Camilo Torres Restrepo
The Reverend Father Camilo Torres Restrepo | |
---|---|
Born | Camilo Torres Restrepo 3 February 1929 |
Died | 15 February 1966 | (aged 37)
Nationality | Colombian |
Occupation | Priest |
Parent(s) | Calixto Torres Umaña Isabel Restrepo Gaviria |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Church | Catholic Church |
Ordained | 1954 (priest) |
Camilo Torres Restrepo (3 February 1929 – 15 February 1966) was a Colombian
As part of the academic staff of the National University of Colombia, he was a co-founder of the Sociology Faculty together with Orlando Fals Borda, as well as some intellectuals such as Eduardo Umaña Luna, María Cristina Salazar, Virginia Gutiérrez de Pineda, Carlos Escalante, Darío Botero and Tomás Ducay, in 1960.[2]
His involvement in several student and
He is perhaps best known for the quote: "If Jesus were alive today, He would be a guerrillero."[5] He was a life-long friend of fellow socialist Luis Villar Borda and Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez. In the Dominican Republic in 1970, a revolutionary group that included Catholic clergy members and university students was founded under the name CORECATO, which stood for Comando Revolucionario Camilo Torres (Revolutionary Command Camilo Torres). In New York City, San Romero of the Americas Church-UCC has founded the Camilo Torres Project in 2009. This project works for social justice and peace for the people of the Washington Heights community.
Biography
Childhood and education
Jorge Camilo Torres Restrepo was born on 3 February 1929 in Bogotá into a well-to-do family of the liberal bourgeoisie. His mother Isabel told him the story of Father Cuco (Juan de la Cruz Gaviria), a liberal businessman who financed the military campaigns against the conservatives in the civil wars of the 19th century.
His parents took him to Europe when he was only two years old.
His sister Gerda Westendorp Restrepo, daughter of Isabel Restrepo's first marriage, was a medical student (the first woman in Colombia to pursue a university degree). Her brother Fernando devoted himself to medicine like his father and older half-sister, and settled in the United States. He was close to Camilo although their professions caused them to see each other sporadically.
Camilo Torres entered the Faculty of Law at the
Influenced by the social ideas of two French Dominican priests, Nielly and Blanchet, whom he met through the father of his girlfriend Teresa Montalvo, daughter of a prestigious Bogota family, the idea of becoming a priest began to take hold of Camilo, and to make this decision, he withdrew to meditate in the eastern plains. After breaking up with his girlfriend and despite the reluctance of his mother and father, Camilo entered the Conciliar Seminary of Bogotá of the
Priesthood and academic life
Poverty and social injustice attracted his attention and, together with his fellow disciple Gustavo Pérez, he created a social studies circle that functioned even after Torres was ordained a priest in 1954 under the direction of Jonatan Gómez. Camilo started social activities in the neighbourhoods surrounding the Conciliar Seminary, which were populated by displaced families from the countryside.
In 1955, in order to specialize, Torres travelled to
In 1958, the Belgian university awarded him the degree of
In 1959, when he returned to Colombia, he felt compelled to actively support the cause of the poor and the working class. That year he was appointed auxiliary chaplain of the
MUNIPROC's work led to the founding of the first Junta de Acción Comunal (JAC) in
During this period of his life he was interested in founding a farm-school in Yopal (Casanare), as part of the rural action programme that he encouraged in the region and which would go on to achieve other organisational successes; on the board of the Incora, he sparked off a controversy over the application of the law of extinction of ownership restricted to uncultivated lands, which brought him into conflict with Álvaro Gómez Hurtado, also a member of that body and head of the "Laureanist" group of the Conservative Party. Because of the resonance of this conflict, some conservative bishops wrote to the Cardinal to request his dismissal from the board. Invited to Peru, he gave courses and lectures on the subject of agrarian reform and social change. His view of the Latin American situation is not flattering, as he expresses it in a letter from Lima. He writes:
Lima is not Peru. There are six million pure Indians who consider the other four million as strangers. I have been very frustrated to be able to establish nothing but a tourist relationship with the Indians. This is the truest and weakest base of the Latin American revolution. Their social situation is appalling. However, the purges continue in Brazil. Those who think are punished. Reaction is beginning to walk all over our continent as if the majorities did not exist. Until when! We progressives are very intelligent. We speak very well. We are popular. When we are together we are really nice. But reaction moves one of its powerful fingers and paralyses us! We cannot go on without organisation and equal arms, at least.[9]
In 1962, the year in which the
In 1964, Concha would later relieve Torres as coadjutor, only admiring Torres as a sociologist, allowing him to become an associate professor in the Faculty of Sociology. He was in turn appointed dean of the Institute of Social Administration of the Escuela Superior de Administración Pública (ESAP) and promoted to member of the Board of Directors of INCORA.
