The Heart of Activism in Colombia: Reflections on Activism and Oral History Research in a Conflict Area

Abstract

A catastrophic rupture with the past caused by the surge of right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia’s oil capital of Barrancabermeja since 2000 has led social activists to reflect candidly on the role that once-dominant leftist guerrilla groups played in local history. In an attempt to understand how right-wing forces came to dominate the city, known as the “heart of activism” in Colombia, many of the people I interviewed spoke about how their perceptions of the guerrillas changed over time. I lived and worked as a human rights observer in Barrancabermeja in 1998, the first year in a devastating siege during which more than one thousand people were killed.¹ Between 1999 and 2002 I traveled regularly between Washington, DC, Ottawa, Canada, Bogotá, and Barrancabermeja on behalf of an international human rights organization, enabling me to discuss current events with local activists as they unfolded. When I returned to Barrancabermeja to conduct oral history interviews in 2005, I found the city completely transformed. Progovernment paramilitary forces were now in charge,² and the insurgent guerrillas that held sway in the city’s poor neighborhoods for more than two decades were in full retreat. The violence that has gripped Barrancabermeja since the mid-1980s has been directed mainly against progressive social movements by the Colombian military and their paramilitary allies.³ Many of the people I interviewed were under constant threat, and just starting to come to terms with the new reality of right-wing dominance. This, significantly, included a critical reappraisal of the role played by insurgent groups in the Colombian conflict.