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Canta Conmigo audio slideshow

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KATY CLARK: The civil war in Colombia has been going on for decades. Leftist rebels began their quest to overthrow the government in the 1960's. The Army, and right-wing paramilitaries, fought back. Today, the conflict grinds on, despite recent military gains by the government of President Alvaro Uribe. But some fighters are laying down their guns, and the government's been developing programs to bring them back into society's fold. One such program involves music, as The World's Marco Werman found out in Colombia's capital, Bogota.

MARCO WERMAN: It's mid-morning on a terrace atop a gleaming new shopping mall in Bogota. The air is crisp, and there's a sense of excitement among the mostly Colombian journalists who have come to attend a press conference. A presenter explains what the reporters are about to see. One by one, former fighters are introduced. Some are former members of the FARC – the left-wing rebel group. Others are former right-wing para-militaries. They all stride confidently onto the riser, and say a few but impassioned words. For Luis Quintero, this was his moment to repent. “I want to tell Colombia from the bottom of my heart,” said Luis, “and on behalf of all the former fighters, that I am sorry.” Luis then apologized to all the victims of the conflict. “I feel truly sorry for all the widows, the orphans, all the victims,” he said. “And now,” said Luis, “I want to work to bring this country forward. Let's all fight for our country, all of us holding hands together.” The 12 people introduced were mostly in their 20s. And when they were all gathered on stage, they took their cue from Luis. They held hands, and gave the media what they had come for. This is a song composed by the former rebels. “We're getting out of the trenches,” they sing. “We will fight for Colombia, our beloved land.” There wasn't a dry eye in the room. And undoubtedly, that was the effect President Alvaro Uribe's office of reintegration was hoping for. These young men and women are part of an intensive three-month music training and education program. It's called “Canta Conmigo” – Sing with Me. Imagine, if you will, a school for the performing arts that scouts talent among de-commissioned FARC rebels and other Colombian guerilla groups. That's Canta Conmigo.

FRANK PEARL: It is not coherent to think that we want a country without FARC, but then to shut those that are coming from FARC at the door.

WERMAN: Give FARC a peaceful way back into society, says Frank Pearl. He's President Uribe's advisor for Social and Economic Reintegration. Pearl runs all the reintegration programs for former fighters, including Canta Conmigo.

PEARL: When they join the reintegration process, the average age is 25. So we're talking about young people who have never lived the lives as adults within the community or the civility that we know. So it's a re-education process that has a lot to do with values we've provided them, training for the job, but also to educating and re-education with them. It is a great opportunity for our country to let them in our society within certain rules. And that's what the re-integration process is about.

WERMAN: Up close, though, Canta Conmigo is more profound than job training and re-education. Go to one of the classes that are part of the program, and you begin to sense the full scope of what Canta Conmigo is doing for these former fighters.

KATY CLARK: After we take a break, we'll hear the stories of two participants in Colombia's musical re-integration program. That's coming up in a minute, when Marco Werman's report from Colombia continues.

Here again is The World's Marco Werman.

WERMAN: Last October, Luis Quintero was a finalist in the Canta Conmigo auditions. 153 ex-fighters like himself showed up to sing for one of 8 slots in the program. Another four openings were reserved for civilians, so that the former rebels would have to re-integrate alongside peaceful members of society. Those 12 students are now being treated like any music student in an intensive master class. The students sleep at a hotel in Bogota. During the day, they take classes here in this exclusive home abutting the steep ridge of the Andes that forms the eastern boundary of the city. They've never experienced luxury like this, nor have they ever had so much unconditional love and attention.

FONSECA: When they say that music for babies is great, well music for reconciliation programs is great.

WERMAN: That's Colombian singer Fonseca. He's a superstar here, and he's the celebrity spokesman of sorts for Canta Conmigo. Several times a week, Fonseca comes to the Canta Conmigo house to see how the students are progressing, talk with them, and keep them motivated.

FONSECA: At the end of the day, what they really need is a hug. They really need a hug because they know what they've been doing. They know better than us what's going on in Colombia, because they have lived the things in the mountains, so at the end of the day what they really need is a hug.