The Unidad de Acción Rural de Yopal (UARY) was inaugurated on 1 March 1964, after overcoming the bureaucratic obstacles of the Ministry of Agriculture, which allowed him to work at the grassroots with the peasants of the capital of the plains. He combined this with the struggles in the junta, especially with the conservative politician who was a staunch defender of the interests of the landowners. He first considered creating a guerrilla group together with Álvaro Marroquín, a student at the National University and member of the JUCO. Torres in turn considered INCORA a deficient entity to attend to the needs of the Colombian peasantry, especially in informal education for their organization in search of an agrarian reform different to that proposed by INCORA.[11]
Entering politics
The Cuban Revolution, which impacted every country in the Americas, caught Torres' attention after he returned to Colombia from Europe. In 1965, the Movimiento Revolucionario Libera (MRL) went into decline after its split following the presidential elections of 1962. The 1964 parliamentary elections were marked by an enormous abstention, in which Torres concluded that the traditional parties; Liberal and Conservative, were abandoned by public opinion, so he considered creating a new instrument that would bring together the "Non-aligned" in politics; unions, guilds, associations, students and workers, to confront the decadent traditional parties, although for the time being calling for abstentionism. Torres also tried unsuccessfully to act as a mediator between the peasants and the National Army to prevent the attack on the so-called Independent Republic of Marquetalia, which was his first contact with the Colombian Communist Party.[9][12][13]
The American-sponsored attempt to overthrow the Cuban regime rallied socialist guerrillas and revolutionary student movements across the Latin America, and it exposed Torres to the ideas of anti-imperialism.[14] At the time, he identified as progressive Catholic and wasn't afraid to raise topics such as poverty and unstable political situation of Colombia. His light-hearted manners made his masses appeal to a wider public, even including atheists.[14] This also marked the time of his rapid radicalization. Torres argued that the Catholic Church is devoted to charity and fighting social inequality, crediting the Church with introducing revolutionary changes to society such as the abolition of slavery and democratic valorization of the human being.[15] However, he believed that in order to truly realise the concept of Christian charity, a total change of power structures was needed, as the hitherto structures were responsible for social and economical inequality and poverty:
These structures will not change without pressure being exerted by the masses, and that pressure will be violent or nonviolent according to the attitude adopted by the minority governing classes. There is nothing to be afraid of, for in a society which needs structural change, genuine authority is earned by revolutionary commitment, and that commitment, for the Christian, should be a commitment out of charity. The moral authority thus gained will give the Christian the right to demand concessions the day the Marxists come to power.[14]
He pointed out that the ones who were in the forefront of the fight to change structures were Marxists, and this brought him to the conclusion that collaborating with the Marxists was a necessity. At the same time, he discussed the Marxist thought in his writings - he criticised vanguardism, attacking Lenin's concept of "the revolution by the elite", insisting that a revolution can only be carried out by ordinary people instead. He regarded Marxist humanism as a product of Christian humanist movement, and argued that Marxist principles stem from Christianity itself.[15] He began to admire socialists for fighting for a better society, and believed that Catholics should support their efforts:
The revolutionaries are so few, and we progressive Catholics are also very few. Historically there was only one mistake the Christian could make: to refuse to act.[14]
In 1964, the Cardinal Luis Concha Córdoba informed the national public opinion that no priest could collaborate in the socioeconomic study commission that had been set up to intervene in the case of Marquetalia, Tolima; this commission, of which Camilo Torres was a member, was trying to evaluate the situation in that region and at the same time to prevent a military solution to the conflict. An attempt is being made to stop a peasant movement that has declared the area an "independent republic".[14] In the absence of support and guarantees, the rest of the commission was forced to back down - bombings and military occupation of the region followed, leading to the withdrawal of the peasant militias that would later form the guerrilla movement known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.[9] At least in its first period, the FARC had the backing of the Colombian Communist Party.
