Walking Ghosts: Murder and Guerrilla Politics in Colombia

Rating:
Summary: A stunning journalistic account of political genocide
Review: "Walking Ghosts: Murder and Guerrilla Politics in Colombia," by Steven Dudley is a stunning journalistic account of political genocide. To this end, the author has very likely crossed a dangerous line in Colombia's Civil War and has exposed himself to enormous danger. Because by bravely documenting the links between Colombia's ruthless narco-paramilitary death squads, the Colombian armed forces, the Colombian National Police, powerful landowners and corrupt members of the two-party political establishment...he has made many bitter enemies.

This book is about the tragic rise and fall of a Colombian political party called the Patriotic Union(UP). Dudley painstakingly interviews the key political actors in the Colombian Communist Party and senior members of the FARC guerrilla organization who were responsible for the establishment of the UP. At the beginning there was much hope that the UP party could break the rigid chains of Colombia's two party system and foster a reform minded peace. However, Dudley's impeccable research demonstrates how powerful members of Colombian society were not prepared to accept a political party (that was officially sanctioned by the government) because it was sponsored by the Communist Party and a revolutionary guerrilla army (FARC).

Consequently, a sinister dirty war was conducted. The government intentionally fell silent while the Army and well-financed paramilitary death squads exterminated the UP. The body count was horrific. A total of 111 members of the UP were murdered in 1987; 276 were assasinated in 1988; and 138 were butchered in 1989. Within ten years thousands were slaughtered. The dead included UP presidential candidates, Senators, Mayors and members of Congress. Half-way through this book one will certainly question the wisdom of the Colombian government. Because by allowing the murderers to go free (97% of crimes in Colombia go unpunished)...many segments of Colombian society lost faith in the State.

This book is well written. It is hard to put down. But please be warned...the violence is brutal. Dudley objectively portrays the terrifying bloodshed inside the borders of Colombia and it is very ugly. He also diligently documents how paramilitaries brag of military and political support. Moreover, the author honestly hints how the United States $1.3 billion Plan Colombia funds may be helping paramilitary death squads led by Carlos Castano.

This is a groundbreaking book. Dudley is a former human rights worker and polished journalist who takes the moral high road to expose Colombia's dark secrets. The author sadly admits that there is not enough room in one book for all of Colombia's victims of paramilitary violence. Overall, the reader will conclude that Dudley is a dedicated journalist. He openly dares to question how the current Colombian government is audaciously trying to forgive the murderous paramilitaries (grant amnesty) and allow them to keep their drug trafficking fortunes. Without a doubt, Colombia needs a human rights truth commission like that of Peru and Guatemala to end its culture of denial and sanitize its armed forces. However, after finishing this book one will conclude that the political elites in Colombia will never allow this to happen. Highly...highly recommended.

Bert Ruiz

Rating:
Summary: A stunning journalistic account of political genocide
Review: "Walking Ghosts: Murder and Guerrilla Politics in Colombia," by Steven Dudley is a stunning journalistic account of political genocide. To this end, the author has very likely crossed a dangerous line in Colombia's Civil War and has exposed himself to enormous danger. Because by bravely documenting the links between Colombia's ruthless narco-paramilitary death squads, the Colombian armed forces, the Colombian National Police, powerful landowners and corrupt members of the two-party political establishment...he has made many bitter enemies.

This book is about the tragic rise and fall of a Colombian political party called the Patriotic Union(UP). Dudley painstakingly interviews the key political actors in the Colombian Communist Party and senior members of the FARC guerrilla organization who were responsible for the establishment of the UP. At the beginning there was much hope that the UP party could break the rigid chains of Colombia's two party system and foster a reform minded peace. However, Dudley's impeccable research demonstrates how powerful members of Colombian society were not prepared to accept a political party (that was officially sanctioned by the government) because it was sponsored by the Communist Party and a revolutionary guerrilla army (FARC).

