Reconciliation is Possible

University of Winchester Centre of Religion Reconciliation and Peace

Bertha Fries (victim of FARC’s terrorist attack to El Nogal Social Club) in dialogue with Rodrigo Londoño (last chief in command of FARC)

University of Winchester

Reconciliation is Possible: A Dialogue between Bertha Fries (victim of FARC’s terrorist attack to El Nogal Social Club) and Rodrigo Londoño (last chief in command of the FARC)In-person event only.Monday 13 June 2022The Stripe, University of Winchester5.30-8.00pm Registration (please bring ID) 5.30-6pm. Talk begins 6pm.In February 2003, the FARC blew up a car bomb in El Nogal Social Club in Bogotá. More than 30 people died and hundreds were injured. Bertha Fries was seriously injured. In 2016, in the middle of peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the FARC, Fries decided to meet with FARC’s chief negotiator in Havana. Since then, she started to work for reconciliation in Colombia. In 2017, she met the commander in charge of the unit which put the car bomb and started to do “transformative encounters” between him and victims of the attack. In February 2022, five years into implementation of the 2016 peace agreement and to commemorate 19 years of the attack, Fries held a dialogue with Rodrigo Londoño, the last chief in command of the FARC. Londoño acknowledged responsibility and told how meetings with the victims have transformed him. Fries highlighted the commitment of the FARC to work with the victims and invited Colombian society to reconcile. They showed Colombia and the world that reconciliation in possible.The Centre of Religion, Reconciliation and Peace, University of Winchester and Rodeemos el Diálogo (Embrace Dialogue, ReD) have the honour to host the first international event of this kind in a key moment for Colombia. This is the opening event of the conference Impact in Reconciliation and Peacebuilding. The event takes place a week before the second round of presidential elections in Colombia and ten days before the release of the final report of Colombia’s Truth Commission. The dialogue will be chaired by Dr Andrei Gómez-Suárez (Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Religion, Reconciliation and Peace and cofounder of Rodeemos el Diálogo). A formal welcome be offered by Professor Sarah Greer, Vice-chancellor of the University and final remarks by Professor Mark Owen, Director of the Centre of Religion, Reconciliation and Peace. The dialogue between Fries and Londoño will last for 90 mins. Followed by 30-minute Q&A.

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