WERMAN: It's amazing. As I walk through here, I look at these kids and I don't see former terrorists. It looks like an audition for American Idol or something.

FONSECA: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. That's what I was telling you in the car on the way here. When I'm here, I don't think about terrorism or things like that. It's just like a musical environment.
WERMAN: It is a musical environment, but with a lot of post-traumatic stress. Luis Quintero comes from the area around Medellin. He was recruited by the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, the AUC, an umbrella group for various right-wing paramilitaries. Luis had no job, needed money, and the AUC fed him and paid him to be, essentially, a mercenary. But he says he soon saw that the AUC leaders were crazy.

QUINTERO: One thing that really affected me was I had a girlfriend in the AUC. She was 16, I think. The AUC leaders were making up stories that this girl was going to betray the group. So one day, I was given permission to leave the camp to visit a nearby village. As I was leaving the jungle, I saw the girl. She was alone and chained to a tree. “When you come back,” she said, “bring me something, a chocolate or something.” And then she told me, “I'm not sure I'll be here when you come back.”

WERMAN: After drying his eyes, Luis Quintero explained to me that when he returned the next day, another soldier told him not to ask about the girl. She had been killed. How is music helping you process what you went through with the AUC?

QUINTERO: Music helps me to discover my own talent, and they're helping me to develop that talent. But also, through music, I'm able to forget the bad things and focus on how good life can be.

WERMAN: Sara Morales is another of the 12 students in Canta Conmigo. She's 24. She laughs easily and has bright eyes. Sara was abducted by the FARC when she was 12. The rebels also killed her brother when at first she resisted becoming a fighter. So she relented. Sarah says the rebels told her she'd be a fighter for two months, but it lasted 10 years. And in those 10 years, Sara fought many times against the Colombian army. She says she shot guns but never killed anyone. She fell in love with another fighter. They had two babies, both born in the jungle. Love and babies, though, are against FARC rules. Rebel leaders could have taken the babies – a boy and a girl. They could have killed Sara and her lover. Neither of these things happened. “It was an odyssey,” she says. Though she successfully managed to smuggle both her kids out of the jungle. In the case of her baby boy, Sara says she actually carried him into combat. It was risky, but she found some farmers who took the boy and her parents' address. Today, Sara is back with her two kids and her father. Sara clearly remembers the day she ran away from the FARC. It was July 20th, Colombian Independence Day, two summers ago. The FARC considers deserters to be traitors – and that means death if they are caught. But Sara says she'd gotten to the point that she preferred to die than to stay. She says she got the courage to escape from the jungle by thinking about her family, about a new start in life, and about music. Singing was another activity that was banned by FARC leaders. But Sara says she often sang to herself, and occasionally aloud when she was alone in the jungle. One song she often turned to was this one, by the Italian singer Laura Pausini. The words say, “Go ahead and have your fun tonight. Tomorrow vengeance is mine. Tomorrow will be my day.” For Sara Morales, just being a part of Canta Conmigo now is a sign that her day has come. To be sure, Colombia's reintegration programs, including Canta Conmigo, have their critics too. They argue that these people were terrorists, and now they're getting free music lessons. I put that to Frank Pearl, Uribe's head of reintegration. He agrees that the programs have to be fair, and that's part of the reason they've put peaceful Colombian citizens in with the ex-fighters.

PEARL: And second of all, this is not a set of prizes or privileges for those that leave the groups. If they comply with the rules, if they make an effort, if they deliver results, they can have more opportunities. Three hundred former guerilla members desert each month, risking their lives and wanting to be part of the reintegration process. I think that's a strong signal.

FONSECA: I think this is just the beginning.

WERMAN: That's Colombian musician Fonseca.

FONSECA: We have to find these kinds of things in the conflict in Colombia, not only in the music, also in the sports, and for actors, also and for writers and everybody has like a dream, no?
WERMAN: Next month, the pilot version of Canta Conmigo will show what those dreams can lead to. The 12 participants will release a CD of their music and present a special concert in Colombia at the end of April. Luis and Sara and the 10 others will show a stadium audience what they've learned, and what they might do next with their lives. For The World, I'm Marco Werman, Bogota, Colombia.

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