A vivid history and a series of short stories that depict the horrors and reality of the FARC war with the Colombian Government during some of the most tenuous years between 1998 and 2004. This is an account of a war reporter, Adriana Aristizabal, caught in the storm of war and often caught in the crossfire between FARC guerillas, Paramilitaries, other terrorist groups, and the Colombian military as she reported from the front lines to inform and educate the world and Colombian citizens about the massacres, kidnappings, bloodshed, and extermination of innocent victims.
CAUGHT IN THE STORM OF WAR is a voice in the hail of bullets, rushing past one another on their way to a final, lethal, destination. This voice rises, calling out for compassion for those anonymous individuals who lost their lives, a heavy cost in a complex and overwhelming reality.
More than 84 journalists were killed over more than 20 years during this conflict, highlighting the risk and sacrifice that reporters, journalists, broadcasters and editors lived with in Colombia, a country with one of the highest murder rates for journalists in the world. Adriana is a reporter who survived. And in their honor, she tells the story to remember the fallen and to encourage the peace process through a historical story that serves the Colombian citizens but also provides hope and a sobering account for others around the world who now experience their own storm of war.
Today, the peace process has the attention and interest of the global community. This is an amazing story of hope and progress. But peace comes at a price. This book aims to remind us all to remember that a peace process takes center stage but it is important to honor and remember the victims of war, the families who lost loved ones, the war reporters who lost their lives and to educate the world about the pain of war plagued with fear, loss of life, and the trivialization of human life in the storm of terror and conflict. Why is it important? There is a historical story that leads us to the current peace process that cannot be forgotten. A historical story of the senseless death, torture, sorrow, and pain experienced by a country of innocent victims. A story that was covered for years by dedicated journalists and reporters who risked their lives to bring the truth of this storm of war to the world, some of which died for the cause.
At a time when we watch the horror of terrorism in places like the Middle East, particularly Syria, Iraq, Europe, and a growing frequency of isolated and increasing terror in the U.S., let this be a lesson for all nations that no matter the history of violence, terror, and horror, we must not ignore the pain and suffering of the innocent victims of war. And, we must always believe that peace is always a possibility.