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Portuguese to English: War and Peace in Colombia in Historical Perspective General field: Social Sciences Detailed field: Economics
Source text - Portuguese Guerra e paz na Colômbia em perspectiva histórica
A Colômbia era e continua a ser, prova de que a reforma gradual nos marcos da democracia liberal não é a única e sequer é a mais plausível alternativa às revoluções sociais, incluindo aquelas que falham ou são abortadas. Eu descobri um país no qual o fracasso em fazer uma revolução social fez da violência o cerne constante, universal e onipresente da vida pública.
- Eric Hobsbawm, Tempos interessantes: uma vida no século XX
[Juan Manuel] Santos abre o caminho do castrochavismo ao fazer um pacto com as Farc.
- Álvaro Uribe, 2014
Introdução
A política colombiana no começo do século XXI foi associada às antípodas da onda progressista. Em um país com uma longa história de conflito armado, o Plan Colombia firmado com os Estados Unidos em 2001 e a eleição de Álvaro Uribe, em 2002 intensificaram a repressão à guerrilha e a criminalização de todo dissenso. Mais do que um reacionário que surfou na retórica antiterrorista desde o atentado às Torres Gêmeas, Uribe encarnou um projeto de poder identificado com a chamada parapolítica, que embruteceu e envenenou a cultura política do país. É preciso analisar o significado e a ressonância deste fenômeno para compreender os entraves a uma saída negociada ao conflito armado e a derrota do plebiscito pela paz em 2016, que culminou as negociações entre o governo de Juan Manuel Santos e as Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colômbia-Ejército del Pueblo (Farc-EP) iniciadas em 2012, em Havana. O uribismo deita raízes na singular violência que caracterizou o padrão de luta de classes na Colômbia contemporânea, reconstituída neste capítulo com o propósito de situar, em perspectiva histórica, os dilemas inerentes ao processo de paz. Minha hipótese é de que a situação colombiana evidencia, de maneira paroxal, os impedimentos à mudança dentro da ordem na América Latina, explicitando o caráter antinacional, antidemocrático e antipopular das classes dominantes no continente. Sintetizado pela disjuntiva entre prolongar a luta armada sujeitando toda a oposição à criminalização, ou depor as armas expondo-se ao extermínio, o dilema colombiano explicita os entraves à via burguesa para a formação da nação. Nesta realidade, a disjuntiva entre reforma ou revolução esvazia-se, pois, diante da contrarevolução permanente, a reforma é revolução.
Preâmbulo
Estatísticas conservadoras indicam que, entre 1958 e 2012, 220 mil pessoas foram assassinadas por motivação política na Colômbia, das quais 81% eram civis (Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica, 2013, p. 10). Porém, foi o período imediatamente anterior a este, iniciado com o assassinato do líder popular liberal Jorge Eliécer Gaitán em 1948, que ficou conhecido na literatura como La Violencia: estima-se que houve um número equivalente de vítimas políticas naqueles anos.
Muitos dos mortos eram figuras públicas, como os três candidatos presidenciais assassinados na campanha para as eleições de 1990, ou o zagueiro Andrés Escobar, autor de um gol contra que eliminou a seleção colombiana da Copa do Mundo de 1994. Outros eram militantes: segundo o depoimento de lideranças da Unión Sindical Obrera (USO), de cada cem sindicalistas assassinados no mundo em anos recentes, 51 são colombianos, contabilizando 2.652 trabalhadores assassinados (Gomez, 2014). Muitas destas mortes foram perpetradas por matadores de aluguel que não deixam rastros (os sicários), em áreas periféricas dos centros urbanos ou no campo.
Além dos assassinatos seletivos, há numerosos massacres. Entre 1985 e 2012, foram quase 2 mil chacinas, vitimando 11.751 pessoas. Algumas mortes alcançaram repercussão nacional, como quando nove investigadores do paramilitarismo na região de Magdalena Medio foram assassinados em 1989 (Páez, 2014). Mas a maioria desses crimes não recebe tanta atenção, como ocorre com as chacinas nas periferias em todo o mundo. Neste mesmo período, foram registrados 25.007 desaparecimentos forçados. Há 2.700 casos de “falsos positivos”, ou seja, jovens vestidos em uniformes de guerrilha que foram assassinados pelo Exército com o objetivo de que seus executores obtivessem a recompensa governamental, estipulada em 2005 em cerca de 1.900 dólares (Fundación Lazos de Dignidad, 2014).
Translation - English War and Peace in Colombia in Historical Perspective
Colombia was, and continues to be, evidence that gradual reform in the framework of liberal democracy is not the only, or even the most plausible, alternative to social revolutions, including those that fail or are aborted. I discovered a country in which failure to make a social revolution made violence the constant, universal, and ubiquitous core of public life.
