How to talk to guerillas
When the fight for the jungle burst into his village, Leyner had to rely on his way with words to find peace once more.
Leyner Palacios grew up around volatile armed groups, so he learned to negotiate with them.
He comes from a remote forested area called Bojaya, where clusters of small villages are spread along isolated waterways. Leyner's community had to share the rivers and forests with outsiders, armed groups like the Farc and the paramilitaries, who were locked into a decades-old conflict. As a child, Leyner learned to constantly navigate checkpoints manned by volatile armed people, and he showed a talent for negotation and mediation. As the conflict heated up, and with his community under siege, these skills would become more useful than ever.
Music from the 'Cantadoras de Pogue' was recorded by the Centro de Estudios Afrodiaspóricos - https://www.icesi.edu.co/vocesderesistencia/e/vol-1-cantadoras-de-pogue.php
Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Harry Graham
Translation: Jorge Caraballo
Sound design: Joe Munday
Editor: Munazza Khan
Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Leyner Palacios Credit: Getty Images/Anadolu)
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- Mon 1 Apr 202411:06GMTBBC World Service
- Mon 1 Apr 202417:06GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
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- Tue 2 Apr 202402:06GMTBBC World Service
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