Jaime Garzón, a Colombian lawyer, journalist, comedian, teacher, pacifist, political scientist, sociologist, activist, and critic, won the hearts of his countrymen via various television and radio programs where he expressed, prolifically and with great vision and foresight [es], the daily happenings of the country.

Garzón was murdered on the 13 August, 1999, allegedly by paramilitary and high-ranking military officers [es] including a former director [es] of the Administrative Department of Security (DAS). Colombians remember him [es] on every anniversary [es] of his assassination.

More recently, with the growth of citizen media, each year his name [es] once again appears among the locally trending topics on Twitter, and blogs renew their outcry at the impunity of his assassination – just as La Pastusita does in her post “Lo mismo que antes” [es] (The Same as Before).

Lab Social Blog criticizes Colombians for having become desensitized to death and reflects [es] on the indifference and the impunity surrounding Garzón's murder:

“Sin Olvido Jaime Garzón” (Remembering Jaime Garzón). Photo of Flicker user Gert Steenssens, under license from Creative Commons

Pasan los días, los años y solo contamos de forma repetitiva en los diarios que ha pasado un año más de impunidad y que aún no se desenmascaran los verdaderos autores de los grandes magnicidios de nuestro país.

In her blog “Thinking Without Side-effects,” Rosa Cristina pays homage to Garzón [es] and remembers many of his contributions, among them, his effort to help raise the consciousness of a better country:

Jaime se esforzó al máximo y de todas las formas que tuvo a su alcance, por despertarnos, por puyarnos para que nos moviéramos por impulsarnos a ser conscientes a ser actores de nuestro presente y futuro.

The author of the blog Proyecto D, who calls himself “Zorro del Desierto”, calls for the building of a better country [es] by following the legacy of Garzón:

Garzón creía en la vida, creía en las instituciones, en la Constitución del 91, a pesar de todo creía en una nueva Colombia, creía en que esto se podía mejorar. El mejor homenaje que se le puede hacer hoy a Jaime, a todas esas víctimas anónimas, es el de hacer posible esa patria mejor, porque haciendo ese homenaje, a ese personaje que era Garzón en realidad estamos construyendo también Patria, democracia, o como sea que se llamen esas cosas, “tener un país, mínimamente más agradable”.

Olga Lucía Lozano in La Silla Vacía also pays tribute to Garzón by publishing the “Garzonpedia” [es] with thirteen of his famous quotes. Lozano finishes with a quotation from Garzón that Catalina Arbeláez also shares on her blog [es]:

En este país, el Estado existe o no existe. Existe para cobrarle a uno impuestos, IVA, valorización; pero no existe para darme seguridad social, empleo, seguro social, seguro médico, nada. Ahí no existe el Estado.

Others have remembered Garzón by republishing articles [es] that the mainstream media has published, or sharing videos on YouTube.

His memory and legacy live on in the hearts of those Colombians who continue to remember him and call for justice in his case.