- Eric Hobsbawm, Interesting Times: A Life in the Twentieth Century
[Juan Manuel] Santos opens the way to ‘castrochavism’ when he makes a pact with the FARC.
- Álvaro Uribe, 20141
Introduction
Colombian politics at the beginning of the twenty-first century was associated with the very opposite of the progressive wave. In a country with a long history of armed conflict, the signing of Plan Colombia with the United States in 2001 and the election of Álvaro Uribe in 2002 intensified the repression of the guerrillas and the criminalization of all dissent. More than a reactionary using counter-terrorist rhetoric since the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, Uribe incarnated a project of power identified with so-called ‘parapolitics’, which brutalized and poisoned the country’s political culture. It is necessary to analyze the meaning and resonance of the phenomenon of Uribism to understand the obstacles to a negotiated end of the armed conflict and the defeat of the plebiscite for peace in 2016, which concluded the negotiations between the government of Juan Manuel Santos and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) begun in 2012 in Havana. Uribism takes root in the singular violence that characterized the pattern of class struggle in contemporary Colombia, reconstituted in this chapter with the purpose of situating the inherent dilemmas of the peace process from a historical perspective. My hypothesis is that Colombia exposes, in an extreme manner, the impediments to change within the system in Latin America, explaining the anti-national, anti-democratic, and anti-popular character of the dominant classes on the continent. The dilemma of the Colombian guerrilla as part of the left lay in the choice between two disjunctive paths: prolonging armed struggle and subjecting all opposition to state criminalization, or dropping weapons altogether and exposing itself to the possibility of massacre as in the past. In this reality, the disjunctive choice between reform or revolution is an empty one: before the permanent counter-revolution, reform is revolution. The Colombian dilemma, synthesized by the disjunctive between prolonging the armed struggle and subjecting all opposition to criminalization or laying down arms and exposing oneself to extermination, makes explicit the obstacles to the bourgeois way of nation-building. In this reality, the disjunctive between reform and revolution is empty because, in the face of permanent counterrevolution, reform is revolution.
Foreward
Conservative estimates indicate that, between 1958 and 2012, 220,000 people, of whom 81 percent were civilians, were murdered for political reasons in Colombia (National Center for
Historical Memory, 2013: 10). However, it was the period just before this, beginning with the assassination of the popular liberal leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in 1948, that became known in the literature as La Violencia (The Violence): it is estimated that there were a similar number of political victims in those years.
Many of the dead were public figures, like the three presidential candidates assassinated during the 1990 election campaign, or the soccer player Andrés Escobar, who scored an own goal, which eliminated the Colombian team from the 1994 World Cup. Others were militants: according to the testimony of leaders of the Union Sindical Obrera (USO), of every hundred trade unionists murdered in the world in recent years, 51 were Colombians, accounting for 2,652 murdered workers (conversation with Gomez, 2014). Many of these deaths were perpetrated by hired killers (sicários) who left no trace and were carried out in the outlying areas of urban centers or in the countryside.
In addition to the individual murders, there were numerous massacres. Between 1985 and 2012, there were almost 2,000 bloodbaths, victimizing 11,751 people. Some deaths have caused national repercussions, such as when nine investigators of paramilitary action in the Magdalena Medio region were murdered in 1989 (conversation with Páez, 2014), but most of these crimes receive less attention than massacres elsewhere in the world. In this same period, 25,007 forced disappearances were registered. There are 2,700 cases of ‘false positives,’ youths dressed in guerrilla uniforms who were murdered by the army in order for their executioners to receive a reward, set at around $1,900 in 2005 (conversation with Fundación Lazos de Dignidad 2014).
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I am a native of the United States and, having grown up as an "Army brat," I moved frequently, so I don't have a traditional "hometown." In 1996, I arrived in Brazil as a lay missioner with Maryknoll, a Catholic missionary organization. I spent nine years working with recyclers at João Pessoa's city dump and have collaborated with numerous religious and grassroots organizations in both Brazil and the US.
In 2001, I attended the first World Social Forum and interpreted for the first time at several events. This experience revealed my passion and talent for interpreting. Since then, I have provided interpretation services for dozens of religious and civil society meetings, as well as delegations to the United Nations and various countries.
In addition to interpreting, I have translated numerous documents, including university theses, websites, and a 346-page book on international relations and economics. In 2016, I added subtitling to my repertoire and enjoy working in this genre.
My deep understanding of both languages ensures that my translations are accurate and culturally nuanced, accounting for slang, idioms, and cultural differences. I am reliable and always meet deadlines. When I commit to a project, you can trust that it will be completed on time, if not earlier. Guaranteed.
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