"News Of A Kidnapping" was an interesting read. We learned about the many complexities involved in kidnapping operations as well as the hostage situation. Before having read the book, I was uninterested by the topic of kidnappings. Partially because they did no seem nearly as atrocious as say, a murder. In the case of Colombia as presented by Garcia's book, it didn't seem like the captors necessarily hated those they kidnapped, in fact, they even seemed friendly toward them. I was tempted, at times, to justify their hostage's capture. The case of Colombia, like that of El Salvador, Argentina, is difficult to understand who the bad guy is?
Let’s take the case of Colombia; there are so many different factions with many different agendas. Before my readings, my understanding was that there was a war between the guerillas and the Colombian government. It is clear that it is much more complex than this. There are also other institutions and organizations that claim the legitimate use of violence. We have the ELN, the right-wing para-militaries, and some cases civilians.
The FARC wants to better the lives of poor Colombians and of those in the country. Is this not a just cause? The Colombian government wants to better the lives of its citizens but poverty levels in Colombia are rampant and the government’s social agendas are not benefiting the poorer classes. As is the case for most Latin American countries, the government benefits the upper classes.
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By the way, I love this class and I am not even in it! Tell your professor I send him kuddos! This is a very interesting issue. Going back to the Trujillo story, everybody who lived in that era says "In those days, you could leave your door open all day and all night and nothing would happen. There were no robberies!" And then we have others, like my uncle, who say "When a speech was given, every time Trujillo's name was mentioned everybody had to applaud. You couldn't say a word against him; the minute you did, you would end up dead that same night."
ReplyDeleteWhat I mean by this is that when it comes to politics, most ideas have pros and cons, just like the FARC. They have great ideals, but they resort to kidnapping in order to get there point across.
I remember when I was a kid, I asked my dad what communism was. My dad is not a communist at all, in fact, he does not care for politics. However, that night he told me about all these wonderful ideals that communist have: everything divided into equal parts for everyone, education for all, etc. After that, I remember telling my dad I wanted to be a communist and asked him why can't our government do that as well? My dad laughed and told me why. He told me about the cons of communism and used examples like Trujillo, Pinochet, Stalin, Hitler, and so forth. I was literally confused.
As an adult, I have learned that there are always two sides to a story, and unfortunately sometimes, the two sides collide creating catastrophes.
How do we judge this topic? who is right or wrong? Taking into account that kidnapping is indeed a negative act, I feel any group that that exersises methods of violence is contributing negatively to their society. I do not know the history behind farc but from my understanding this guerrilla group has taken matters into their own hands by posing as a threat to the ruling government and the welthier forces in columbia. They represent the less fortunate and that it funds itself primarily through ransom kidnappings and the drug trade. whether they act in a kinder manner and inflict less pain on their victims, their actions only set a trend that will probably will have no end in sight anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteLaura- The Colombian government is also using violence against these folks. There is also evidence that links para-military groups and the government. The para-military groups have been known to kill, displace, and dispossess civilian populations.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous- The government is exercising violence as well and many times at the expense of civilian populations. I'm not justifying kidnappings but if we are condemning the FARC's use of violence, why are we not also condemning the government.
In all honesty, this is like the war between the rock and the egg. I agree with the anonymous person above because in this case, i don't think the end justifies the means. Violence is violence though it is sad that they have to run to those methods since they don't have support otherwise. Going back to Laura, yea my father tells me the same things, Trujillo had the Dominican Republic in a estate that it had never been before. Economically the DR was up to par with many countries when a Dominican peso actually was worth something... But how was he doing it? While raping virgins who he felt belonged to him in the first place and. Instilling fear, terror and killing people.
ReplyDeleteThis is why is very hard to pick a bad guy or a good one when peoples purposes in their actions are so different...
I absolutely agree. I don't think there is way to pick a good or bad guy. Their ideals may be great, but when it comes to their actions, well, that's a different story.
ReplyDeleteLaura- I love the story on communism. I wish I had a similar one to tell. I think that -alluding to tito's post- there are divergent ways of remembering and seeing events, peoples, places, etc... and that the question of "What is right?" can be politicized. These are all concepts and notions worth understanding.
ReplyDeleteStephanie- You're totally right. Do the ends justify the means? The age old question. If we believe in human rights, then aren't we saying that the ends absolutely do not justify the means, especially if it is at the expense of a human life.
As much as i agree, you paint an almost angelic picture for the FARC when the reality is far from that. The FARC has in many instances killed their kidnapped victims which, is very far from being friendly. In the 90's, people were very much afraid to lead their lives, especially the wealthier ones. In an effort to be heard and get their point across, the FARC terrorized communities. The paramilitaries began picking up speed in the past decade but, the FARC has been terrorizing the country for decades. Now, I am not saying that I agree with the government creating their own guerrilla forces to fight them, because I don't. But, that simply means that the people are getting screwed on both ends. I personally believe that there is no good guy in this scenario there is only sorrow for those stuck in the middle.
ReplyDeleteClara- After reading the post it does read like I am painting, as you said, an "angelic" picture of the FARC. I guess I'm so used to the American media doing reports on the many horrible acts that the FARC executes that it was refreshing to hear a different side. I'm not saying that one is more right than the other. I think it is important to note both sides, they're not necessarily contradictory. I don't see the governments war on "terror" and drugs as a solution.
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