Colombia Protest: "The Sound of Things Falling" & Ongoing Unrest

Protesters gather in a vibrant march through the city, holding diverse signs and banners, unified in their call for change.

The summer of '21, I finished reading this extraordinary book that takes place in Colombia's history spanning from the 1960s to the late 1990s, only to read the news about the deaths of protestors later. According to Axios news writer Marina E. Franco (Noticias Telemundo), "Colombia has one of the highest protest death tolls in the world since the beginning of the pandemic, with one death every 36 hours."

The initial protests in Colombia were sparked by a proposed tax hike that President Duque later rescinded. Protests escalated as the violence at the hands of the riot police continued unchecked. "The protesters want the riot police to be disbanded and for all members of the security forces to be held accountable by an independent body rather than by military courts," as reported in this deep dive by BBC.com. Additionally, the protests have come to include the extreme hunger, poverty, and inequality, writes Julie Turkewitz for the New York Times, exacerbated by the COVID pandemic in mostly "marginalized communities, including Afro-descendant, Indigenous, farmers, and young people," according to the Nation.com.

When comparing what was happening when Juan Gabriel Vásquez wrote his 2011 fictional tale against these backdrops, one must wonder what the future holds for Colombia. With President Gustavo Petro and the continuous scandals embroiling his office, it seems Colombians' hope for peace and safety remains on hold.

In “The Sound of Things Falling,” Vásquez writes a modern tale that breaks away from the traditional magical realist Latin American writers of the past. He grounds the story in realism using historical moments, supported by flawed, three-dimensional characters, which serves to bolster the book’s theme of things sounding as they fall. Yet, he cannot help but incorporate related elements of magical realism, such as fate and destiny (elements that inherently possess a ‘magical’ quality), and the circular or intertwining of lives (again, elements that serve to create a sense of ‘magic’). The book is, however, heavily grounded in realism.

There is a historical fiction feel to this book as Vásquez uses real events to ground his story, such as the crashed American Airlines Flight 965, making some elements like the Peace Corps’ involvement in the Colombian drug trade, and America's war on drugs policies feel plausible against the book’s backdrop. This successful blending of past and fiction blurs the lines in such a way that the characters' actions become credible.

People falling out of planes, planes falling out of the sky, people falling when shot, or the painful sounds of sentient beings falling out of control thread throughout the story. “The sound of my own downfall,” says the main protagonist, Antonio (285), as he is reminded of the Little Prince. Even though he does not fall from the sky, the idea of personally collapsing, slipping, declining, or diminishing is clear: “there was no possible testimony of my fall, there was no black box that anybody could consult, nor was there any black box of Ricardo Laverde’s fall.” This idea is the backbone of the story. The sound of his downfall keeps Antonio trapped in his PTSD and forever linked to another man’s family.

In 2021, Colombians were being shot in the face by the riot police (ESMAD), whether they were directly involved with the ongoing protests or not. "Human rights groups estimate as many as 200 protesters have suffered eye injuries after being targeted by Colombia’s notorious anti-riot police," reads the subtitle of the Nation.com article written by Peter Schurmann and Manuel Ortiz. The police seemed determined to use all kinds of extreme violence, including reported sexual violence, to deter their citizenry.

These elements remain important because, although a work of fiction, we see the impact of Colombia's modern history unfolding like the book. The question Vásquez leaves unanswered is whether Antonio will pass his traumas down to his young daughter, as generations of Colombians have helplessly done as well. What can Colombians do to break the cycle as scandals and corruption intensify under the Petro regime?

© Andrea González, July 2024