Articulo_5_EN_Doxa_27

“I think it is possible to demonstrate that the processes are far more reaching in terms of clarifying the specific fault of those who, not forming a part of the class of criminals, despite playing a role in the regime, or those who merely remained silent, tolerating the state of things as it was, when they had a position that would have allowed them to speak out”(Arendt, 2007: 52).

The second period of violence in Colombia is that of the guerrillas’, who were favoured by the Cuban Revolution between 1953 and 1959. With the arrival of television in 1954 under the military dictatorship, the country began to be informed about the conflict during this period through images, which was fostered by high illiteracy rates. Media coverage of the conflict transitioned from the stories that people told to a search for the spectacular, anecdotal, curious, and novel, which the guerilla State confrontation could offer.

1.2. The discovery of spectacularisation: 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

The journalists’ following up of the conflict in these decades exposed a country unknown to most of its inhabitants, the reporters’ notes were a constant, showing the camps and a guerilla’s day to day life, thus revealing the media’s power to gain acceptance. The media unconsciously gave a face to the guerrilla, who the population had only created an image of, in part, through the fantastic stories told by previous generations. For the first time, the country saw and heard guerillas, in particular, the group M-194, they learned that it was made up of young people that spoke of the country’s problems in a common language, as opposed to the State’s repetitive and unattractive discourse.

The media indirectly constructed an image of rebellion and social transformation for the M19’s which was seen in the group’s daring operations, such as the theft of Bolivar’s sword in 1974, weapons theft from a guarded military barracks using tunnels in 1979, the Dominican Republic Embassy siege in 1980 which culminated in a cinematographic departure for Cuba, taking a group of Embassy hostages with them. As well as the coverage of the following peace talks in which a guerrilla was seen willing to negotiate, finally ending tragically in the Palace of Justice siege in 1985, in a military attempt to regain control the building was burned down and over a 100 people were killed, many of them were high court magistrates. Antonio Navarro, a member of the amnestied M-19 and now a renowned politician, would affirm 30 years later:

“What I have established from post-event information is that it was an attempt at replicating the Dominican Republic Embassy siege, a successful armed propaganda operation by the M-19 in 1980. But the Palace of Justice thing should never have happened. The analysis of the national situation at the time it occurred was completely wrong, the planning of it was disastrous, and its results marked the history of Colombia with fire” (Navarro, 2015: 87/88).

The Palace of Justice siege [1985], transformed the media’s stance, which seemed to accept that the treatment given to the information was wrong, and no longer gave political advantage to the left wing. However, the country had little time to reflect due to the outbreak of violence caused by drug trafficking.

The construction of the image of the drug trafficking again passed through the process of cultural matrix described by Martín Barbero (1987), orality and folklore are essential in this process, popular culture is no longer an abstract concept

4 Socialist-style guerrilla warfare created in 1970, which was able to reunite different sectors of Colombian society.