Consequently, a sinister dirty war was conducted. The government intentionally fell silent while the Army and well-financed paramilitary death squads exterminated the UP. The body count was horrific. A total of 111 members of the UP were murdered in 1987; 276 were assasinated in 1988; and 138 were butchered in 1989. Within ten years thousands were slaughtered. The dead included UP presidential candidates, Senators, Mayors and members of Congress. Half-way through this book one will certainly question the wisdom of the Colombian government. Because by allowing the murderers to go free (97% of crimes in Colombia go unpunished)...many segments of Colombian society lost faith in the State.

This book is well written. It is hard to put down. But please be warned...the violence is brutal. Dudley objectively portrays the terrifying bloodshed inside the borders of Colombia and it is very ugly. He also diligently documents how paramilitaries brag of military and political support. Moreover, the author honestly hints how the United States $1.3 billion Plan Colombia funds may be helping paramilitary death squads led by Carlos Castano.

This is a groundbreaking book. Dudley is a former human rights worker and polished journalist who takes the moral high road to expose Colombia's dark secrets. The author sadly admits that there is not enough room in one book for all of Colombia's victims of paramilitary violence. Overall, the reader will conclude that Dudley is a dedicated journalist. He openly dares to question how the current Colombian government is audaciously trying to forgive the murderous paramilitaries (grant amnesty) and allow them to keep their drug trafficking fortunes. Without a doubt, Colombia needs a human rights truth commission like that of Peru and Guatemala to end its culture of denial and sanitize its armed forces. However, after finishing this book one will conclude that the political elites in Colombia will never allow this to happen. Highly...highly recommended.

Bert Ruiz

Rating:
Summary: Violencia y fatalismo en Colombia
Review: Excellent! This is hardearned and very readable reportage and history. Mr.Dudley is to be commended for physically braving the treacherous terrain of Colombian politics and the guerrilla conflict there. If life is as expendable in Colombia as it appears to be, the author must have had more than a few frightening experiences. The Colombian propensity for violence is exceeded only by the fatalism necessary to endure it and, perhaps, he made use of its dubious benefits.'Walking Ghosts' is very informative; it gives an objective history of the 'elimination' of the 'Union Patriotica' reform party by government supported paramilitary death squads as well as providing a knowledgeable background and perspective on the corrupt enterprises that are the present FARC, AUC, and Colombian government and military. Mr. Dudley weaves personal histories into larger themes, in particular following some doomed and shortlived careers of UP members while not neglecting some of the tough customers of their deadly opposition. The UP was unfortunately caught in the maws of Colombia's ongoing 'violencia' as the cocaine trade expanded and forced its dynamic on Colombian politics. The FARC are portrayed as less than honorable and only marginally less married to 'violencia' in the scheme of things. One is left with few illusions and, sadly, little hope for the future of Colombia; reconciliation and forgiveness would seem hard to come by after such viciousness. Perhaps the 'fatalismo' of the Colombians could serve them in eventually effecting a peace. Again, a very well written and engaging history of a misunderstood conflict that
could well involve the US military (you! your son or daughter!) in the years ahead.

Rating:
Summary: Violencia y fatalismo en Colombia
Review: Excellent! This is hardearned and very readable reportage and history. Mr.Dudley is to be commended for physically braving the treacherous terrain of Colombian politics and the guerrilla conflict there. If life is as expendable in Colombia as it appears to be, the author must have had more than a few frightening experiences. The Colombian propensity for violence is exceeded only by the fatalism necessary to endure it and, perhaps, he made use of its dubious benefits.'Walking Ghosts' is very informative; it gives an objective history of the 'elimination' of the 'Union Patriotica' reform party by government supported paramilitary death squads as well as providing a knowledgeable background and perspective on the corrupt enterprises that are the present FARC, AUC, and Colombian government and military. Mr. Dudley weaves personal histories into larger themes, in particular following some doomed and shortlived careers of UP members while not neglecting some of the tough customers of their deadly opposition. The UP was unfortunately caught in the maws of Colombia's ongoing 'violencia' as the cocaine trade expanded and forced its dynamic on Colombian politics. The FARC are portrayed as less than honorable and only marginally less married to 'violencia' in the scheme of things. One is left with few illusions and, sadly, little hope for the future of Colombia; reconciliation and forgiveness would seem hard to come by after such viciousness. Perhaps the 'fatalismo' of the Colombians could serve them in eventually effecting a peace. Again, a very well written and engaging history of a misunderstood conflict that
could well involve the US military (you! your son or daughter!) in the years ahead.

