reporting of (mostly) tragic realities.
10
I am very interested in hearing more about how free love works in the FARC. My lover and I recently started a polyamorous relationship with another couple. I'd like to learn about if polyamory exists in the FARC, or if it's just another form of misogny. Do the women have real choice when it comes to partners in the FARC, and if they do, what have both sexes learned from their experiences about the meaning of love and the purpose of relationships?
I'd also like to learn more about people in the FARC who are still motivated and believe in its message. Also, how similar are the ideologies of the FARC and the Kurdish YPG?
I'd also like to learn more about people in the FARC who are still motivated and believe in its message. Also, how similar are the ideologies of the FARC and the Kurdish YPG?
1
The father's reason for turning his daughter in: “I wanted to buy a motorcycle,” he said. After a moment he added, “They never gave me the reward I was promised.”
"Family values" indeed.
"Family values" indeed.
55
The reporter implies that the father's Spanish is limited as he speaks an indigenous language, and its not clear whether a translator was involved, or what nuances might have been lost in the translation, so I would not take this statement at face value. Though it does seem to reflect the deep poverty and marginalization of this community.