Colombia

Colombia and the United States, by Mario Alfonso Murillo

With the presidential elections right around the corner, or as Mario Murillo, author of "Colombia and the United States (War, Unrest and Destabilization)" (Seven Stories Press), might put it: the elections right around the corner, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Vélez is vying for Colombia's first-ever re-election. Rising quickly to the Nariño House in Bogotá on a promise to use military might to solve Colombia's ills, Uribe has ridden a wave of popularity he created from his "strong hand, big heart" slogan to his image of a hard-working man. He has even appeared in public in a poncho and campesino hat with a ranchero look strenthening his popularity.

For those unfamiliar with the Colombian conflict, Murillo's book serves as good starting point, showing how the conflict has been oversimplified in the media and why one should be wary of doing so. The historical context Murillo presents is surprisingly thorough for a 200-page book, banking on a wide variety of Colombian and American sources, including an author's interview with a high-level FARC leader.

Murillo's stellar Chapter 6, "Colombia in the News: Structural Damages in a Post 9-11 World", is reason enough to read this book. Murillo's unique research yields gripping data regarding not only how (or how little) the media covers the conflict in one of the countries receiving the most U.S.military aid, but the surging Orwellian doublespeak that appears in Colombian and U.S. media.

Despite the likelihood of another Uribe term, Murillo offers a refreshing voice calling for non-military/non-Uribe solutions to conflict in Colombia.

More Terrible Than Death, by Robin Kirk

Beautiful.

The title and cover may fool potential readers into assuming Kirk's work to be just another account of vomitous atrocities and bloodshed committed by paramilitaries, while the Colombian military either colludes or does nothing. Diverging from the throng of reading material that has emerged over the past decade or so, on Colombia's conflict, the U.S.-funded "war on drugs" and "war on terrorism", Robin Kirk offers a fresh angle full of unexpected life with "More Terrible Than Death" (Public Affairs, 2003).

The beauty of this book lies in the hope it embodies. There are countless contradictions Kirk uses aiming to slap American consumers awake to see our role in this quagmire. Truths, such as: where there is demand, there will be supply (no matter what); where there is no hope, there will be despair, or, as Kirk's friend Josué Giraldo said, losing the hope that Colombians believe a fair life is possible would be more terrible than death.

Exhuming inspiration from gruesomeness is something Kirk found in Colombians willing to cling to that hope. She is able do the same. Through myriad protagonists (some of whom should someday be canonized), extraordinary imagery, tireless interviewing and research Kirk surprisingly stands out as having successfully left the reader with a sense of a middle ground. Not taking sides is nearly impossible for any Colombian. The with-us-or-against-us mentality is omnipresent, not excluding the Nariño House, where President Uribe resides. Kirk is successful in denouncing all those deserving, and expressing grave concern about the dire needs of those innocent who should be receiving protection.

Using chapter titles very creatively, Kirk draws readers in immersing us in each section, engaging and engrossing us with fascinating lesser-known details for those familiar with Colombia; Kirk holds on to any reader with her alluring tone, never dryly presenting acronym after acronym, massacre after massacre.

This is a book worth reading, as it is more than a fine intellectual and academic product; Kirk reaches into her being examining what she has observed, learned, and understood, sharing with readers not only another perspective different from that which Mario Murillo demonstrates dominates U.S. news sources, but she also offers a solid point of view worthy of an audience because of such a hard-to-attain neutrality.

Kirk tells us how she was able to leave behind conventional human rights arguments, and she presents a resource that shows in equality the ills of the actions and inactions of not only the Colombian government and paramilitaries, but also guerrillas, the U.S. government, and U.S. consumers.

While Kirk does not shy away from sharing her fair share of stories of atrocities, which abound in resources about Colombia, she gives readers more than how many were massacred, how and by whom; Kirk strives to find and communicate the meaning behind the "apparent" senselessness, contradictions, avarice.

Without adding an in-your-face "What YOU can do" piece, readers will finish "More Terrible Than Death" not only sensing hope from the such a dreary phrase, but perhaps readers will also feel empowered with Kirk's subtle, yet crisp call to action.

Without a doubt, after reading "More Terrible Than Death" Kirk's other works will make it onto readers' lists of books to read. They are on mine.