Colombia Passport

This video was exhibited in the social network as the main evidence that Senator Córdoba was not worthy of the Nobel Prize of Peace. The file was named ‘Palabras guerreristas de Piedad Córdoba’. It is a speech where the Senator praises persons like Marulanda, Che Guevara, Jorge Eliecer Gaitán and other historical figures of the Independence of Colombia. From the list, it is evident that Marulanda, the already late strong commander of the Farc guerrillas, is the most offensive mention to those who were disappointed by the Oslo nomination. A Facebook member comments that such nomination is not surprising, because even Adolf Hitler was in the list. It means that Senator Córdoba is seen by many as something near to the leader of the Nazi Party of Germany.

Love: Córdoba, leader of Peace

But short after the video doing campaign against Córdoba, we find the comments of something called The Pacific Route of the Women by Anita Muñoz. She manifests that the women movement declares its complacency for the nomination of Córdoba to the Nobel Prize. Muñoz underlines that Córdoba is a leader of peace in Colombia and praises her work for the release of the Farc hostages. If Senator Córdoba gets the Prize, said the active Facebook member, such award will open more possibilities to a negotiated resolution of the Colombian armed conflict.

´To be a woman and work for the human rights in a country in conflict, is not easy. Piedad Córdoba demonstrates strength and commitment before the processes that she has leaded. Her perseverance and will make her an essential leader of the peace in Colombia´, said Marina Gallego Zapata, the National Coordinator of the Peace Route of the Women.

Hate:  ´Teodora de Bolívar´

After the joyful declaration of the Women Movement in support for Córdoba, we find other comment of hate. The Facebooker calls the readers to reflect and how mistake has been the nomination:

´Dear readers: The same that all of you, I am terrified that Piedad Córdoba (Teodora de Bolívar according to the PC of late Reyes) is among the contenders for the Nobel Prize of Peace to be give in Stockholm, Sweden (*). This nomination is not only a mistake in good faith by the committee of the Novel… that accepted the nomination, but a terrible neglect of our Ambassador in Stockholm and an insult to all the Colombians worldwide. (…)´, said at the beginning of his article the Facebooker.

(*) He thinks that the Novel Prize of Peace is given in Stockholm. It is in Oslo.

After the article of our friend, who blames even the Colombian Ambassador in Sweden, we find the well known group of One Million Voices Against Farc. It announces a demonstration in front to the Norway Embassy in Bogotá (this ones are clear that it is Oslo the exact spot) to campaign against the nomination of Córdoba to the Novel Prize of Peace as a sign of the ´National Dignity´.

Some conclusions

Of course, Facebook is not the representative of the Colombian democracy, even if it is an important space for the public opinion. At the other side, the Colombian Facebookers are made by young people who frequent universities and belong to the middle class.

We lack the point of view of the most popular sectors of the Colombian society like farmers, workers, indigenous minorities, Afro-Colombian communities and many others.

Why the name of Senator Córdoba was among the contenders to the most work prestigious prize of Peace?

The reason is doubtless her campaigns to promote peace and human rights in conflict zones. Even her friendship with the controversial Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, and her different approach to the Farc guerrillas, avoiding to point it as a terrorist group or expressing sympathy for its leaders like Marulanda, Ivan Márquez and Reyes, Piedad Córdoba has been so far the only Senator full time involved in the campaign for the release of the Farc hostages and she is the most strong opponent to president Álvaro Uribe.

Being honest, Piedad Córdoba never has been involved with illegal activities or political scandals as many other Colombian politicians that were touched by the so called Para-politics or other type of scandals.

Her crimes: when president Uribe puts conditions to the humanitarian interchange, she openly criticize it and campaigns for dialogues with the guerrillas; when Colombia, USA and Europe enlists Farc as a terrorist organization, she insists in the positions of Hugo Chávez to call it a belligerent group; when the popularity of the president is high and many Colombians line behind Uribe, she talks about a most socialist vision for the country.

Technically those things are not crimes or do not make her unworthy of her participation in the Colombian political life.

Even if she is hated or loved, Teodora or now a former contender for the Novel Prize of Peace, it is true that she stands as a symbol of a democratic society that has the hope to overcome its conflicts and become a nation where everybody has the right to express his/her ideas without the fear to be assassinated, kidnapped or expatriated.