The general commander of the Military Forces, General Helder Fernan Giraldo Bonilla, held the launch of his book at FilBo 2023 Places of memory: a museum proposal to dignify, recognize and remember the victims of the armed conflict, a work he wrote together with Cintya Maldonado and Carolina Becerra, under the Planeta publishing label.
The launch event was held on Monday, April 24th at 03:00 pm at the José Asunción Silva auditorium in Corferias. This work arises from a research process of several years and the creation of three places of memory by the National Army, in jurisdictions where General Giraldo was Commander during his career: the Battle of Palonegro museum, the House of Memory of San Vicente and El Carmen de Chucurí, in the department of Santander and the Historical Center of the East in Yopal, Casanare.
The regional military museums contribute to build and safeguard the cultural values of the nation and the military institution. Although the conception of these spaces is similar, their content seeks to express particularities derived of the local characteristics of the regions.
In this way, the spaces of these military museums are intended to bring together the traditions and identity elements of each region, to highlight the participation the National Army has had in the construction of the Nation State, to highlight events that have taken place in the territory and to recognize those military men who stood out for their leadership.
Therefore, the idea arose to capture this experience in this work that tells what happened, helps to understand the violent events and the circumstances that led to them. In the same way, it intends to raise the right of victims, their families and society to know what happened, to seek to change the structural conditions that justified, facilitated and perpetuated the conflict and, ultimately, to open ways towards reconciliation and the reconstruction of the social fabric, to rebuild historical solidarities and the collective sense fragmented by violence.
It in the same way, it summarizes a part of the work our Military Forces carry out every day to contribute to the National Government's goal of achieving total peace. May the experiences of these projects serve to promote others that become the voice of the victims, of their families and of an entire country that today seeks peace, don’t intend to forget what happened and also seek reconstruction to unite as a nation towards a future without violence. Every page written is a tribute to all those who have suffered the armed conflict.
Source: Strategic Communications - General Command of the Military Forces
