Guillermo Gaviria Correa

Last updated • 4 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Guillermo Gaviria Correa
Born(1962-11-27)November 27, 1962
DiedMay 5, 2003(2003-05-05) (aged 40)
Colombia
Cause of deathHomicide
OccupationGovernor of Antioquia
Known forKidnapping and murder by FARC guerillas

Guillermo Gaviria Correa (November 27, 1962, Medellín – May 5, 2003) was the state governor of Antioquia, a province of over 6 million people in northwestern Colombia. Kidnapped by FARC guerrillas during a march against violence on April 21, 2002, he was held captive for over a year deep in the northwestern Colombian jungle, bordering between Antioquia and Chocó, until he was killed there by the FARC along with other nine fellow hostages, including the politician and former Minister of defense, Gilberto Echeverri Mejía, in response to an attempted military rescue on May 5, 2003. Gaviria Correa's letters survived his execution, and were published as Diary of a Kidnapped Colombian Governor. [1] His gubernatorial agenda also survived, carried on by his younger brother Anibal. Gaviria Correa was nominated posthumously for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, but did not receive the prize that year.

Contents

Education and career

Gaviria Correa was the eldest of eight children of a prominent family in Antioquia. Having completed his undergraduate studies in 1988 at the Colorado School of Mines in the U.S., he then began work at a Colombian ferronickel mine, Cerro Matoso S.A.

In 1994, Gaviria Correa accepted the invitation of Colombian President Ernesto Samper to lead the newly created Institute of National Roads. In this capacity, he oversaw the improvement and repair of Colombian roads and bridges until 1999. [2]

In 2000, Gaviria Correa was elected Governor of Antioquia. His administration focused on improvement in six areas: housing, education, peace, reforestation, food security and nutrition, and administrative transparency. Gaviria Correa was also chosen by his fellow Governors to preside over the Colombian Federation of Governors. [3]

Nonviolence and Sacrifice

As part of his "Congruent Peace Plan", Guillermo Gaviria Correa took inspiration from Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, and began deploying non-violent actions in the department. In 2001, he created the position of Peace Commissioner, naming Gilberto Echeverri Mejía to this post.

From April 17 to 21, 2002, accompanied by Commissioner Echeverri, Gaviria Correa led a 120-kilometer (85 mile) non-violent march for reconciliation and solidarity with the municipality of Caicedo, a town in western Antioquia that had been besieged by guerrillas and paramilitaries since 1995. The march began in Medellin with over a thousand civilians, and was attended by several mayors of Antioquia, as well as internationally known nonviolence leaders such Bernard Lafayette. [3]

As the march neared Caicedo on April 21, FARC guerrillas confronted the march, kidnapping the governor and his peace commissioner. For over a year, the two men were held hostage deep in the jungle. On May 5, 2003, after a year in captivity, Gaviria Correa was killed by the FARC, along with Echeverri and eight other captives, during an attempted rescue by Colombian armed forces. [3]

Writings

During his year in captivity, Gaviria Correa kept journals and wrote frequent letters to his two children and his wife Yolanda Pinto de Gaviria, centered on his love for them and his hopes for reconciliation among Colombians. [3] These writings became a book, and were later translated to English as Diary of a Kidnapped Colombian Governor. [1]

Weeks before his death, Gaviria Correa wrote these lines in his final letter to his father: [4] [5]

Our task, if we hope for a new Antioquia, is to open the doors to all the possibilities that nonviolence offers and to incorporate them in the different segments of community life — family, education, relationships among people, communities, and nations — overcoming poverty and inequalities to build a new nation based on human principles.

In an open letter to the people of Antioquia, written before setting out on the fateful march to Caicedo, Gaviria Correa explained his motives as well as his understanding of the risks involved: [4] [5]

Dear People of Antioquia:

The trust you placed in me as your Governor obliges me to seek, without rest, the roads to overcome the pain that the use of violence and injustice cause to our people. This search has moved me to undertake the Nonviolent March of Reconciliation and Solidarity with the people of Caicedo. With this pilgrimage I invite you to apply the strategy of nonviolence.

The philosophy of nonviolence brings spirits closer, brings souls closer, brings human beings closer and will allow us, together, to build true roads to social transformation. Nonviolence is not simply saying no to violence, because if so it would end up being confused with passively accepting suffering, injustice and abuse. Nonviolence is a way to overcome violence, investigating and discovering just means to oppose injustice. Nonviolence is not only about neutralizing all forms of direct violence, but also all manifestations of structural violence, because it builds peace through justice and solidarity and helps to prevent future forms of violence, by offering methods and models of peaceful struggle to those social groups left out and sacrificed by unbalanced power and systemic maladjustment.

If you are reading this letter it is surely because the FARC were not able to listen or understand my message. If I have been murdered, my spirit will be praying for peace in Colombia. In this case I hope that Aníbal, my brother, will take up the flag I have been carrying to build a new Antioquia.

