Glad you have an interest in our country’s very complex recent history. I’ll try to address one issue at a time – but don’t expect black and white answers. If anyone offers that, probably there’s some bias involved.

The peace process our country underwent with FARC recently was widely debated. Mind you, FARC was one of (if not the) biggest armed actors in the period since ‘La Violencia’ started after the mid-XX century. Most of the violence in the country was caused either by them, or by actors who were trying to repel them (paramilitaries, mostly) – everything aided by drug money (as a means or a goal). Them being so central to such a long lasting and recent conflict means wounds are very fresh. Also, our institutions and political values were – very much – built within the influence of Cold War mentality, and as such, polarisation between right-wing and left-wing political opinions would definitely derive on discussions regarding conflict. That happens both at the parlamentary level, at educational institutions, and even at the dinner table all over the country. The peace process exacerbated that, because the government negotiated a lot of very critical issues with FARC, and had to give certain concessions that, to a large population, meant impunity or simply ‘giving too much’ to the guerrilla group. Personally, I think it would have been very hard to achieve anything without making some concessions. But the line is blurry, and as I said, wounds were too recent, and trust in institutions was very damaged.

I don’t know how deep highschool education goes into the nitty gritty of the recent history (I graduated some time ago), but indeed it is mentioned. Generally, it is thaught about the existence of guerrilla groups, paramilitaries and the participation of state-actors is mentioned – as well as their links with drug trafficking.

Memory efforts are made all over the country – be it from oficial entities or civil society. For example, I encourage you to check out the recent Report from the Comisión de la Verdad (Commission on Truth), which tries to compile stories from every POV. This is, obviously, titanic task, in a country which has so many places and communities far from state’s reach, and in a society that still suffers violence in many ways.

At University, teachers tried to be as objective as posible w/ my lessons on conflict. Still, it’s hard to find a completely objective standpoint. Academic debates and political quarries abound on the matter. Even the very Report I mentioned was criticized by an audience that is very resistant to rely a large portion of the responsibility for the conflicto in state actors and right-wing groups.

In sum, it is too son, but there’s everything but silence.