Swords Into Plowshares Updated

A musician in Bogota has fashioned guitars out of rifles in response to the violence he's witnessed in his country. From the Miami Herald article:

The escopetarra [gun + guitart in Spanish] landed in the hands of then Bogotá Mayor Antanas Mockus. Others went to Argentine rocker Fito Páez and to the United Nations. Colombian rocker Juanes recently auctioned off his for charity. López says other requests for the novel instruments have come from Colombian pop star Shakira and Brazilian musicians Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso.

''We're not trying to sell them or get someone to pay for them. We're just trying to get the word out,'' López told The Miami Herald.

The strategy seems to be working. In January, Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos promised López 12 AK-47 assault rifles, the first three from a 2-year-old peace process between the government and right-wing paramilitaries -- known by their acronym AUC -- that has led to the demobilization of about 24,000 fighters and the surrender of thousands of weapons.

The AUC has been fighting left-wing guerrillas here for 20 years. The rebels have been fighting the government for 40 years. The war leaves as many as 3,000 soldiers and civilians dead every year.

''We don't only want weapons from the AUC, but from all the groups, including the army,'' López said. "We want people to see that all the groups are turning in their weapons.''

via Boing Boing