The Colombian Truth Commission: A Local Researcher’s Perspective

Event details

On 28 June 2022, the Colombian Truth Commission published its final report after three years and seven months of intense work. The Commission was mandated to investigate the more than 50-year-long armed conflict in the country, by identifying patterns of violence, the root causes of the conflict, the factors that determined the persistence of the violence, etc. Carolina Baltan Salazar, who contributed to the research for and writing of one of the territorial chapters included in the volume Colombia Adentro, will reflect on the role of researchers in (re-)constructing the truth, the methodologies employed, the ethical implications of her work, as well as the personal and professional challenges encountered while working for the Colombian Truth Commission. In this way, she will offer an intimate portrayal of the Truth Commission from an insider’s perspective.

About the speaker

Carolina Baltan Salazar is a political analyst with around ten years of experience working with ethnic and campesino communities in areas affected by the armed conflict in Colombia. Carolina has mediation experience in inter-cultural and territorial conflicts. Over the last few years, she has worked on issues relating to the implementation of the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). Carolina served, for the last two years, as a researcher for the Colombian Truth Commission. She was part of the research team for the Department of Valle del Cauca and co-authored the related chapter in the final report’s volume Colombia Adentro. She holds a Master’s degree in Rural Development Studies from the Pontifical Xavierian University (Bogotá) and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Cauca.