A reunion was held with over 500 members of the Colombia’s Superior War Academy to construct and document the memory of the armed forces in the country’s decades-long armed conflict, according to The National Center of Historic Memory (CNMH).
The Center has been working together with the Superior War Academy for the last year to document the historical memory of Colombia’s military.
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On Sunday, the Patria Theater in Bogota was packed with captains, sergeants, and those of other ranks from all over the country.
In the meeting, the CNMH reiterated the importance of documenting the historic memory of the military and cleared doubts regarding the inclusion of soldiers as victims of the conflict.
The opening words of the reunion came from retired Colonel Carlos Arturo Velasquez, who said “We must tell our stories, those of glory and honor, but we must also tell that, unfortunately, errors have also been committed, we shouldn’t deny it. That will teach us and make us stronger.”
Maria Emma WIlls from the CNMH focused on the humanity of the armed forces saying “The ignorance towards your suffering is another aspect of this war. The lack of knowledge of the price you’ve paid, and I don’t speak of economic costs, but human lives, which is why the cycle keeps on repeating itself.”
CNMH hopes that these reunions, unveiling the memories the military has, will continue and make the military a key partner in thoroughly documenting the histories and memories of Colombia’s armed conflict.
