Walking Ghost Summary

Steven Dudley in his book, Walking Ghosts: Murder and Guerilla Politics in Colombia, seeks to explain the internal political issues of what has been considered to be the earliest and most promising democracy of the Latin American region. In his book, the author delineates the process by which political upheaval has been able to inject itself into the social and political schedules of the country. Unlike many other cases involving genocide, Colombia has been part of what seems to be an eternal political genocide. Based on information provided by the author, one can conclude that the war, which the Colombian government is currently attempting to defeat, was in fact triggered by its own inept decisions of the past. Although very complex, the

readers are able to grasp on to the author’s analysis of the way contemporary politics in Colombia have evolved.
Dudley points that the insecurity felt by all Colombians, mainly those whom are politically inclined, came as result of the governments’ decision to crush the Communist political party.

In the 1940’s, Colombia faced a civil war called, “La Violencia”, those at war were the two leading political parties, conservatives and liberals, over political eminence. The two parties settled a compromise to share power, yet these two groups saw a potential threat in the communist party whom at the time was very small and not influential. As Dudley notes, “the adversary made violence its strategy, and the communist fell right into its trap responding with the same strategy as the enemy” (Dudley 21). The communist party adopted “la combinacion de todas las formas de lucha” as the strategy to combat the government’s brutal use of force; this strategy was a combination of political campaigns held in the cities and war as a means of defending themselves in the rural areas. Rather than eradicating communism, the government’s actions helped strengthen the party’ capabilities as their popularity and defiance against the government began to grow. From such growth, new guerilla and nongovernmental organizations, that later split from their original intends, were

originated.
While the book tells the story of the Colombian government and its self-imposed hardships that outgrew the nations capability to suppress them, it is mainly focused on the importance of those who managed to survive but were still targets of such political genocide.

Dudley, described these people as martyrs or walking ghost. These walking ghosts were former or current members of mainly the Communist party, and the UP, but also of the FARC, and the M19, whom were targets of the government hired paramilitary groups. Having said this, it is evident that the cleansing of people was occurring, not necessarily based on ethnicity, as they all were ethnically identical, but cleansing based on political inclination. Innocent civilians whom were suspected to support any leftist political party or group were executed without formal evidence. Moreover, one can argue that in fact these people were not being moved or contained from an area or the government but exterminated, making this a political genocide. “The goal wasn’t just to kill the enemy but to wipe it from the earth completely, to destroy the idea that it had ever existed” (Dudley, 6). Later citing, “They called it a “cleanup,” and its targets were Communist Party members and suspected FARC collaborators” (Dudley,

35).
Steven Dudley, very astutely explained all the events that have occurred which have led to current political circumstances faced in Colombia. While reading the book, some of the information appeared to be opinion based as he explains these issues as a storybook, but in fact the author laid out all of his sources in the ending pages of the book. In addition to providing historical context of events that influenced existing guerilla groups and evoked the creation of other revolutionary groups, the author also provides primary source evidence to support his arguments. In the book he uses information gathered from interviews to these brave individuals who devoted their life to their persistent beliefs and goals, “walking ghost”, and even some of the few captured paramilitary members whom he visited in jail. As he details the lives of some survivors, one is able to fully savor and inhale all that has become Colombia’s reality. Throughout the book one can read on stories of the lives and experiences of people like Josue Giraldo, a UP party member until his assassination, and Black Vladimir, an ex-paramilitary hired to kill party members; these stories made his book an attention grasping trap. Therefore, it can be argued that all of the contentions made in the book, were supported by reliable evidence; which of course the providers of such evidence, to enforce their credence could have made modifications. Even so, all gathered information from his work as a human rights observer in Colombia led to the formation of a book based on the information provided by frontline politicians, victims, and leftist group members, and not his own.
Being a U.S citizen by birth and of Colombian descent, made his book twice as interesting. Though read from a scholarly perspective, it was inevitable to have deeper reactions to the information that was presented. Just as Dudley, I had a misconception of the aims of different political and nongovernmental groups in Colombia. This book further enhanced my understanding of various political policies and while corruption has always reigned in the country, it exposed the actual astonishing level of corruption that has prevailed through an everlasting cycle of wars. Dudley successfully laid out a story of a political party formed by leftist revolutionaries whom were attacked by the government for their nonconformist ways. He explicates that the party consisted of both spiteful members of the FARC, whom was a group that separated itself from the communist party and drifted from its original purpose, and also hopeful civilians who were weary of the corrupt ways and saw the party as a mediator between the people, the government, and the revolutionaries. In his clarity, people were able to see the relation between groups, the ways they evolved, tactics used to expand their support, and methods employed to attain funds. Although his writing was very well arrange and rich in content, one can also say this this storybook method of writing also made part of his weakness. Often times, chapters were repetitive as he emphasized issues and instances discussed in previous chapters. While one may argue that this was done to connect all the information together, it also seem redundant as his clarity and straightforwardness made it easy for readers to absorb all the content without the need to reinstate previously said material.
Overall, the author is able to drill the knowledge being presented in the readers’ mind. It is clear that his initial understanding of UP, became tainted as he further his research. Together, the government, the FARC, the M19, State initiated paramilitaries, drug lord funded paramilitaries, all led to both the creation and elimination of the UP. The UP was the insurgents’ vehicle that accelerated their bigger plan to topple the government, “the UP was nothing more than a part of Arenas’s master plan, a way for the FARC to develop its army in the countryside and bring its politics to the cities” (Dudley, 56). In conclusion, the government failed in its early stages of political disagreements to peacefully eradicate opposition, as result the level of drug contraband and number of guerillas have grown to destabilize the entire population. It is a great read that allows readers to almost live the history of the flawed system that still exists in Colombia.