Public Apologies and Reconciliation: FARC Take Responsibility for La Chinita Massacre
Para la versión en español haz click aqui.
Written by Tom Power, FOR-PP accompanier, who was present at the September event. The article was also published by Global Voices.
A few days before the national plebiscite vote that rejected the peace accords, two of the most famous FARC guerrilla leaders Ivan Márquez and Pastor Alape arrived to the northernmost region of the country, the Gulf of Uraba, to participate in a public ceremony of recognition and forgiveness, as it was requested by the Apartadó Municipality Victims’ Association during the negotiations.
The crowd rose to its feet, stretching to look at the famous FARC guerrilla leaders Ivan Marquez and Pastor Alape, as they made their way to the stage. The ceremony on the 30th of September was attended by more than 500 people. The relatives of the 35 victims of La Chinita massacre sat in the front row, wearing matching t-shirts reading, “Sí Perdonamos” (yes, we forgive), anxiously awaiting what Ivan Marquez had to say.
“As an organization, as a collective, we recognize the many good people who weren’t able to achieve their dreams […] the deaths of La Chinita are also our deaths,” said Ivan Marquez in his intervention, “We want to reestablish a relationship. Peace is in the heart; we’re going to construct a future with hope. We’re going to fight for rights, and change, and transformation.”
