Germán Castro Caycedo (3 March 1940 – 15 July 2021
) was a Colombian journalist and writer. Castro Caycedo's topics revolve around the Colombian reality, under the parameters of the cultural identity and its social and economic phenomena.
Born in
Zipaquirá
Zipaquirá () is a municipality and city of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Its neighboring municipalities are Cogua and Nemocón to the north; Tocancipá to the east; Tabio, Cajicá and Sopó to the south; and Subachoque and ...
, Colombia, he graduated from Gimnasio Germán Peña. After studying anthropology for 3 years on the
Universidad Nacional, he worked with
El Tiempo newspaper from 1967 to 1977 as a general columnist. After leaving, he directed the "Enviado Especial" (special correspondent) TV show, which introduced the modern journalism in Colombia, for about 20 years.
His work has been published in Spain, France,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
, Japan, China and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
.
Books
Very brief descriptions of his books are as follows:
La Bruja (The Witch)
On the one hand the story of a
gypsy witch, and on the other the life of a poor-well-known Colombian drug lord, Castro Caycedo uses their stories as a base to conduct the reader on a trip showing how the
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...
traffic affected the society and economy of a small town (
Fredonia, Antioquia
Fredonia () is a town and Municipalities of Colombia, municipality in the Colombian Departments of Colombia, department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. Part of the subregion of Southwestern Antioquia.
References
References
http: ...
), the Mexican Secret Police's brutality and corruption, and the United States' active role in the birth and expansion of drug production in Colombia.
El Alcaraván
The stories of some pilots in the Colombian
Orinoco
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...
region, where brave men face extreme jungle conditions, flying old
DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner
manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II.
It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...
airplanes to carry people, food, medical supplies, and sometimes funny payloads, like beer or animals. "One of the most beautiful tales about Colombia", according to local critics.
Candelaria
A love story, partly written in Russia and partly in Colombia, set by the
illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs throug ...
.
Colombia amarga (Bitter Colombia)
Castro Caycedo's stories, collected on his travels across the country, about Colombian teenagers between 18 and 25 years old.
Con las manos en alto (With the Hands Up)
War episodes on Colombia.
El cachalandrán amarillo (The Yellow Cachalandrán)
A recompilation of Colombian popular stories.
El hueco (The Hole)
This book relates the Colombian citizens' mass emigration to the United States, passing through
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
.
El hurakán (The Hurricane)
Simultaneous chronicles of conquistadores crossing the Atlantic, with slaves below decks and the jungle traps they faced, and a modern-day Colombian Navy sailing the seas, contemplating the differences in our historical evolution.
El Karina
The Karina was a craft sunk by a Colombian Navy ship on the Pacific Ocean. It was loaded with weapons for the
M-19 guerrilla group.
Hágase tu voluntad (Thy Will Be Done)
Story about a Spanish
archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...
and a Colombian
nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
, murdered by Ecuadorian Indians. The intent of the book is to show the Indians' opinion about white people, who throughout time have been wild invaders.
La muerte de Giacomo Turra (Giacomo Turra's Death)
An Italian citizen visits
Cartagena, where he dies for causes never truly clarified.
Mi alma se la dejo al diablo (I Leave my Soul to the Devil)
A man's diary is found in the jungle, in which he wrote how he was dying. The title of the book is, precisely, the last words said man wrote in his diary.
Perdido en el Amazonas (Lost in Amazonas)
Another jungle story.
Other books
*Más allá de la noche (Beyond the Night).
*Sin tregua (Without truce)
References
Sources
Editorial Planeta Catalog*https://www.eltiempo.com/cultura/musica-y-libros/german-castro-caycedo-murio-el-escritor-y-periodista-603530
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castro Caycedo, German
Colombian male writers
Colombian journalists
Male journalists
People from Zipaquirá
1940 births
2021 deaths