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In 2009 and perhaps one of the hardest years of kidnapping and the devastating power of the guerrillas in Colombia, Herbin Hoyos He had to leave the country because the FARC threatened him with death again, as they had already done on several occasions.
But at that moment, those threats made Hoyos listen to the advice given to him by his close friends: that for his tranquility and to preserve his life, he should leave the country for a time.
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He did so. In his luggage, in addition to his personal belongings, he carried the symbol of his journalistic life: The voices of kidnapping, the program he did on Caracol Radio, the only hope the relatives of the kidnapped had and of communicating with them.
Hoyos became the person capable of ensuring that in the jungles of Colombia, in the terrible conditions experienced by the kidnappings by the then fearsome guerrillas, these men and women who were forcibly removed from their families knew about theirs in freedom. It was a one-way communication, but finally a bond that did not let us lose hope.
And when the news broke that Herbin Hoyos He was fighting covid-19, in mid-January, many people asked for his health. However, the fighter for the freedom of the hostages, as demonstrated in marches and tours of Colombia and abroad, could not bear the virus and died on February 23 in Bogotá, as reported by his family.
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Herbin Hoyos, journalist.
Born in Saladoblanco, a municipality in the southeast of the department of Huila, Holes studied journalism in Spain, at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.
Because he was a victim of kidnapping, for 17 days, by the Farc in 1994, he decided to create The voices of kidnapping as a way of accompanying the kidnapped.
To the Caracol Radio studios in different cities of the country the relatives of the kidnapped arrived to send their messages. They did it at dawn and those who could not get there because they lived very far, recorded them at different times. The important thing was always to give a voice of relief to your loved one kidnapped by the decision of the illegal groups.
Hoyos’ work was well known, even internationally. In 2009, the journalist Luis Pérez published a tribute to Hoyos on Radio Televisión Española: “The scene repeats itself and is almost a ritual in various parts of the Colombian jungle that of course we do not know. At dawn from Saturday to Sunday, those kidnapped by the Farc, the main guerrilla in the country, gather around a radio set, hoping that the guard on duty continues to sleep and does not interrupt their dreams of freedom. On the other side of the device, the voice of Herbin Hoyos is heard: ‘Good night everyone, good night to those kidnapped in the jungles of Colombia.’ Shortly afterwards Herbin opens the microphone to the relatives of the captives, in the Caracol Radio studio, or in the homes of the country where they suffer in silence the absence of their own. Relatives speak. The abductees listen. And the messages update them on the reality that they unintentionally abandoned when they were deprived of liberty. Through this radio device, many Colombian prisoners have discovered that they have been parents, that their children go to school, that their parents or siblings do not understand time or distance, that they continue to love them like that day when an armed group took their future at gunpoint and led them handcuffed to the hell of captivity. “
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Your work in The voices of kidnapping had a great appreciation by the kidnapped. Many, upon regaining their freedom, thanked Hoyos for his messages and told him that they would always carry him in their hearts for having allowed them that partial communication, without return, but communication, after all.
A photo with Íngrid Betancourt is remembered after his release in the Operation Check and the program he did with Alan Jara when he was released and the first thing he did was look for Hoyos. Betancourt told him at that moment: “Herbin, brother forever.”
The journalist received in 2009 the Ondas Award During his stay in Spain, The Voices of Kidnapping was broadcast by Cadena SER, which opened its doors for him to continue crying out for the freedom of those who had lost it.
Herbin brought to the night a light of hope for the families of the kidnapped
On January 20, he posted on his Twitter account that he had been fighting COVID-19 for 12 days and it was time to go to a clinic. He asked for prayers and was later hospitalized.
This Tuesday, when announcing his death, the current 6 am director of Caracol Radio, Gustavo Gómez, recalled it: “During the years that I directed Hoy por Hoy Fin de Semana, I came to Caracol Radio when he left the booth. For about a quarter of a century, Herbin brought into the night a light of hope for the families of the kidnapped. He was the company and encouragement of hundreds of Colombians who, in the jungles, waited from the radio to hear his strong voice of encouragement “.
Hoyos always had the support of his followers and those ex-kidnapped even when his program disappeared after the signing of the peace process with the Farc in 2016. The journalist stated at that time that the space had been canceled.
For some, their attitude against the peace process was not adequate at a time when there was talk of reconciliation. However, he defended his position because he felt that there were many aspects of the agreement that did not defend the victims and he made this known to the JEP, an entity that he also criticized.
Hoyos, who was close to the Democratic Center, had in his mind the horror stories told to him by ex-kidnappers and also the pain of the relatives of the victims, many of them murdered, whose deaths were known years after they occurred thanks to what the guerrillas who returned to civilian life counted in their declarations.
On January 22 he wrote a tweet for people who were aware of his health: “Thank you all for your prayers, for your faith, for your solidarity and your accompaniment in this new test of life. Here I keep fighting every breath. Each air intake is one more opportunity to support it with your prayers, faith in God and in doctors. Please keep praying. “
Your voice won’t be heard anymore, but The voices of kidnapping, his program in which he almost did not speak because he gave space to others, will remain in the memory of those who felt that help to be able to communicate with their loved ones through a station and a space that broke the dawn in the places in those that men and women clamored for their freedom while they heard how their family was.
CULTURE
