Overcoming the fear of recovering the identity: the armed conflict in Colombia and the Bojayá massacre

This article demonstrates the violence in Colombia as a background to the historical events in the country and the way it led to the armed conflict which lasted for over the fifty years. This war continued, with the involvement of the Military Forces of Colombia, the police, the guerrilla and the paramilitary until it reached El Atrato, a very poor and vulnerable part of the country. That is where the massacre of Bojayá took place, one of the most violent acts in the recent history of Colombia. The outcome was a high rate of victims and countless number of stories full of pain and misery. However, the survivors, against all odds, started to overcome the fear and recover. In their culture abandoning the corpse was not accepted. In consequence, they started to fight for their ideals. The article focuses on the way the inhabitants of Bojayá regained their identity and their owning to strong bonds and traditions. It has been written based on academic research and on the leadership that the victims have achieved in the public and mass media field in Colombia. They managed to get the mortal remains of the members of their community exhumed and transferred to Medellin to be identified and, in front of their executioners and in front of the world, they sang their alabaos, they could tell their story that denounced the barbarism and demanded a better future.

In the revolts epicentre

The Author presents the main reasons for the revolt of 1916 and the different points of view on these events.