COLOMBIA: That was how it happened
May 28th, 2008
in:
CPTnet
27 May 2008
COLOMBIA: That was how it happened
by Sandra Rincón
translated by Michele Braley
On May 10, 2008, Jonathan Stucky and I, along with three other organizations, accompanied the Third Women's Conference of the Southern Bolivar Agricultural-Mining Federation in the village of Paraíso, Simiti. Even though participation was less than expected because of threats received by local priests, leaders and community workers, the organizers decided to continue with the event out of respect for the community that invited us.
Once the assembly had gathered and after residents told the story of the village, the community spontaneously organized a dramatization of a tragic day when the paramilitaries harassed, threatened, and killed two community members and then destroyed the village.
Completely prepared in their roles, the participants reenacted what had happened. The son of a man who was killed that day represented "Don Carlos," the commander of the paramilitary group. Other actors in makeup completed the group that attacked El Paraíso. The play also included "Machuca," an informant and guerrilla deserter, who pointed out various members of the community as collaborators with guerrillas. The leaders of the community played themselves.
The first part of the play ended with the burning of the village's houses (constructed with cardboard) and the community intensely recalling this moment. Someone said, "You could see from the soccer field (where we were) the few things that did not burn, this made us very sad."
The actors portrayed the words and actions of this day so well that the people watching felt as though the play was real. In truth, I was deeply moved by this dramatization. The children were anxious around some of the frightening actors and the adults laughed nervously. People in the audience added lines to the dialogue and the oldest members repeated aloud, "That is exactly how it happened."
For the second act, unknown to the audience, the drama group had developed a new ending to the tragic day that included all of us. The leaders, still full of fear but feeling accompanied by the organizations attending the assembly, forcefully asked the paramilitaries to respect everyone's life and territory. Faced with the refusal of the paramilitaries to honor this request, everyone present, actors and observers, united and ordered them to leave shouting, "Out, out, out!" until the disempowered paramilitaries left the assembly. At the end, everyone was looking at each other, feeling that finally, for real, everything was over.
That was how it happened. The value of this play is hard to measure. Maybe for some people it was healing and empowering, while for others it was only a painful dramatization. For me as an accompanier it was a unique moment: the victims who had lost so much due to the violence reclaimed from the ashes their dignity and strength, becoming the protagonists of a new story where truth, justice and resistance are their guide.
27 May 2008
COLOMBIA: That was how it happened
by Sandra Rincón
translated by Michele Braley
On May 10, 2008, Jonathan Stucky and I, along with three other organizations, accompanied the Third Women's Conference of the Southern Bolivar Agricultural-Mining Federation in the village of Paraíso, Simiti. Even though participation was less than expected because of threats received by local priests, leaders and community workers, the organizers decided to continue with the event out of respect for the community that invited us.
Once the assembly had gathered and after residents told the story of the village, the community spontaneously organized a dramatization of a tragic day when the paramilitaries harassed, threatened, and killed two community members and then destroyed the village.
Completely prepared in their roles, the participants reenacted what had happened. The son of a man who was killed that day represented "Don Carlos," the commander of the paramilitary group. Other actors in makeup completed the group that attacked El Paraíso. The play also included "Machuca," an informant and guerrilla deserter, who pointed out various members of the community as collaborators with guerrillas. The leaders of the community played themselves.
The first part of the play ended with the burning of the village's houses (constructed with cardboard) and the community intensely recalling this moment. Someone said, "You could see from the soccer field (where we were) the few things that did not burn, this made us very sad."
The actors portrayed the words and actions of this day so well that the people watching felt as though the play was real. In truth, I was deeply moved by this dramatization. The children were anxious around some of the frightening actors and the adults laughed nervously. People in the audience added lines to the dialogue and the oldest members repeated aloud, "That is exactly how it happened."
For the second act, unknown to the audience, the drama group had developed a new ending to the tragic day that included all of us. The leaders, still full of fear but feeling accompanied by the organizations attending the assembly, forcefully asked the paramilitaries to respect everyone's life and territory. Faced with the refusal of the paramilitaries to honor this request, everyone present, actors and observers, united and ordered them to leave shouting, "Out, out, out!" until the disempowered paramilitaries left the assembly. At the end, everyone was looking at each other, feeling that finally, for real, everything was over.
That was how it happened. The value of this play is hard to measure. Maybe for some people it was healing and empowering, while for others it was only a painful dramatization. For me as an accompanier it was a unique moment: the victims who had lost so much due to the violence reclaimed from the ashes their dignity and strength, becoming the protagonists of a new story where truth, justice and resistance are their guide.