Colombia’s most recent bout of political violence erupted in the 1960s when the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and other rebel groups began a guerilla war. The situation was complicated by the rising demand for cocaine in the U.S. and the armed cartels servicing that market. The rebels also began dealing drugs and the country’s right responded with paramilitary groups that devolved into death squads and criminal gangs. In There Are No Dead Here, human-rights activist Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno concentrates on those paramilitaries and their ties to the country’s army and government. She examines three brave men who opposed them: a prosecutor, an activist and a journalist. One is dead and the others remain in danger. Although Colombia’s tragedy was relegated to the international back pages after the 2016 peace accord between the government and FARC, the problems haven’t ended.
