Explore: Leonor

1Leonor

The Story of a Lost Childhood

By Paula Delgado-Kling

Paula Delgado-Kling takes us to her homeland, Colombia, where she finds answers to the country's drug wars by examining the life of Leonor, a former child soldier in the FARC, a rural guerrilla group. Paula followed Leonor for nineteen years, from shortly after she was an active member forced into sexual slavery by a commander thirty-four years her senior, through her rehabilitation and struggle with alcohol and drug addiction, to more recent days, as the mom of two girls. Leonor's immense resourcefulness and imagination in the face of horrendous circumstances helped her carve a space for herself in the FARC, a world dominated by males. She is beautiful, and by honing her powers of seduction, Leonor created a parallel world where she made herself a protagonist. She never stopped believing that she was a woman of worth and importance. It took her many years of therapy to accept that she was a victim. For half a lifetime, she regarded herself as "the First Lady of the Southern Bloc," and exploited any power she fabricated for herself to stay alive. Colombia's violence also touched Paula's family. This narrative began with the question: why was her brother kidnapped and why were his guards teenagers?

2Leonor, Aprendiz de Reina

By Ignacio Monar Garcia

Does Leonor, Princess of Asturias, need defense or advice? To overprotect her, beyond the protection of Justice and her parents, would be to patronize her. "Condescend" is an inadequate verb for those who descend from kings. Juan de Mariana was the distinguished historian of the 17th century, author of "Mirror of Princes". This work became the instructional guide for the education of the future Felipe IV, heir to the crown of Spain, who at that time did not need as much defense as Leonor, the daughter of Felipe VI. Leonor, apprentice queen, is already a woman who marks her goals: "talent, effort, commitment and solidarity". The objective of her detractors is herself, because her future will be determined by her good role. That is why they have subjected Leonor, even in her minority, to so many attacks. Ignacio Monar, the author of this modern "Mirror of Princes", teaches philosophy precisely at the IES Padre Juan de Mariana in Talavera de la Reina. In an exercise of realism, and imitating Mariana's style, sarcasm included, he has written what he considers the most important steps for the future representative of the most significant institution in Spain to know how to take certain steps. Undoubtedly, the vocation of teacher and his academic training predisposes him to be able to help the gestation of the future Queen Leonor, something you are not born with, you make it. "We young people are aware that the current situation is not easy, that the world has changed and continues to change and that the best way to progress is to maintain our enthusiasm for knowledge, to equip ourselves with responsibility and capacity for effort, to learn from those who know, from those who do their thing impeccably, often in silence." Infanta Leonor, speech at the Princess of Asturias Awards Ceremony, 2022.