Macroviolence and the invisibilization of the victims of the conflict. Ethnographic study of the Cienaguita-Pita massacre (Atlántico)

Abstract

This article argues that macro-violence has made invisible a good part of the massacres that occurred in regions where the internal conflict was of lesser intensity, has trivialized its effects in small populations, and with it, has provoked a transactional relationship between the State and victimizers with the victims of smaller scale massacres. For this reason, by means of a case study, using semi-structured interviews, focus groups and surveys of the universe of inhabitants of Cienaguita-Pita (Atlántico), we will illustrate the effects of the massacre, the State>s differentiated approaches and the victims> access to the rights to truth, justice, reparation, non-repetition and dignity. Finally, this article aims to make visible one of the massacres that occurred in the Caribbean, which has been hidden due to the macro-violence that characterized the region in the 1990s and 2000s, and also to demonstrate that the State has assumed the burden of compensating the victims and establishing some inputs to reconstruct the truth in the armed conflict. © 2023 Policia Nacional de Colombia. All rights reserved.