A Half-Remembered Hero

Antonio Nariño, by Acevedo Bernal.

Antonio Nariño was one of the heroes of Colombia's revolution, but lives on mostly as a surname, immortalized primarily in the Colombian department named after him and the presidential palace, La Casa de Nariño.

But Nariño (1765 - 1823), who is being memorialized these days in an exhibition in the Archivo de Bogotá, deserves to be remembered as much more than another heroic portrait. In conflict after conflict, with both pen and sword, he battled for freedom - and paid with his own liberty.

A child of a wealthy Bogotá family, Nariño suffered lifelong health problems for which he moved to the warmer climate of Cartagena, where he became a successful exporter. He also imported the first privately-owned printing press in La Nueva Granada, ending the royal government's monopoly on the press.

In 1794, Nariño used that printing press to publish La Nueva Granada's first copies of 'The Rights of Man and the Citizen,' the fundamental document of the French Revolution and a furious challenge to the absolutist Spanish monarchy. After distributing only a few copies, Nariño got cold feet and burned the rest. But the virrey had already discovered the publication, and Nariño was arrested and condemned to ten years' exile in a Spanish colony in Africa.

Nariño, however, managed to escape and return to Colombia, where he was again arrested and imprisoned until 1803. In 1808, with the winds of revolution blowing, the royal government rounded up dissidents, including Nariño, who was imprisoned until freed by the rebels in 1810.

Back in Bogotá, Nariño founded what was probably Colombia's first opposition newspaper, La Bagatela, with which he helped drive out of office Jorge Tadeo Lozano, the first president of the then-independent Estado de Cundinamarca. Nariño then became Cundinamarca's second president.

The La Bagatela newspaper, in the Archivo de Bogotá.

Nariño also led troops in the independence wars, but was captured once again by the royal forces and carried to prison in Spain, and managed to return only in 1821, after independence had been won. Back in La Gran Colombia, Nariño returned to politics, but was accused of corruption and treason. In his final battle, he was absolved in court.

Suffering health problems, Nariño moved from Bogotá to a warmer climate, where he died two years later.

How might Colombia's history have been different if it had had such a fighter during each generation?

As for La Casa de Nariño, the presidential palace, it is located on the site of Nariño's birthplace.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Still a Dangerous Business

Journalism is still a dangerous business in Colombia.

It's no longer like the days of Pablo Escobar, when journalists were assassinated and driven into exile with terrifying frequency. But, whether it's because of the continuing activity of illegal, violent groups, or Colombia's still high level of societal violence, Colombian journalists seem to run more risks than their compatriots overseas.

Today, the government announced that it had uncovered a plan to assassinate two investigators with the Nuevo Arco Iris human rights NGO and an independent journalist. The would-be attack allegedly came from right-wing paramilitary organizations. One of the targeted investigators is a demobilized guerrilla, and the three men had uncovered links between politicians and paramilitary organizations in the 2011 elections.
Two weeks ago gunmen attacked Ricardo Calderón, head of investigations for Semana magazine, who escaped unhurt. Last week, pamphlets distributed in the city of Valledupar threatened eight journalists. The threats apparently came from groups opposed to the restitution of land stolen by guerrilla and paramilitary groups. And on May 12 in the city of Cali a hitman shot to death Alberto Lázaro del Valle, director of Radio Planeta, as he was leaving work. However, according to news reports Lázaro del Valle was likely targeted for personal reasons.

As frightening as all this news is, the encouraging part is that this flurry of threats and violence has not triggered a wave of journalists fleeing the country, as happened in past eras. Apparently, now, there is a general feeling that the forces of law have the upper hand.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

'If the media didn't exist, then there wouldn't be terrorism.'

'If the media didn't exist, then there wouldn't be terrorism.'

That was a surprising and disturbing comment from Pres. Santos, reminiscent of some of ex-Pres. Uribe's ideas. Santos was speaking in Cartagena, when he made the very true observation that terrorists live off of the attention they receive, mostly from the media. But Santos then went on suggest that some journalists arrived at the scenes of guerrilla terrorist attacks suspiciously quickly - suggesting that they had foreknowledge of the crimes.

It may certainly be true that some media organizations here - most prominently Venezuelan-run Telesur - may sympathize or even support the guerrillas, the president shouldn't toss out such grave accusations without offering evidence. It's particularly surprising coming from Santos, whose family is the historical owner of the El Tiempo newspaper, which of course reports fully on terrorist attacks.

While it is true that such groups would probably lose much of their motive for causing terror if nobody heard about it, that's only possible in a dictatorship. Santos has his own motive for wanting coverage limited - the attention is hurting his popularity and his chances for a second term. The real solution to this violence is addressing its sources: poverty and the illegal drug trade. For that, the world should give serious consideration to another of Santos' proposals: drug decriminalization.

Santos must be particularly and understandably frustrated by recent guerrilla attacks near the Pacific Coast town of Tumaco, which have left the area without electricity for a week. In fact, several workers sent to repair power poles bombed by the FARC were killed by land mines apparently laid by the guerrillas.

