UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An award-winning lawyer, activist and author whose work on human rights and historical memory in Colombia has been highly acclaimed, will present a free public lecture about the war-torn country’s future after a peace accord, during a visit to Penn State in mid-April.

Jose Antequera Guzman will present “The Media Politics of Colombia’s Transition Toward Peace” at 3 p.m. April 19 in 102 Kern Building.

On Nov. 29, 2016, Colombia’s Congress approved a historic peace accord between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, an armed insurgency that had been fighting since 1964. That accord was ratified by congress since the Colombian people narrowly rejected a plebiscite on an earlier draft. 

The media in Colombia, especially social media, played an instrumental role in the result of the plebiscite and the citizen mobilization that demanded the negotiations not fall apart in the wake of the “no” vote.

In his talk, Guzman, a leader of a youth movement in support of the “yes” campaign and the citizen mobilization to salvage the peace accord, will reflect on the media’s role in the tumultuous events of late 2016 in Colombia and how media activism can contribute to building a stable and lasting peace. 

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