SILENCE

It’s really fascinating how Kapuscinski describes the word silence, mentioning its distinct appearances within societies.
“A universal silence fell”(P.190) It´s incredible the way this citation made me consider about several years ago, where Rojas Pinilla dictatorship took control over Colombia, building silence throughout society.
When this dictator took power over Colombia, people were hoping to have a high-quality government which would be able to erase all past dreadful aspects (political, economical, social). First year was good for Colombia, as some individuals consider, since new institutions and infrastructures were built ( I really think this was a way to buy people...POPULISM). The problem started when Rojas Pinilla now used armed forces and individual manipulation to control the nation. Next months, Colombians didn´t have a voice, since democracy was abolished and no newspapers were permitted to reflect opinion.
No voice, no opinion, no rebellion, no dispute, no action...all Colombian society was ignored since it was all quiet!
This is really discouraging to remember, but hopefully, as soon as two students were killed by this dictator (one was my aunt, Ernesto Aparicio) Colombian humanity determined to shout for words of noise and freedom! Within four days ( May 10,1957), all companies, schools and universities were closed, with the purpose to join the rebellion against this dictator and to find a door to escape from silence.
Wow! Colombians did it! No silence appeared after those days, because Rojas was totally forced to leave the country!
This is the perfect example which explains how silence is set but at the same time it can be concealed.
Throughout history, silence will be a permanent invader, but it can be sequential depending on how it is used by individuals!