Legacy

In the first election after Gaviria Correa's death, his brother Aníbal Gaviria did in fact run and was in fact elected as Governor of Antioquia. After pursuing the same programs begun by his older brother in 2000, Aníbal was selected 2007's best Governor in Colombia by Colombia Líder, a national nonpartisan institute. Specific accomplishments cited included extending health coverage to 1.6 million inhabitants, providing new or improved housing for 110,000 low-income families, building schools for 90,000 additional elementary and intermediate students, increasing access to potable water from 24 to 96 municipalities, and a reduction of over 60% in the murder rate during his term. [6]

Varying opinions exist on the legacy of Gaviria Correa's movement of nonviolence. In the years following his death, violence decreased markedly. However, most Colombians attributed this improvement not to nonviolence, but to the opposite: namely, strong military offensives by President Álvaro Uribe against the FARC, paramilitary, and other narco-terrorist groups. [7]

On the other hand, Gaviria Correa's writing, and his story of personal sacrifice, continue to inspire those involved in the cause of nonviolence. In nominating Gaviria Correa for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, [8] for instance, nonviolence scholar Glenn D. Paige described him as "a nonviolent political leader whose legacy is no less significant than those of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr." [9] According to Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, "Governor Gaviria’s writings reveal a brave and deeply spiritual man, whose compassionate heart and fine mind were not corrupted by suffering, but deepened to an all-encompassing unconditional love of everyone, including his captors." [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia</span> Colombian guerrilla movement

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in 1966 from peasant self-defense groups formed from 1948 during the "Violencia" as a peasant force promoting a political line of agrarianism and anti-imperialism. They are known to employ a variety of military tactics, in addition to more unconventional methods, including terrorism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Álvaro Uribe</span> President of Colombia from 2002 to 2010

Álvaro Uribe Vélez is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Popular Liberation Army</span> Colombian communist guerrilla group founded in 1967

The Popular Liberation Army is a Colombian anti-revisionist Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group created in 1967. Most of its former members demobilized in 1991, forming the Esperanza, Paz y Libertad party, but a dissident faction, formerly led by Megateo, known as "Los Pelusos", continue operating. On June 22, 1994, Francisco Caraballo, First Secretary of the Communist Party of Colombia (M-L) and Commander in Chief of the People's Liberation Army, was arrested along with his wife, son and several other EPL members. Víctor Ramon Navarro Cervano, alias "Megateo," the leader of the last faction of the Popular Liberation Army (EPL), was killed in a military and police operation in Norte de Santander department in 2015. On December 15, 2016, Megateo's successor Guillermo León Aguirre, alias “David León,” was captured in Medellín. 40 days after the capture of David León, the body of his successor Jade Navarro Barbaso, alias “Caracho,” was still not found after disappearing.

<i>El Espectador</i> Colombian newspaper

El Espectador is a newspaper of national circulation within Colombia, founded by Fidel Cano Gutiérrez on March 22, 1887, in Medellín and published since 1915 in Bogotá. It transition from a daily to a weekly edition in 2001, following a financial crisis, and again with a daily released since May 11, 2008, a comeback which had been long rumoured, in tabloid format. From 1997 to 2011 its main shareholder was Julio Mario Santo Domingo.

Fidel Antonio Castaño Gila.k.a.Rambo was a Colombian drug lord and paramilitary who was among the founders of Los Pepes and the Peasant Self-Defense Forces of Cordoba and Uraba (ACCU), a paramilitary group which ultimately became a member of the larger United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) from which he became its leader until his death in 1994. He was also the brother of Vicente Castaño, the presumed chief of the narco-paramilitary group Águilas Negras, and Carlos Castaño Gil, founder and leader of the AUC paramilitary forces until his death. He is the grandfather of Gabriella Castaño. There is a theory that Fidel Castaño is still alive as there is no proof of him being dead and was the one that also killed Victor “Chepe” Crespo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noemí Sanín</span> Colombian-born politician and diplomat

Marta Noemí del Espíritu Santo Sanín Posada is a Colombian-born politician and diplomat. She was the Conservative party candidate in the 2010 Colombian presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raúl Reyes</span> Colombian guerilla (1948–2008)

Luis Edgar Devia Silva, better known by his nom de guerreRaúl Reyes, was a leader, Secretariat member, spokesperson, and advisor to the Southern Bloc of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People's Army (FARC–EP). He died during an attack by the Colombian army 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) within Ecuador, sparking the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis involving Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.

