Unusually, victims testified directly at the Havana peace talks between FARC guerrillas and the government. Maria Eugenia Cruz Alarcón, one of the first to bear witness, explains why she will defend Colombia’s peace agreement – at all costs.
When they called on me to testify I had to keep it from my family. It was a ‘state secret’, because Colombia is so polarized; there are many who want the war to continue and so speaking out as a victim is risky.
But I was very excited, I accepted. I felt such emotion at being recognized, because as women leaders we have fought so hard and lived through so much to get here. Now here we were in this important space – where the war was ending – invited to speak.
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