As I write, we are on the last week of our trip to Bogota and Ecuador. For most of the trip, we had bad access to WiFi. Also, the cellular plan Michael paid for in the States wasn’t accessible to my cellphone. After two long calls to Verizon, erasing my phone twice (because I mis-typed the new password), we finally got it working.

But that’s not why you’re here. We spent the first part of our trip with our friend Camila, who used to work at the Gandhi Center in Rochester. She has also been at the Havana Jazz festival with us twice (once with both of us and once just with Michael.) Because of her friendship with a Colombian music producer, she was able to get an invitation for our friend Danielle Ponder to sing at the festival last year.

Colombia has been at war since La Violencia began in 1948. Today, the fighting continues amongst government, paramilitary, criminal gangs, and guerrilla forces. Much of the conflict is fueled by one of highest levels of wealth inequality in the world, as well as unequal land distribution. Indigenous peoples, AfroColombians, and campesinos suffer the worst impacts of both the inequality and the violence.

Camila believes that addressing the violence in Colombia has to begin at the local level. After intensive studies in Nonviolent Communication, she concluded it will not only improve the lives of community members, but keep them from becoming manipulated by armed groups. Communities all over the country armed with Nonviolent Communication tools could hold the key to ending Colombia’s never-ending war.

Accordingly, she founded and is the Executive Director of the organization, Resuena, or “resilience,” which provides these trainings to communities. Earlier this year it became a victim of the Trump administration’s USAID cuts, which provided 90% of its funding. If you would like to support her work, you can donate via PayPal.

Camilla also believes in affirming others and herself. She drew this figure of herself for her 43rd birthday. Some of the quotations include the following:
“Grateful for receiving and giving love for 43 years.”
“I choose to see life with the eyes of love.”
“I live in hope”
“Thank you for existing to share in the movement.”

The Ex-Guerrilla Cafe

The next morning we visited La Casa de la Paz, a cafe/bookstore run by ex-guerrilla fighters. The outside was decorated with murals and a lot of people added stickers to smooth surfaces. For example, “Las Cuchas tiene razon”—’the old women are right,” or, “Respondo Preguntas IDIOTAS a $3.000 En TikTok”— “I answer idiotic questions for 3000 pesos on TikTok.”

Inside Casa de la Paz, they sell books, t-shirts, posters as well as fair trade coffee and other agricultural products. The Palestinian flag bears the quotation, “The weapons that kill Palestinians repress and assassinate our people.”

Casa de La Paz also has a small cafe where people can buy beer (brewed by ex-combatants), cold drinks and light snacks. In the room with the tables and chairs, dozens of butterflies represent an assassinated ex-guerrillas who laid down their weapons for the sake of the 2016 Colombian peace agreement. As of July 2025, the UN Security Council noted that at least 469 ex-combatants had been murdered. Some were murdered by splinter guerrilla groups. A large number were killed by ex-Gaitanista paramilitaries who have gone on to become one of Colombia’s largest criminal gangs. Reasons for the murders include stigmatization, taking part in justice and truth processes, and refusal to be recruited by armed groups.

The majority of men and women who joined left-wing guerrilla groups did so because they wanted a more egalitarian, democratic society. They also wanted to protect regions from right-wing paramilitary groups. However, over the years they saw how their own commanders became corrupt. They saw how ordinary Colombians were sick of violence committed by all armed groups, and how their presence in communities could put those communities in danger.

After four years of negotiations, the Colombian Congress ratified a peace agreement and the FARC-EP, Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, laid down their weapons. Some of the former combatants went to re-integration zones, where they receive an education, job training, or work assignments. Others tried to reintegrate into general society.

One ex-guerrilla, referring to the assassination of his friend by paramilitary groups in 2021 said

Jorge was my pal. He taught me how to be a good guerrillero, a good comrade. He strongly believed in the power of peace and reconciliation. I cannot understand why he was assassinated in front of his family in that bakery.…Jorge used to say to me: ‘You must believe in how peace can change the world. But to heal and be in peace, I do not need to forgive what these paramilitary groups have done to us. Jorge didn’t deserve to be murdered. After his killing, I was broken.

However, even after the killing of his friend, the ex-guerrilla remained committed to the peace process:

We are more determined than ever to comply with the peace accords – this is the reason they want to kill us. We need to defend the peace agreement. Words of reconciliation and hard work are our only weapons now. I am feeling positive. This is the best way to honor the memory of Jorge.

However, killings of the ex-combatants continues.

In 2026, Petro’s government made an agreement with two FARC dissident groups to create new re-integration zones for guerrillas who wish to take part in demobilization, disarmament and reintegration programs.