Tumaco is a small, most Afro-Colombian town, whose humble residents are exactly the sort of people whom the guerrillas say they are defending, not terrorizing. But the region is also a valuable cocaine-exporting region, and guerrillas, narcos and paramilitaries all want to wrest its control away from each other and the state.

The region's long-suffering residents, who also include many indigenous people, are caught in the middle.

"We don't understand why our region has been hit so hard by violence," Tumaco Mayor Victor Gallo Ortiz, "we don't know what to do."

Everybody should sympathize with Mr. Ortiz and the people of Tumaco. But intimidating the press is not the solution.



By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Out of Captivity and into Controversy

Romeo Langlois, surrounded by FARC fighters,
films his own liberation. (Photo from AFP)

French journalist Romeo Langlois was released this Wednesday by FARC guerrillas who'd helm him for more than a month - and immediately started talking nice about his former captors.

It's not the first time that a just-released kidnappee has praised the guerrillas, in what could be intepreted as a sort of Stockholm Syndrome. But in Langlois' case it's particularly understable, if not justifiable. After all, Langlois voluntarily entered the arena of Colombia's conflict as part of his work, and spending a month on close terms with the guerrillas in a non-journalistic relationship relationhsip is many a reporter's dream. And this month-long kidnapping, Langlois has transformed Langlois from being one of many correspondents working away in developing nations into an internationally-known figure. It's sure to open doors to juicy job offers, make him an authority about Colombia's armed conflict and land a juicy contract for a book or a movie. (If you hear hints of jealousy from me, a former journalist, you're probably  not far off.)

And the guerrillas had every motive to be nice to Langlois, who, they knew, would become a sort of spokesman for them. In return, Langlois said the guerrillas had "treated me like a guest" and that the guerrillas should take into account the guerrillas' points of view.

In response, Ex-President Alvaro Uribe called Langlois a guerrilla sympathizer, which Langlois denied.

Caged FARC kidnappees who
didn't have it so great in captivity.

Langlois has perhaps overlooked the fact that the guerrillas would not have been in a position to be nice to him at all if they hadn't attacked the military unit he accompanied, killing several soldiers, and then held him for more than a month in the jungle. If Langlois had been one of the businessmen, soldiers or politicians whom the guerrillas have often kidnapped, he wouldn't have been treated so kindly nor received so much attention.

When Langlois reports on his experience, he should balance his accounts of the FARC as gracious hosts with information about how the same guerrilla gang also plants land mines, recruits children (including a group of 13 kids during Langlois' own captivity), forces women guerrillas to have abortions, traffic drugs and has kidnapped many other civilians, who don't have quite as good a time as Langlois did while torn for years from their friends and family.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Romeo Langlois - Bargaining Chip

Romeo Langlois - FARC captive.

And so the FARC are going to release French journalist Romeo Langlois...soon. Sure they will - just as soon as the governments of Colombia and France obey their demands.

The guerrillas' unjustifiable holding of the injured, unarmed reporter has been condemned by journalists' and human rights organization. And the guerrillas could release him at any moment, just by letting him go on a road and pointing him toward the nearest town, or calling the local priest to come out to fetch him.

FARC guerrillas, and kidnappers. 

But the FARC, who fear above all else becoming irrelevant, will milk this incident to make headlines about something else besides the terrorism and drug dealing they specialize in. Also, the FARC must see an opening in France's recent election of socialist Pres. Hollande. The FARC's perpetual hope is to obtain legitimacy by getting foreign governments to send emissaries to meet with the guerrillas. Hopefully, Hollande will be clear-eyed enough to recognize that the FARC are a criminal band, not some sort of idealistic socialists, and tell them to release Langlois or be condemned as the human rights violators that they are.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Where is Roméo Langlois?

Roméo Langlois, a reporter with France 24.

I met Roméo Langlois, the French journalist who disappeared during a battle between the military and the FARC, only a few times and social and journalistic events. But I often saw him around La Candelaria, where we both live.

I only remember one conversation we had - a debate about whether the leader of Germany was conservative or liberal. Langlois was right.

Yesterday, in the midst of a battle between soldiers and FARC guerrilla fighters, Langlois was injured and disappeared into the jungle, according to military reports. Today, he might be lost, injured, held captive by the guerrillas or even, God forbid, dead.

Langlois was with troops covering an anti-drug operation when the soldiers encountered more than 100 FARC guerrilla fighters in civilian dress, according to the military's account. During the battle, which lasted for hours, four soldiers were killed and several wounded, and Langlois was shot in the arm. Perhaps desperate to show that he was a civilian, Langlois pulled off his bullet proof vest and ran toward the guerrilla line, according to soldiers accounts. He has not been seen since.

Let's all hope that Langlois is alright and will soon return to his home and work. If and when he does, he'll surely bring the story of a lifetime back with him. Let's also hope for the best for the injured and the families of those killed in the battle.