Later the same year, Torres came into closer contact with groups that agreed with the armed revolution or were already committed to it. He was sympathetic to these groups and his solidarity with them grew stronger and stronger. The Cuban-oriented guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army was founded on 4 July 1964, and made its public appearance with the seizure of the town of Simacota in Santander on 7 January 1965.[9] Camilo considered it extremely important to connect with this insurgent group and he managed to do so through his urban networks.
In 1965, his activities as head of the Institute of Social Administration of the ESAP began to be strongly criticised for their political bias. Faced with the failure of some intellectuals who had undertaken to write articles and papers for a publication aimed at making the situation of Colombian society visible from the perspective of the social sciences, Camilo drafted a political platform open to debate by different groups of intellectuals, students and workers, in which he proposed the union of the popular class to socially renovate the country.[14] This document was widely disseminated during his travels around the country and, thanks to the discussion it was subjected to during this tour, became the platform of the United Front of the Colombian People, the political movement that Camilo promoted as an alternative for the transformation of society in Colombia.[9]
The United Front
The
Torres sought to bring together all the opposition of the time (
The platform of his movement sought to address the needs of rural and urban areas, to eliminate the restricted democracy of the National Front at all costs, and the participation of the Church in
Catholic guerrilla
In the guerrilla, Torres was mentored and advised by Jaime Arenas, chosen by Fabio Vásquez, also to keep him away from progressive currents. Shortly before joining the ELN, General
As he explained in his "Message to the Christians" published in the first issue of Frente Unido, he realised that the "effective means for the well-being of the majorities ... are not going to be sought by the minorities" and "will not be sought by the privileged minorities in power, because generally these effective means oblige the minorities to sacrifice their privileges", Torres concluded that "it is therefore necessary to take power away from the privileged minorities to give it to the poor majorities" and that "the Revolution is not only permitted but obligatory for Christians who see in it the only effective and ample way of realising love for all".[18] This is how Camilo Torres justified his decision in 1965 to quit his job as a teacher and priest, and join the guerrilla, more precisely the National Liberation Army (ELN), although he had previously been interested in joining the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) due to his peasant background.[19]
I have left the privileges and duties of the clergy, but I have not ceased to be a priest. I believe that I have given myself up to the Revolution out of love of neighbour. I have stopped saying
Saint Matthew V, 23-24).— Camilo Torres, "Mensaje a los cristianos", Frente Unido, no. 1, 26/08/1965, Bogotá.[18]
In the ELN, Torres participated as a low-ranking member and provided spiritual and ideological assistance from a Marxist-Christian point of view. However, his performance as a guerrilla was poor as he was not used to the arduous training (being assisted by a comrade) and to carrying a rifle, so he was barely given a pistol and was emphasised for his role of spiritual and ideological assistance as well as being a good cook. He died in his first combat experience, when the ELN ambushed a patrol of the
Death
Torres died on 15 February 1966 in
Shortly after Torres's death, 'Guitemie' Olivieri, despite being linked to the ELN, was persecuted by the Colombian authorities and was helped by Junior Fajardo and Rita Restrepo de Agudelo to obtain political asylum, first in Panama, then in Mexico where she married ex-priest Óscar Maldonado, finally in Cuba and then in France.
Years later, Valencia Tovar, now retired as a general, wrote the book El final de Camilo, in which he clarified details of the death of Camilo Torres. According to Valencia Tovar, Torres was buried in a detailed place, and they prepared the procedures to hand over the remains to the family. His older brother, doctor Fernando Torres Restrepo, who lived in the United States, was informed about the fate of his brother.
In addition, General Álvaro Valencia Tovar himself revealed in an interview
In January 2016, the President of Colombia,
Recognitions and legacy
Tributes at universities
- The main theater of the University of Antioquia bears the name of "Comandante Camilo Torres Restrepo" Popular Theater.
- One of the main buildings of the Industrial University of Santander has the name "Camilo Torres Building", on one of its exterior walls you can see a large mural with his face accompanied by a phrase he wrote.
