Colombia’s Historical Lack of Hegemony and Institutionalized Violence

Colombia’s history is marked with many of its people treated merely as a mean to an end. Laura Yusem and Herbert Braun, respectively, were right in recognizing that “In Latin America, we learn early that our lives are worth little” and that “[i]n the struggle for land, human life in Colombia has been devalued.” Human rights activist Manuel Rozental was correct to paint Colombia’s history with the following pattern: people are massacred or enslaved, displaced, the land is freed, and the élite, foreign powers, and multi-national corporations come in to exploit the land and the labor force.

What is going on today, during the Great Colombian Uprising of 2021, is an extension of this history.

On today’s episode, I read an essay from my book, Reporting on Colombia: Essays on Colombia's History, Culture, Peoples, and Armed Conflict, which dissects Colombia's historical lack of hegemony and institutionalized violence to give you 200 years of context (through the early 1990s) of what systemic, structural, institutional, policy, and cultural conditions, along with what actors and situations, have led to the current Great Colombian Uprising, which goes beyond this year’s proposed tax reform.

Today, Colombia and the Colombian people are in crisis. The Colombian government is killing, torturing, disappearing, and sexually assaulting Colombian people on the streets throughout the country. Our hearts are heavy and in pain. We need your help. Please don’t look away.

To help Colombia and Colombians:

• Go here for #SOSColombia Mutual Aid
• Go here to call your US representatives to condemn the violent response to demonstrators
• Go here to help stop human rights violations in Colombian and demand the application of the Leahy Law

 

The Nasiona Podcast amplifies the voices and experiences of the marginalized, undervalued, overlooked, silenced, and forgotten, as well as gives you a glimpse into Othered worlds. Hosted, edited, and produced by Julián Esteban Torres López. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram: @JE_Torres_Lopez

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Original music for The Nasiona Podcast was produced by the Grammy Award-winning team of Joe Sparkman and Marcus Allen, aka The Heavyweights. Joe Sparkman: Twitter + Instagram. Marcus Allen: Twitter + Instagram.

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