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Walking Ghosts: Murder and Guerrilla Politics in Colombia

"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

Steven Dudley has written for many national periodicals, and his dispatches from Colombia have been heard on National Public Radio. His five years in that war-, drug-, and assassin-torn country are fodder for this extremely revealing volume of reportage. Infinite patience and concentration will be needed to navigate the author's encyclopedic exposition. Careful readers, though, are rewarded with a cast of characters so colorful that if the venue were shifted to the U.S., they could only reside in New Orleans. A country with one-seventh the population of the U.S. experiences some 30,000 murders per year, 75 political assassinations per week, and 10 kidnappings per day. (Kidnapping in order to elicit funding for political fronts has been perfected to a high art.) So deadly are the country's politics that the author had to flee the country and still fears for his life. But he was impelled to chronicle the story anyway in this thrilling and informative read. Includes impromptu photographs that assist in humanizing the myriad rebels, guerrillas, drug kingpins, and politicians who populate this quagmire.

Reviews:

...an authoritative work of modern history which is also a nail-biting page turner ... Dudley writes with an appealing blend of passion and honesty, and his book is absolutely riveting.
–Jon Lee Anderson, the New Yorker

...an engrossing, sometimes hair-raising account of Colombia's bloody, overlapping conflicts.
–Roane Carey, The Nation

...essential reading for anyone who wants to fully understand the causes of Latin America's longest-running civil war. A brave and unflinching book.
–Joseph Contreras, Newsweek

A brave, meticulously researched story of missed opportunities, treachery and revenge, and the burden of history on a country that has rarely known peace.
–Scott Wilson, the Washington Post

A brave, meticulously researched story of missed opportunities, treachery and revenge, and the burden of history on a country that has rarely known peace.
–Scott Wilson, the Washington Post

...an authoritative work of modern history which is also a nail-biting page turner ... Dudley writes with an appealing blend of passion and honesty, and his book is absolutely riveting.
–Jon Lee Anderson, the New Yorker

Meticulously reported, Walking Ghosts...leaves the reader on the edge of his seat.
–Juan Forero, New York Times

...essential reading for anyone who wants to fully understand the causes of Latin America's longest-running civil war. A brave and unflinching book.
–Joseph Contreras, Newsweek

...an engrossing, sometimes hair-raising account of Colombia's bloody, overlapping conflicts.
–Roane Carey, The Nation

Meticulously reported, Walking Ghosts...leaves the reader on the edge of his seat.
–Juan Forero, New York Times

By SUERTE GRINGO on Sep 12, 2008, 15:54 in Politics & the war.

SUERTE GRINGO says on Sep 12, 2008, 15:54:

The more I discover about Colombia the more I want to learn about Colombia.

“If you're gonna eat your crackers in bed, you're gonna have to sleep with crumbs."

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rocinante says on Sep 12, 2008, 15:56:

I'm sorry but I don't know anything about walking ghosts, but I recommend ghosts sitting down.

"World economic indicators point to a democrat winning 2008. It will surely be Obama. Not that the US president actually runs the US." Feb 5, 2008

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goin_south says on Sep 12, 2008, 16:21:

I'm sure someone here knows about Walking Ghost Busters.
That's what the Dali Llama is doing in my avatar, I think...

“ I would rather be a conservative nut job rather than a liberal with no nuts and no job.”

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scooby_1781 says on Sep 15, 2008, 06:25:

Old News

"SEMPER FI"

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quantum says on Sep 16, 2008, 16:11:

Old news, you say, but very pertinent news nonetheless. Gonna make it a point to look for this book. Thnx for the lead suerte.......

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Neonovo says on Sep 19, 2008, 22:02:

More Terrible than Death: Massacres, Drugs, and America's War in Colombia
by Robin Kirk (Author).

Here is some more old and pertinent news. This writer hits the nail right-on.

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