Colombian journalist Daniel Salgar just finished work as an editor on the Colombia Truth Commission Final Report – a national reflection on fifty years of civil war.
Five years ago, the government of Colombia signed a historic peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, putting an end to a fifty-year civil war. The agreement allowed FARC members to turn in their weapons and begin to live as civilians. The Colombian Truth Commission was established to shed light on decades of atrocities and human rights violations that were committed during the war.
This summer the Truth Commission released its full report. Over 1,000 people worked on it, interviewing 24,000 Colombians. And in August, Gustavo Petro – a former guerilla combatant, and a vocal proponent of the peace agreement – took office as President.
Our guest this episode, Daniel Salgar, served as editor for the first volume of the Truth Commission Report, which focuses on Colombia’s history. Salgar is a journalist who’s worked in national and international media in Colombia for the past ten years. He was a reporter and editor at the newspaper El Espectador, where he oversaw a project on peacebuilding called Colombia 2020. He was editor and director of the Spanish news service for Anadalou, a Turkish international news agency. He teaches Journalism, Conflicts, and Migration at Externado University in Bogota.
Daniel counts himself among a generation of journalists who spent most of their careers covering peace efforts. With the Truth Commission report and the historic election, Daniel is optimistic about peace in Colombia, despite ongoing violence in the country.
Follow Daniel Salgar on Twitter: @DanielSalgar1
View the Colombia Truth Commission Report (in Spanish)
Read Daniel Salgar’s interview with former FARC leader Timochenco (in English)
Read Daniel’s analysis piece on drug policy in Colombia (in Spanish)
Explore the peacebuilding journalism project Colombia 2020 (in Spanish)
Watch the documentary “A Call for Peace” for an intimate look inside the process leading up to the 2016 Colombian peace accord between the government and the FARC: vimeo.com/305983614. Enter password peace2019.
Listen to our podcast interview with the film’s director, Juan Carlos Borrero, on the episode “A Filmmaker’s Perspective on the Colombian Peace Process.” Special thanks to Juan Carlos for connecting us with Daniel!
Making Peace Visible is a project of War Stories Peace Stories. Our mission is to bring journalists and peacebuilders together to re-imagine the way the news media covers peace and conflict, and to facilitate expanded coverage of global peace and reconciliation efforts. Join the conversation on Twitter: @warstoriespeace. Visit our website: warstoriespeacestories.org
Making Peace Visible is hosted by Jamil Simon, and produced by Andrea Muraskin.
Music in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions, Phil Larson, Meavy Boy, Podington Bear, and Pianobook