English writer Tom Feiling: "We are ignorant of Colombia"

A new book by an English writer and film-maker describes how his early experience of the country led to a desire to overcome its distorted image in the UK press. He wants to show readers the social and historical context of violence, and the political changes required for lasting peace.

 Tom Feiling first went to Colombia in search of sunshine, looking for a change from making TV documentaries. After making Resistencia: Hip-Hop in Colombia, which won many film awards he became campaigns director of the TUC's Justice for Colombia project. This was followed by his first book The Candy Machine: How Cocaine took over the world (Penguin 2009). 

His writing is political travelogue, as he says, a guided tour with stops for lunch and reading the news, in the tradition of Peter Robb's books on Sicily and Brazil. Colombia has made a deep impression, and here he talks to The Prisma about his new book "Short Walks from Bogotd: Journeys in the new Colombia", (Allen Lane 2012), and about his concerns for the current peace process.

 He recognizes the positive aspects of Colombia, in its warm social life despite political violence, and sees a great future if it develops its own models of development, free of US neo-liberal interference.

This interview first appeared in The Prisma Multicultural Newspaper on November 11th 2011 and can be read in full with accompanying photos here:

https://theprisma.co.uk/2012/11/11/the-promise-of-colombia/