Resistencia
“If necessary, we’ll fight to the death…because we have to win this one way or another. No matter how long it takes, you have to win,” said Rayito whose unflinching gaze is like that of many protesters involved in the Colombian national strike.
Over the course of the pandemic, nearly half of Colombians fell below the poverty line, spurring the country’s most significant uprising in 40 years. While a tax reform was introduced to provide economic relief, it actually raised the prices of common goods, hitting disenfranchised communities hardest. As a result in early 2021, massive anti-government strikes broke out against the reform and widespread corruption. The police response to these demonstrations led to numerous deaths, beatings, injuries, and disappearances. According to local NGOs Indepaz and Temblores, 83 people were killed with half allegedly committed by police officers.
Colombia’s police force is one of few in the world that falls under the Ministry of Defense, and the anti-rioting squad sees conflict through the lens of warfare. David Arteaga, who was shot with a tear-gas canister aimed at his head—a common occurrence during the strike—said it was fired from such a short distance that it’s something the police use as a direct attack. The impact crushed his skull, leaving an indentation where the bone was shattered, nearly killing him, and requiring intensive neurosurgery.
However, others were not as lucky. Dolores’s son Duban went missing in June of last year during a protest in Bogotá and was later found dead with signs of abuse. “That boy was my everything. There are days that I don’t want to keep going. I don’t want to keep fighting” she says.
My project “Resistencia” features portraits of protestors who are survivors of police violence and trauma or who have suffered the loss of a loved one. From mothers who lost their sons to permanently disabled young men, to people who were kidnapped, beaten, and tortured, each person holds an item that signifies the challenges they’ve faced by opposing the government. While everyone holds something different and unique to their story, all have one thing in common: a deep belief in change for Colombia’s future. “When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty” is a slogan chanted and written on signs by hundreds.
Major political shifts are occurring throughout South America, such as Chile’s recent progressive presidency and the rewriting of their constitution as well as Peru’s president running as a socialist candidate. In June of 2022, for the first time in the nation’s history, Colombia elected a progressive president, filling the streets with people celebrating among tears of joy—a far cry from the previous year when protestors risked their lives to stand against government corruption. “Resistencia” is a portrait of the courage and strength of those willing to die for their country.