BOGOTÁ – César García, a veteran Associated Press journalist who ventured through Colombia to tell the story of the country’s armed conflict, died at the age of 61.
He suffered an attack on the center and after three weeks in a hospital tested positive for the new coronavirus, the role that the virus might have played in his death on Tuesday is unclear.
With a voice recorder in hand, García has an essential component on many main occasions of the more than three decades in Colombia, from peace talks with leftist guerrillas to breaking news in the corridors of the presidential palace.
Along the way, his tireless informative and captivating personality earned him acceptance as true of a wide diversity of dignitaries, a rare feat in a country where the department is strong and the wounds caused by decades of violence are profound.
“Lacking formal education and writing skills, it was controlled to use remarkable value, perseverance, and the air of mystery in a full-time task with a giant press organization,” said Frank Bajak, who worked intensively with Garcia as a former AP Andean news leader. . ” He did so by becoming indispensable out of sheer will.
Bajak added: “And, of course, he has a teddy bear inside. “
Garcia was born in the Colombian capital and grew up without a doctor, but for financial reasons was unable to attend training. As a young man, he helped his mother make it to the end of the month by promoting bonsai. break with journalism while working as a courier for United Press International.
In upI he caught the attention of a journalist who, noticing his affable attitude, encouraged him to continue his journalistic activity, said his daughter Amelia García, who soon discovered that he had a gift for chasing the latest news and obtaining audio clips. of senior officials, many of whom, first of all, were reluctant to speak.
Javier Baena, a former AP correspondent, said he was inspired by Garcia’s unwavering presence and the delicate reports of the House of Nario, the official presidential department and a center for political and military leaders. Wanting to rent it for AP, he gave her his phone number and said, “Call when you have vital news. “
Garcia took the opportunity to call him in reports that would be news around the world.
“His painting as a journalist has been essential to the good fortune of our Colombian policy,” he said. “He is in love with his paintings as a journalist. “
Officially hired as a press assistant in 1999, he was the main correspondent in Spain of the data cooperative. Over the next two decades, he immersed himself absolutely in a painting known for ruining any planned planning attempts.
He boarded a plane when an earthquake shook the city of Armenia and killed 1,000 people, spent long hours in hospitals waiting to interview survivors of attacks and kidnappings, and has become such a constant figure in peace talks in a rural component of southern Colombia under the direction of President Andrés Pastrana , who has become unofficially known as the mayor of the city of Los Pozos.
Due to the many sources of Garcia’s army, the rebels first of all hesitated to communicate with him, but we decided to perceive the story, he was willing to succeed in dating. Eventually, he had many contacts on both sides of the conflict.
Vivian Sequera, a long-time former colleague, said: “It may simply cross invisible borders. You saw on his face that he had no hidden motive.
Garcia never turned down a project and enthusiastically deployed it where he needed it.
“He is an incredibly talented, curious, sociable and well-connected journalist, who at the same time is humble, does not swell his chest and is incredibly beneficial in sharing information,” said Andrew Selsky, former head of the Colombian office.
Garcia, a salsa lover, has regularly sung the lines of a love ballad to anyone, especially in the office. He spoke of his 23-year-old wife, Edith Barbara Beltron, and his two daughters, Amelia and Cristina. Football fan, rooted in the Millonarios team in Bogota.
As he approached retirement, he maintained a steady pace, avoiding anti-government protests on the streets of Bogota last year and covering the recent space arrest warrant of the tough former President Alvaro Uribe.
“He’s one of the top news experts I’ve ever met,” said Eduardo Castillo, news director of the Palestinian Authority’s Spanish-language service, recalling a recent incident in which he asked Garcia for an army reaction to a story, and Garcia returned within 30 minutes. With the comments of the Minister of Defense. ” He never said no to anything.
Mauricio Cárdenas, former Minister of Finance of Colombia, said that García was “a journalist with which one can meet at the door of Congress to monitor primary political decisions or in a remote village to report on the unrest of Colombians. “
“It’s as balanced and rigorous as possible,” Cerdenas said. “It made it very believable for readers. We want more journalists like him.
In one of his last missions, he collaborated with AP Christopher Torchia on the remaining tensions over the country’s historic peace agreement in 2016 that ended the confrontation with Colombia’s revolutionary armed forces.
Having worked in combination in the 1990s, Garcia began to remember his beginnings with AP, telling him, “Remembering is living. “
In addition to his wife and children, Garcia is survived by his mother and four siblings.