The FARC-Government peace process (1999–2002), from January 7, 1999, to February 20, 2002, was a failed peace process between the Government of President Andrés Pastrana Arango and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group in an effort to bring to an end the ongoing Colombian armed conflict.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jorge Ochoa</span> Colombian drug trafficker

Jorge Luis Ochoa Vásquez is a Colombian former drug trafficker who was one of the founding members of the Medellín Cartel in the late 1970s. The cartel's key members were Pablo Escobar, Carlos Lehder, José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, Gustavo Gaviria, Jorge Ochoa, and his brothers Juan David and Fabio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Manuel Santos</span> President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018

Juan Manuel Santos Calderón is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kidnappings in Colombia</span>

Kidnappings in Colombia refers to the practice of kidnapping in the Republic of Colombia. This criminal practice was first introduced in modern Colombian history during the early 1970s by the guerrilla movements and, later, also by criminal groups. With the release of Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt on July 2, 2008 this practice gained worldwide notoriety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piedad Córdoba</span> Colombian lawyer and politician (1955–2024)

Piedad Esneda Córdoba Ruiz was a Colombian lawyer and politician who served as a senator from 1994 to 2010. A Liberal Party politician, she also served as a member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia for Antioquia from 1992 to 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timoleón Jiménez</span> Colombian politician and former guerrilla

Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, most known under the nom de guerreTimoleón Jiménez and the nickname Timochenko or Timochenco, is a Colombian politician, cardiologist and former commander-in-chief of the rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, currently serving as the president of its political successor Commons following the Colombian peace process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilberto Echeverri Mejía</span>

Gilberto Echeverri Mejía was a Colombian electrical engineer, businessman and politician who on 21 April 2002 was kidnapped by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - FARC-EP along with the then-Governor of Antioquia Guillermo Gaviria Correa among others while participating in a peace walk and held hostage until 5 May 2003 when he was murdered by the guerrillas during a botched rescue operation by government forces deep in the Colombian northwestern jungle, bordering between Antioquia and Chocó. A Liberal party politician, he had previously served as Ambassador of Colombia to Ecuador from 1975 to 1977 in the Administration of President Alfonso López Michelsen, Minister of Economic Development from 1978 to 1980 in the Administration of President Julio César Turbay Ayala, Minister of National Defence from 1997 to 1998 in the Administration of President Ernesto Samper Pizano, and was working as peace advisor to Governor Gaviria before he was kidnapped.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aníbal Gaviria</span> Colombian politician (born 1966)

Aníbal Gaviria Correa is a Colombian politician who has served as the governor of Antioquia since 2020. Prior to this, Gaviria was the Mayor of Medellín from 2012 to 2015 and served as a visiting scholar at University of California, Berkeley. He previously served as Governor of Antioquia from 2004 to 2007.

El Mundo is a newspaper and news website based in Medellín, Colombia. It started circulating in Antioquia on April 20, 1979 and was founded by a group of business leaders and journalists. After circulating as a daily newspaper for 39 years, the newspaper switched to a weekly printed edition with daily digital emissions in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Organised crime in Colombia</span>

Organised crime in Colombia refers to the activities of various groups of drug cartels, guerilla groups, organised crime syndicates or underworld activities including drug trafficking, contract killing, racketeering and other crimes in Colombia. Colombia has seen the rise and fall of drug empires, crime syndicates and organised guerrilla groups, all of which having contributed to the varying forms of organised crimes having occurred in Colombia.

<i>El General Naranjo</i> Colombian biographical television series

El General Naranjo is a Colombian crime drama television series created by Anita de Hoyos and produced by Fox Telecolombia based on the book El general de las mil batallas written by Julio Sánchez Cristo. The series revolves around Óscar Naranjo, a Colombian general who was very influential in ending drug trafficking in Colombia and destroying Pablo Escobar and his army of criminals. The series premiered in Latin America 24 May 2019 on Fox Premium, and during its premiere Fox released the full episodes through its subscription app, the full seasons can be viewed all by subscription, while Fox airs one episode on television every Friday, except for the second season, which aired the last episode on a Saturday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Presidency of Álvaro Uribe</span> Colombian presidential administration from 2002 to 2010

Álvaro Uribe's term as the 31st president of Colombia began with his first inauguration on August 7, 2002 and ended on August 7, 2010. Uribe, candidate of the Colombia First party of Antioquia, took office after a decisive victory about the Liberal candidate Horacio Serpa in the 2002 presidential election. Four years later, in the 2006 presidential election, he defeated the Democratic Pole candidate, Carlos Gaviria, to win re-election. Uribe is the first president not to represent either of the two traditional parties, Liberal and Conservative.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gaviria Correa, Guillermo (2010). Diary of a Kidnapped Colombian Governor. DreamSeeker Books. ISBN   9781931038720.
  2. "Guillermo Gaviria Correa, una carrera por la paz". Semana. Retrieved 28 November 2011.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Colombia recuerda los 5 años de la muerte de Guillermo Gaviria, Gilberto Echeverry y 8 soldados". Caracol Radio News, Colombia. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  4. 1 2 Wikiversity:Nonkilling Leadership Lessons from Guillermo Gaviria
  5. 1 2 Paige, Glenn (2007). Global Nonkilling Leadership. Creative Commons. pp. 233–237. ISBN   978-1-880309-11-7.
  6. "Cómo gobernar bien: Experiencias de los mejores alcaldes y gobernadores de Colombia" (PDF). Colombia Líder. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  7. Moreno, Luis Alberto (August 19, 2004). "After a dark period, a better Colombia". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  8. "Guillermo Gaviria Correa, una carrera por la paz". Semana. Retrieved 28 November 2011.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. "Guillermo Gaviria Correa". Peace & Conflict Monitor. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.