August
2001
In
this issue of The Magazine, we turn to Colombia, a nation
on the verge of implosion after decades of convulsive
violence. "This is a war of the mad, the demented,
and the psychopaths," a Colombian policeman told
one of our authors. Our expert contributors cut through
the madness to analyze the root causes, unlikely alliances,
and institutional failures that caused, and continue
to foment, the conflict.
Owing to the multiple facets of Colombias emergency,
we expanded our usual number of article commissions.
And, for the first time, we have translated the entire
contents of The Magazine: the Spanish edition can be
found on our website under the title, El tráfico
del terror.
- The
issue opens with Karl Penhauls overview: On
the political left, guerrillas support their insurgencies
with drugs, extortion, and kidnap for ransom. On the
right, the paramilitaries serve their landed, moneyed
backers through terror and massacres, land seizure
and drug money. Every group has unlikely alliances.
They all compete for children to serve as soldiers.
In Penhauls vivid reporting, this is war without
end, until the government really helps the
poor.
- Ana
Carrigan reports with extraordinary depth on the paramilitaries
who, in the last twelve months, have committed over
80% of the political murders and massacres. Her rivetting
account documents that, in this presidential election
year, the paramilitaries have increasing civilian
support as they insinuate the agenda of their far-right
sponsors into the political mainstream.
- Until
recently, the crisis of internal displacement was
all but hidden. Hiram Ruiz exposes the dimensions
of this emergency, in which 32 percent of displaced
families are headed by women, and 45 percent of the
displaced are children, and a disproportionate number
are indigenous and Afro-Colombian. Why are these peasants
running for their lives? What can be done to save
them? Ruiz has provocative answers.
- As
Arturo Carrillo elucidates, every party to the conflict
is guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity
and therefore subject to the provisions of international
human rights treaties and to the strictures of international
criminal law. This may prove crucial in ending the
conflict and fostering accountability.
- In
our Forum on U.S. Policy, Daniel García-Pena
argues that U.S. involvement exacerbates Colombias
war; Michael Shifter and Victoria Wigodzky believe
that, while Washingtons policy is misguided,
Colombia needs an active U.S. presence.
- Day-to-day
life in the towns and villages can be hallucinatory.
Teun Voetens photo-essay takes us to the heart
of darkness in "Barrancabermeja: The Murder Capital
of the World." Donna DeCesare shows us grassroots
peace programs that survive, against deadly threats,
in the most dangerous corners of the country. It is
striking that the residents of both Medellín
and Barrancabermeja insist that their town has more
murders than anywhere else.
- Doris
Salcedo, Colombias most important contemporary
artist, is impelled to bear witness to her countrys
ordeal. Based on the testimony of survivors, her installations
have given the war in Colombia international cultural
resonance. Normally hesitant to give interviews, Salcedo
conversed at length with the Cultural Supplement to
The Magazine and agreed to a cyber-exhibit of her
work.
The
articles in this issue are especially hard-hitting,
and we look forward to your responses, which should
be sent to: [email protected]
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