Rating:
Summary: Informative, detail oriented accounts
Review: I am on my second reading of the book, and unless you read each page three times, you will need a second reading of the book. There are a tremendous number of characters to keep track of. To his credit, Dudley does reintroduce characters in later chapters as if you've never read about them.

It's obvious this book is a rewrite of a masters thesis, but I'm not sure what Dudley was rewriting it into. It feels as if it was supposed to be (and to some extent is) a story of the authors experiences in Colombia and what he was able to reveal about the Colombian political culture. However the chapters seem to be chunks of a thesis with a new title put on and rearranged text to better fit the title. For example, the "Black Vladimir" chapter contains a great deal of information on the character, however so does the rest of the book.

Having said that, it is a great overview of the tumultuous 80's in Colombia through detailed accounts. This info is essential to understand current politics in Colombia. Also included is a cursory overview of the pre-1980 colombian political situation as well as the 90's. There is an attempt to cover politics outside of the UP, but it struck me as shallow. The 90's, for example, are glossed over for the most part. I also wish there was more information about the more current situation.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Account, But . . .
Review: Overall, author Dudley has done right in laying open the running sores of the Colombian civil war to public view, a generally engrossing - and gross - account of chicanery, cynicism, and atrocity.

That said, I could not give it more than three stars because of its flawed insistence - in my opinion - of blaming the left for its own destruction in Colombia. At one point he writes of the "startling number of dead" the UP "put in the morgue." Yet the Union Patriotica did not torture, kill, or "disappear" these people, nor force the death squads to do so, and therein lays the book's flawed premise.

By his own admission, Colombia has engaged in political violence against dissidents for decades, and its 1980s death squads were willing to kill virtually anyone they disliked. The UP, then, did not have to be cynically betrayed or manipulated by the FARC to earn this lethal attention - it would have come anyway, regardless of any guerrilla politics behind the scenes. The paramilitaries were out to destroy the left, and the center; the guerrilla politics upon which Dudley lavishes so much scrutiny were a secondary factor at best, and in no way confirm the Colombian military's "analysis" or strategy.

Rating:
Summary: A must read for anyone with interest in Latin America
Review: This book is excellent, and that's coming from a jaded college student at the end of the semester. It is extremely readable, especially given that it is historical non-fiction, and very informative. It tells the story of the Uni?n Patri?tica, a political party founded by the FARC, a Colombian guerrilla front, by telling specific people's stories to get that aspect of the controversy. For the most part the story is told chronologically, but by changing the point of view about every chapter, Dudley keeps the reader interested. His prose is light enough to be readable without losing information, and by tying in interviews, research, and stories, he justifies his leftist tone and fills many gaps in official dialogues.

Rating:
Summary: A must read for anyone with interest in Latin America
Review: This book is excellent, and that's coming from a jaded college student at the end of the semester. It is extremely readable, especially given that it is historical non-fiction, and very informative. It tells the story of the Unión Patriótica, a political party founded by the FARC, a Colombian guerrilla front, by telling specific people's stories to get that aspect of the controversy. For the most part the story is told chronologically, but by changing the point of view about every chapter, Dudley keeps the reader interested. His prose is light enough to be readable without losing information, and by tying in interviews, research, and stories, he justifies his leftist tone and fills many gaps in official dialogues.