by Daniela Díaz Rangel
June 14 , 2022
Introduction:
Read more here: https://www.latinorebels.com/2022/06/ ... appeared/(Latino Rebels) BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Yaritza, Mireya, Shirley, and Otilia travel the country searching for the bodies of those who were disappeared during the civil war.
During the more than five years since a peace deal was signed between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the government, their investigative unit of over 100 ex-FARC fighters searches for answers for the families of those who went missing—some of whom have waited decades for closure.
It is estimated that the Colombian conflict left approximately 80,000 people missing, including civilians, soldiers and guerrillas, although the exact figure is unknown.
“It is a way to help reconstruct the truth, which is part of our commitment to peace-building,” said Shirley, who spends her days interviewing potential witnesses in conflict-torn regions of the country. “It is a way of rebuilding the social fabric. It is a way of helping families, those of us who have missing loved ones from the war. It is a way of closing a cycle of anguish and pain.”
Shirley joined the FARC in 1980, in the department of Caquetá, after her family was displaced from Tolima. She was a fighter in the insurgent organization for 34 years. In 2014 she went to Havana, Cuba as part of the FARC delegation that negotiated the peace deal with the government. Since the peace deal was ratified in 2017, she has worked for the investigative unit.