This article considers how memory and history
are negotiated and constructed. The analysis
takes by way of example the current conflict
in Colombia and the two German dictatorships
of the 20th Century (Third Reich and
rda). Although the situation is different –and
quite complex – in both countries, not allowing
for a simple comparison, the juxtaposition
of some common characteristics allows us to
gain some general understanding of the dynamics
of memory. We examine how both societies,
German and Colombian, do not have a
voluntary rapprochement to each corresponding
difficult and painful past, but instead owe
it to an internal or external pressure. We show
how in both cases it involves long and slow
processes, and we argue that the discourses of
the past are in a state of constant negotiation.