In Colombia’s Montes de María region, hundreds of women recently retraced a painful journey on foot, walking from the town of María la Baja to the village of Mampuján in the department of Bolívar. Their trek was the third symbolic “return” organized under the “No Es Hora de Callar” (“Now Is Not the Time to Stay Silent”) campaign, an initiative led by the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo to spotlight survivors of the country’s decades-long armed conflict.
The gathering commemorated the 26th anniversary of a massacre and forced displacement that devastated Mampuján, one of the communities hit hardest by paramilitary and guerrilla violence in Colombia’s Caribbean coastal region. Montes de María, a rural area straddling Bolívar and Sucre, became notorious during the conflict for mass killings and land seizures that drove thousands of families from their homes.
When the women arrived, local residents welcomed them with bowls of sancocho, a hearty traditional stew often served at community celebrations across Colombia. Social leaders and public figures joined the marchers, who carried a unified message: a call for dignity, respect for human life, and above all, a guarantee that such violence will never happen again.
The event served as both a tribute to victims and a public demand for lasting peace in a region still healing from its violent past.
To read the full report, visit El Tiempo’s original story.
Source: El retorno de mujeres a Mampuján (Bolívar) fue por la no repetición de violencia (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: Reg Natarajan, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).