Widowed by the massacre of Chacalté

Chapter One: La Violencia and Its Effects

4. Widowed by the massacre of Chacalté

She is worried because she doesn’t have enough money. She is sad because she is a widow. She takes care of her two grandchildren when her daughter goes out to work in the town’s eatery. They live in a village and the daughter works to support her daughters and her mother. The grandmother is worried because she lost her home in la violencia in the village of Chacalté.

On account of the massacre, this grandmother lost her husband, her parents-in-law, children, and she lost her farm animals. This massacre was caused by the guerilla. She had a nine-year-old son. He was on his way to see his mother and the guerilla had placed a bomb in the road. The child passed by, the bomb exploded, and he died. After all that they had suffered, she began to work with the soldiers. Before, soldiers didn’t live here. The guerilla came first, thinking that there were many soldiers here. They thought they could help and share with the poor, taking money from the rich. Many people supported the guerilla because they agreed with them, but the government didn’t and so the war began.

Through gathering these sad stories, we hope it will be seen that the people can no longer be tricked because they have seen what has happened. And we want the people to organize themselves well in the future so that what took place never happen again.