Birthday of the killing

This is Pacelli, Norte de Santander, close to Tarra. The only thing you find there is coca.

It was around 2000. That day we were going after the FARC guerrillas. We were to reinforce sixty army soldiers. They helped us and we helped them.

We posed as FARC members. Very naively, the father welcomed us, gave us chicken and beer…

It was a bloody Saturday. The girl’s birthday. She was turning 15 and she was the first to die. She is the one in the middle.

They slit her throat. They raped her before killing her and then did the same with the mother. This commander ordered the rape and then cut her throat.

Then he picked up a broom and painted the houses with the blood of the massacre.

All the people who lived in that region had to flee overnight.

What this painting depicts is exactly what I saw and experienced. It is the worst thing that you can witness in your life. It was one of my worst nightmares during my time with the paramilitaries.