María Eudice Hernández de Barrero has faced the tragic forced disappearance of two of her sons, Carlos Alberto and Juan José, both non-commissioned officers of Colombian National Army.
Having a child forcibly disappeared and not knowing if he is still alive is an open wound that never heals. It's living every day with the constant pain of not having answers and not being able to do more to find him. Every call, every news is a light hope and a possible devastation. This is the suffering that consumes Mrs. Maria Eudice, plunged into an endless duel conducted by hope and the incessant struggle for the truth, clinging to any hint that may bring back her two children.
María Eudice, together with her husband, raised their five children in Payandé, municipality of San Luis, Tolima. Among his children, the two oldest were twins, and one of them, Juan José, chose to belong to the Army. His third son, Carlos Alberto, in the same way decided to follow in his brother's footsteps, sharing the same military vocation.
In 1996, Carlos Alberto belonged to the Infantry Battalion N.° 35 Heroes del Guapí, while his brother Juan José was of in the city of Villavicencio, Meta. In December of that year, Carlos visited his mother and told her that he would be transferred to Medellín.
At the beginning of the following year, on January 5, Carlos Alberto, together with Sergeant Nicolás Arrieta and soldier Lizcano Lima, set out on a boat trip from Cartagena del Chairá to Florencia, Caquetá. They sailed surrounded by the dense rainforest, not knowing that this decision would change their lives forever. The journey, which initially seemed like a simple journey, turned into a nightmare.
The forced disappearance of the children of María Eudice Hernández de Barrero, non-commissioned officers of Colombian National Army
Upon arriving in Doncello, the three soldiers disembarked and boarded a bus to continue their road trip. In the middle of the route, they were intercepted by a group of guerrillas. In an instant, the situation became critical, the passengers were ordered to get off and the three soldiers were taken away. Exactly, on January 10, 1997, María Eudice received the devastating news of the disappearance of her son Carlos Alberto, plunging her into deep and constant anguish.
During the agonizing search for his brother, Juan José decided to retire of the army in mid-1997, unable to bear the pain of having Carlos Alberto missing. His brotherly love and desperation for answers led him to leave military life behind. He went through several places in his incessant search, following any clue that might lead him to his brother. However, on July 18, 1998, Juan José in the same way disappeared in Granada, Meta, plunging the family into a deep abyss of uncertainty and pain that they were already facing.
The tragedy of the Barrera family did not end there. Juan José's twin, Fabián, died at the age of five due to cancer, deeply disturbed by the disappearance of his brothers. The situation became even more untenable when threats and constant fear for their safety led María Eudice's two other children, Angie Lorena and Luis Gabriel, to emigrate abroad in the hope of leaving behind the fear and pain that had marked them.
Six years after the disappearance of her two non-commissioned officer sons, the prosecutor handling the case in Bogotá contacted Ms. Eudice with the news that a guerrilla had confessed that Carlos Alberto had been arrested, tortured and buried in a mass grave near Florencia. "When the phone rang, I felt a mixture of hope and fear. The sensations were confusing," he says with a choppy voice. However, this was never confirmed, leaving her in the same uncertainty she had felt since the first day of her children's disappearance.
Despite the passing of the years, Maria Eudice still longs to know the truth about the fate of her children. "A mother never stops believing that one day she will find them. Even if they say they were killed, one refuses to accept it and is constant in their conviction that they are still alive," he said.
According to the Unit for Victims, in the RUV, with court as of December 31, 2023, there were included 6433 military personnel, civilians in the service of the institution and their families recognized as victims of the serious crime of forced disappearance in the midst of the armed conflict, of which 112 were in active service according to the Family and Wellbeing Directorate.
Among these military personnel reported as victims of enforced disappearance are 78 soldiers, 22 non-commissioned officers, 2 officers, 5 intelligence agents and 5 drivers. The departments where the most cases of disappearances of members of the institution have been reported are Antioquia, Caquetá, Putumayo, Santander, Meta department and Chocó department.
The Barrero family's painful story is just one of many that reflect the devastating impact of enforced disappearance in Colombia, a country where thousands of families are still searching for the truth for their missing loved ones.
Source: Press – National Army
