Remembering Jaime Garzon

People admire decorated shoeshine boxes representing Garzon's work.

Garzon and his quacking co-star. 

Journalist, comedian and peace activist Jaime Garzon is being memorialized this weekend on Plaza Bolívar. Aug. 13 was the 12th anniversary of his assassination near Corferias in central Bogotá, apparently by right-wing paramilitaries.

The most famous character created by Garzon was a shoeshiner who interviewed and challenged the nation's most important personalities. Undoubtedly, that made enemies for Garzon.

Despite Colombia's great violence at the time, the murder of this mostly-apolitical humorist shocked the nation. According to testimony by ex-paramilitaries, AUC leader Carlos Castaño had order the killing.

A tent on Plaza Bolívar memorializes Jaime Garzon, 12 years after his assassination.

12 years of impunity.

Simon Bolívar's statue seen thru a shoeshine box's handle. 

One has to give one's life for a cause.

Garzon looks a lot like Che Guevara. 

A creative shoeshine box, behind barbed wire. 

Nearby, an evangelical group announced the end of the world.

A mural in the National University celebrates Garzon.

Statue of Jaime Garzon outside Corferias, near the spot where he was assassinated. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours