what he would have earned as a professional cameraman in Colombia from October 1997 to April 2011.”267 294. For its part, the State indicated that there is a “complete absence of evidence that would prove the degree of damage caused to Mr. Vélez.” It added that the amount for loss of earnings “has no basis” and “is excessive” considering that “there is no causal nexus between the events of August 29, 1996, and the subsequent exile.” 295. The Court recalls that it declared that the State is responsible for Mr. Vélez Restrepo and his family having to leave Colombia in 1997 and 1998, and recognizes that this harmed his possibility of exercising his work as a journalist in the way that he did in Colombia as a cameraman for a national news program, particularly since the family obtained political asylum in a country where the official language is not Mr. Vélez Restrepo’s mother tongue. Consequently, and taking into account that the representative did not provide evidence that would allow the Court to verify the amount indicated as corresponding to the monthly earnings of Mr. Vélez Restrepo in 1997, the Court determines, for reasons of equity, to establish the sum of US$50,000.00 (fifty thousand United States dollars) for Mr. Vélez Restrepo’s loss of earning. This sum must be paid within one year of notification of this Judgment. D.1.b) Consequential damages 296. The representative asked the Court to order the State to pay “consequential damages and for damage to the family wealth” of Mr. Vélez Restrepo, his wife Aracelly Román Amariles, and their children Mateo and Juliana Vélez Román, considering the “expenses and losses they incurred, as well as the impact on the family wealth.”268 Therefore, he asked that the Court “establish in equity compensation […] of US$75,000.00,” which “reflects the fact that an important part of the pecuniary damage has been incurred in the United States, directly in dollars.” 267 The representative asked that, when ordering payment of the loss of earnings of Mr. Vélez, the Court take into consideration that: (i) at the time of the facts “he worked as a [cameraman for news on law and order] with a work contract [with] Noticiero Colombia 12:30;” (ii) his monthly income, [which] included [his] salary, benefits, travel expenses, and additional filming he did on the weekends, was $1,068,000 Colombian pesos a month; (iii) that the amount that Mr. Vélez received as his monthly earnings must be updated, corresponding to $3,325,605.65 Colombian pesos a month; (iv) the period to be compensated: “between the month of October 1997, the date on which he lost his job as a cameraman, and [June 2011]”; thus the loss of earnings amounts to $626,366,541.77 Colombian pesos (file of annexes to the pleadings and motions brief, tome II, annex 20(a) and 20(b), folios 668 to 672). 268 According to the representative, these expenses and losses relate to: (i) “the repeated efforts to denounce the violations and demand justice before the Colombian authorities in September 1996 and October 1997;” (ii) “the period of medical leave that followed the attack on Mr. Vélez in Caquetá; “(iii) “the psychological treatment received by the Vélez Román as a family and individually between September 1996 and May 1997,” estimated at US$2,153.87; (iv) “moving house twice, in October 1996 and early 1997”; (v) “the loss of property and belongings owing to the separation and forced exile in 1997-1998, including the furniture, electrical appliances, […] clothes, bicycles, etc.;” (vi) “the year Mrs. Román, Mateo, and Juliana lived in Medellín separated from Mr. Vélez”; (vii) “the move and relocation to the United States of the family of Mr. Vélez as of September 1998”; (viii) “the right of inheritance of Mr. Vélez left to him by his mother Rosa Restrepo, which he was never able to exercise due to his absence”; (ix) “the private medical insurance they paid for six months in 2001 so as not to lose its coverage during Mrs. Román’s illness and operation”; (x) “the move and installation of the [Vélez Román] family in Greenville, South Carolina”; (xi) “the medical expenses incurred by Mr. Vélez in Greenville for the tests and treatment not covered by the medical insurance, estimated at US$1,200”; (xii) “the return and relocation of the family in New York in 2008”; (xiii) “the trips to Medellín of Mateo and Juliana Vélez Román in 2010, with an approximate cost of [US]$5,000”; (xiv) “the constant telephone communications with relatives in Colombia for almost 15 years,” and (xv) “any other financial cost that, in fairness, should be recognized between August 1996 and 2011.” 84