Independent journalist Garry Leech has spent the last decade working in the most remote and dangerous regions of Colombia, uncovering the unofficial stories of people living in conflict zones. Beyond Bogotá is framed around the eleven hours that Leech was held captive by the FARC, Colombia’s largest leftist guerrilla group, in August of 2006. He recalls nearly thirty years of travel and work in Latin America while weaving in a historical context of the region and on-the-ground reporting with each passing hour of his detention.
Drawing on unprecedented access to soldiers, guerrillas, paramilitaries, and peasants in conflict zones and cocaine-producing areas, Leech’s documentary memoir is an epic tale of a journalist’s search for meaning in the midst of violence and poverty. This compelling account provides fresh insights into U.S. foreign policy, the role of the media, and the plight of everyday Colombians caught in the middle of a brutal war.
Reviews
“In this remarkable saga, Garry Leech conveys brilliantly and with vivid insight the magical qualities of this rich and tortured land, and the struggles and torment of its people … Leech shows how our insatiable greed and easy resort to violence play no small part.” — Noam Chomsky
“That havoc within Colombia is portrayed with angry passion by the determined Garry Leech, that now rare beast in the jungle of journalism prepared to put his own life at the service of the truth. . . . A remarkable and captivating personal account of the drug war that unfolds mostly in Colombia.” — Gavin O’Toole, Latin American Review of Books
“Garry Leech belongs in the company of a handful of war correspondents—Patrick Cockburn, Robert Fisk, Christian Parenti—who have been risking life and limb to bring to light the catastrophic human and environmental consequences of U.S. foreign policy.” — Forrest Hylton, author of Evil Hour in Colombia
“Eye-opening . . . excellent reportage—highly recommended for would-be journalists as well as those interested in geopolitics.” — Kirkus Reviews
The Latin American Review of Books
Author: Garry Leech
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: February 2010
Paperback, 280 pages
ISBN: 978-080706145-9
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Garry Leech 