Beyond Bogota

Garry Leech

Independent journalist Garry Leech has spent the last eight years working in the most remote and dangerous regions of Colombia. Unlike other Western reporters, most of whom rarely leave Bogotá, Leech learns the truth about conflicts and the U.S. war on drugs directly from the source: farmers, male and female guerrillas, union organizers, indigenous communities, and many others.Beyond Bogotá is framed around the eleven hours that Leech was held captive by the FARC, Colombia's largest leftist guerrilla group, in August 2006. Drawing on unprecedented access to soldiers, guerrillas, paramilitaries, and peasants in conflict zones and cocaine-producing areas, Leech's documentary memoir is an epic tale of a journalist's search for meaning in the midst of violence and poverty. This compelling account provides fresh insights into U.S. foreign policy, the role of the media, and the plight of everyday Colombians caught in the middle of a brutal war.

A note from the author   The First Hour: 10:00 a.m., August 16, 2006 Entering La Macarena; my detention   The Second Hour: 11:00 a.m., August 16, 2006 My introduction to Latin America; a Salvadoran Nightmare   The Third Hour: 12:00 p.m., August 16, 2006 The Panama invasion; Colombia’s two faces— generosity and greed; indigenous villages and oil in Ecuador   The Fourth Hour: 1:00 p.m., August 16, 2006 Welcome to Farclandia; Commander Simón Trinidad and the rebel perspective; a meeting with Erika, a teenage FARC guerrilla; Geraldo Rivera visits the rebel safe haven   The Fifth Hour: 2:00 p.m., August 16, 2006 Investigating Plan Colombia; AUC commander Luis Enrique and the paramilitary perspective; a body in a hole   The Sixth Hour: 3:00 p.m., August 16, 2006 The displaced in Barranca; Gregorio and the landmine; the cocaine lab; collusion and murder in Puerto Asís   The Seventh Hour: 4:00 p.m., August 16, 2006 9/11 and the war on terror; detained by Carlos Castaño’s paramilitaries; the battle for Saravena, Colombia’s “Little Sarajevo”   The Eighth Hour: 5:00 p.m., August 16, 2006 Displaced Afro-Colombian communities of the Chocó; the Bellavista tragedy; the plight of the indigenous Embera   The Ninth Hour: 6:00 p.m., August 16, 2006 The Plan Patriota offensive; the new coca plant; the predicament of Colombian journalists; Plan Colombia becomes Plan Petroleum   The Tenth Hour: 7:00 p.m., August 16, 2006 Mining multinationals and human rights; the displacement of Tabaco; indigenous massacres in La Guajira and Nariño   The Eleventh Hour: 8:00 p.m., August 16, 2006 My release; chemical warfare in La Macarena   Epilogue: June 2007 Jungle rendezvous with FARC commander Raúl Reyes; the prospects for peace   Timeline (1948–2007) Acknowledgments Index