Reckoning with the lethal violence in Colombia’s prolonged wave of protests

That question burned in the eyes of Luis Fernando Barbosa, the father of Dylan “B Lion”, a 27-year-old hip hop artist who died in Bogota in the early hours of May 8, after a collision with an armored vehicle of the Colombian anti-riot police unit, ESMAD.

Preliminary reports from the investigative police suggest Barbosa had lost control of his motorcycle as he was overtaking the police vehicle, and eventually found himself in its path. His friends, along with human rights organizations seeking a role in post-conflict Colombia reconstruction, don’t believe this version of events and accuse the police of murder. The Ombudsman’s office told CNN that authorities are investigating the man’s death.

I heard Barbosa’s pain and indignation at a memorial for his son, held on a rainy Saturday night on the same road where he died in the early hours of the same day.

“Two liters of blood spilled on this very road were enough, I don’t want to see more blood on the street, and I want that blood to…

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