- At the University of Valle, in the Cali Headquarters, there is a tribute bust, and his face is painted on several university buildings.
- At KU Leuven in Belgium, a large residence student hall has the name of "Camilo Torres".
Songs
Tributes in Latin America
The Camilo Torres Muralist Units, close to the Christian Left party of Chile, worked during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, making murals against the regime, distinguished by their cheerful designs, less abstract than those used by the Ramona Parra Brigade of the Chilean Communist Party.[24]
See also
References
- ^ Bushnell, David. "Camilo Torres Restrepo". Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, v. 5, 258-59
- ^ "A 51 años de la muerte de Camilo Torres: "Insistamos en lo que nos une y prescindamos de lo que nos separa" (51 years after the death of Camilo Torres: "Let us insist on what unites us and do without what separates us")" (in Spanish). Colombia: Desinformémonos. 15 February 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
- ^ Bushnell, "Camilo Torres Restrepo", 259.
- ^ SDS Regional Newsletter, Mar. 8, 1966, Vol. 1, no. 8 [1] Winter 1966 MFU Catalog [2]
- ^ Jiménez, Fiorella López (2011). "If Jesus Were Alive Today, He Would be a Guerrillero": The Impact of Liberation Theology Movements in Latin American Politics. Lake Forest College.
- ^ "Biografía política de Camilo Torres" (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ "Confidente de Camilo" (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ "Camilo Torres: Centro de Pensamiento Camilo Torres Restrepo" (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f Martínez Morales, Darío (January 2011). "Camilo Torres Restrepo, cristianismo y violencia". Theologica Xaveriana (in Spanish). 61 (171): 131–167. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ "Camilo Torres Restrepo 1929-1966" (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ISBN 9586145026.
- ^ Levine, Daniel (1996). Camillo Torres: Fe, Política y Violencia (PDF) (in Spanish). University of Michigan.
- ^ "El cura guerrillero" (in Spanish). 11 December 1980. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ ISBN 0385087101.
- ^ a b Gabbas, Marco (2021). "Camilo Torres, Liberation Theology, and Marxism" (PDF). Short Essays and Comments. Corvinus University of Budapest.
- ^ "Camilo Torres Restrepo" (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ "Juan Pablo II y la "Teología de la liberación"" (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ a b "Camilo Torres Restrepo (1929-1966)". www.filosofia.org (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-01-16.
- ^ "Proclamation to the Colombian people by Camilo Torres". Cedema. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
- ^ Martín, Andrés González (2021). "General Valencia's diagnosis". Thucydides' Exhortation (PDF). p. 9.
- ^ "El Espectador: Los restos de Camilo". Cedema (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2009-03-02. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
- ^ Semana (2007-04-21). "General, are you finally going to reveal what happened to the body of Camilo Torres?". Semana.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-02-08.
- ^ "Where is the body of Camilo Torres, the Colombian guerrilla priest compared to Che Guevara?". BBC News World. 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
- ^ "..UNIDADES MURALISTAS CAMILO TORRES." Archived from the original on 2012-06-29. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
Further reading
- Broderick, Walter J. Camilo Torres: A Biography of the Priest-Guerrillero 1975.
- Guzmán, Germán. Camilo Torres. translated by John D. Ring. 1969.
- Levine, Daniel H. "Camilo Torres: fe, política y violencia." Sociedad y Religión: Sociología, Antropología e Historia de la Religión en el Cono Sur 21.34-35 (2011): 59-91.
- Martínez Morales, Darío. "Camilo Torres Restrepo: cristianismo e violência." Theologica Xaveriana 61.171 (2011): 131-167.
External links
- Science, revolution and belief in Camilo Torres: a secular Colombia? por Alejandro Sánchez Lopera (English version) Revista Nómadas Colombia
- Ciencia, revolución y creencia en la experiencia de Camilo Torres: ¿una Colombia secular? por Alejandro Sánchez Lopera - Revista Nómadas Colombia
- Camilo Torres Restrepo: La posibilidad de una moral insurgente Book Chapter
- (in Spanish)Biography from filosofia.org
- (in Spanish)Biography from Marxists.org
- "Camilo Torres, Primer sacerdote guerrillero"