Langlois' ordeal provides yet another reason to ask whether drug production should be legalized. If it were, then, rather than armed outlaws, it'd be produced by tax-paying businesses. That would, of course, mean less work for journalists like Langlois, but also a better world.

Langlois' ordeal reminds me of some hairy journalistic times of my own. For example, the time I interviewed a local paramilitary leader late one night along a desolate road outside of Cucuta, near the Venezuelan border. The man told he how evil the FARC and Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez were. He showed me the pistol he carried under his waistband. Afterwards, I asked the taxi driver who'd made the contact for me where the 'para' was going at that hour.

"Oh," the cabbie replied quite mildly, "he's going to the next town to kill people."

The paramilitaries were notorious for the practice of social cleansing, the murdering of 'unwanteds' such as drug addicts, prostitutes and petty criminals.

Another time, I was in Venezuela interviewing peasants who'd been driven out of Colombia by paramilitary violence. One day, my hosts suddenly told me that I needed to go interview someone out in the jungle. We made a long trek there, didn't find the person, and returned the next day after spending a mosquito-infested night in a hammock. Then my hosts explained to me that they had found out that a group of ELN guerilla fighters were searching for me, and so they'd sent me into the jungle to hide me.

It turned out that my host was himself a FARC operative. A few weeks later, he went into town to buy medicines and was gunned down in street.

The FARC should release Langlois, who was a civilian doing his job. They should also stop disguising themselves as civilians, which is a violation of the rules of war. And, while they're at it, the FARC should also give up their futile struggle, which only inflicts more suffering upon Colombia.

Update: On May 6 the guerrillas finally acknowledged that they're holding Langlois, and said they'll releae him 'soon' - but didn't say when. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Guillermo Cano, Journalistic Martyr

El Espectador's old office building on Ave. Jimenez in La Candelaria. During the 1950s Cano worked
 here with future Nobel Prize-winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

25 years ago today, Guillermo Cano, publisher of the El Espectador newspaper, left his office in northwest Bogotá and was gunned down by two killers on motorcyclists paid by drug kingpin Pablo Escobar.

Cano was a crusading journalist remembered for denouncing the narcos and their corrupting influence on Colombian society. Cano, and his newspaper, paid a bloody price. Three years later, Escobar car bombed El Espectador's printing plant. Meanwhile, several courageous judges who investigated Cano's killing were themselves murdered or forced into exile.

A woman pays her respects at the tomb of presidential
candidate Luis Carlos Galan, assassinated by Pablo Escobar in 1989.

How things have changed since then - and also remained the same. El Espectador was left a poor second in Bogotá's newspaper rivalry. For many years, it retreated to publishing only on Sundays, and today, the less-outspoken El Tiempo is the dominant daily.

Escobar, of course, was hunted down and killed in 1993. His murders, kidnappings and bombings had become too much even for Colombia's corrupted politicians to tolerate. Escobar is now a Medellin tourist attraction, altho it'll take a few more decades for his victims and victims' relatives to die off and for popular media to transform him into a cartoon monster like Caligula or Attila the Hun.

A man reads an article in El Tiempo about the anniversary of Cano's killing.

Cano is remembered more positively. The UNESCO has named a World Press Freedom Prize after him. And Colombia has changed as well. Violence against journalists has declined, altho not disappeared, as has drug-fueled violence.

Yet, more than change, over the past quarter-century drug-fueled violence against journalists has simply shifted north, to Mexico, where 102 journalists have been murdered since 2000. There, there don't appear to be many contemporary Canos willing to denounce drug traffickers and their influence.

In a January 1990 interview with Spin magazine, El Espectador columnist Maria Jimena Duzan observed: "You know, the narcos will always exist as long as the business is lucrative."

Government memorial to Guillermo Cano

Guillermo Cano Foundation

Guillermo Cano autobiography

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Today is Journalists' Day

In Colombia, journalism has historically been a very hazardous profession. According to a 2008 editorial in El Tiempo, Colombian journalists had been murdered at a rate of about ten per year, and about half of those killings were related to their work. The killings, of course, are only a fraction of the number of journalists who are quieted or driven out of their communities or even from Colombia by threats against them or their families.

By that standard, things haven't changed much. Last year, eight journalists were murdered, according to the Colombian Federation of Journalists, and 189 received threats. The federation's president, Eduardo Marquez, says that many of those threats have come from the government or current- or ex-government employees. In addition, he says, the fact that the government is the biggest single buyer of advertising gives it an undue influence.

Clodomiro Castilla Ospino,
murdered during 2010

Historically in Colombia, leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitary groups (who have often allied themselves with the government and businesses),  and narcotraffickers have all threatened and sometimes even murdered journalists. Seldom are those killings solved.

Still, Marquez says that the new administration of Pres. Juan Manuel Santos has been much more protective of journalists than was the previous administration of Pres. Alvaro Uribe, who sometimes expressed a somewhat paranoid belief that some journalists were working with guerrilla groups.

World-wide, counts of the number of journalists killed varied, as did calculations of whether the number has risen or declined.

Papers and magazines for sale in dowtown Bogotá.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours