The fog of war: development, conflict narratives, and civilian victimisation in Colombia

Abstract

Conflict generates uncertainty and a supply of violent actors willing to contract their services to third parties that makes identifying motivation for civilian victimisation difficult. In this paper, I examine how elites not only have opportunities to capitalise on violence during war for developmental interests, but also take advantage of the fog of war to lump all cases of victimisation under a clear overarching narrative of political contestation rather than repression for economic interests. I build on the literature of developmental violence in conflict to assess two cases of dam construction by the Public Enterprises of Medellin (EPM) in Antioquia, Colombia between 1995 and 2018: Hidroituango and Porce II. I argue that civilians opposing the dams were associated with one of the armed groups in the territory and elites dismissed their victimisation as a product of competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents. This conflict narrative obscures other potential realities and precludes deeper investigation into the ambiguous motivations behind attacks, even as the victims themselves may challenge and present counternarratives of developmental violence.

Keywords:

• Armed conflict
• development
• elites
• civilian victimisation
• uncertainty
• narratives

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Professor Abbey Steele and Professor Ana E Juncos for their insights and feedback on this manuscript. I am especially grateful to the research participants for their openness and generosity with their time and stories.

Disclosure statement

The author reports there are no competing interests to declare.

Notes

1 Interview with former employee of EPM, Medellin – February 2019.

2 Also reported in interview with local teachers (2), Ituango – November 2018 and an interview with a local leader from Yarumal (3), a neighbouring municipality also in the area of the dam (Santa Rosas – December 2019).

3 Interview with local activist (4), Puerto Valdivia – April 2019.

4 Interview with activist (8) [not affiliated to Rios Vivos], Ituango – November 2018; interview with local activist [Rios Vivos] (4), Puerto Valdivia – April 2019.

5 Interview with local teachers (2), Ituango – November 2018.

6 Interview with local leader (5), Santa Rosas – December 2018.

7 Interview with local leader (5), Santa Rosas – December 2018; this was reiterated in an interview with a displaced panminer from Ituango (6), Medellin – December 2018.

8 Interview with local activist (4), Puerto Valdivia – April 2019.

9 Interview with former EPM official (1), Medellín – January 2019.

10 Interview with EPM project manager (7), Medellin – January 2019.

11 Many of the locals interviewed also claimed the FARC was more interested in extorting the dam constructors for money than blocking the project (Interview with local inhabitants of Ituango (2, 6, 8, 9), Ituango – November 2018. For more on this co-option see Voyvodic (2022).

12 Interview with local leader (5), Santa Rosas – December 2018.

13 Interview with panminer (3), Medellin – December 2018.

14 Interview with local activist (4), Puerto Valdivia – April 2019.

15 Interview local inhabitant of Ituango (10), Ituango – November 2018.

16 Interview with local leader from Porce Canyon (11), Amalfi – November 2018. Reiterated in interviews with two other local leaders from Porce Canyon (12, 13), Amalfi – November 2018 and a fisherman in who had lived in Porce Canyon (14), Tarazá – December 2018.

17 The situation is eerily similar to that of Jesus Maria Valle, the famous human rights defender who brought national attention to the massacres of Ituango in 1997 and accused the Colombian government of complicity. Valle was offered a similar helicopter ride along with a group of officials to Ituango by Uribe (who later accused him publicly as an ‘enemy of the Armed Forces’) to show where the graves were and prove his claims. Last minute Valle was informed that the helicopter ride was full and that he would have to drive alone. Valle decided against it. He was killed a year later in his office in Medellin (Sánchez-Moreno 2018, 23).

18 Interview with national analyst (15), Bogota – September 2018.

19 Interview with local activist (8) Ituango – November 2018.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council for the completion of DPhil in International Relations at the University of Oxford. All data collection was in line with Ethics requirements of the University and approved by the CUREC Review Board (number SSH_DPIR_C1A_18_037).

Notes on contributors

Clara Voyvodic

Dr Clara Voyvodic Casabó is Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol in the School of Sociology, Politics, and International Studies (SPAIS), as well as the Chair of the Peace, Conflict, and Violence Research Group at the School. She holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Oxford, a Masters in Criminology from the University of Glasgow – for which she was a Carnegie Scholar – as well as a first-class MA in International Relations from the University of St Andrews. She has professional experience in the international humanitarian and security sector, including human rights protection, anti-corruption monitoring, and fugitive investigation. Her research focuses on the impact of armed conflict, organised crime, and development on local order and civilian victimisation. She also researchers qualitative methods and ethics in fieldwork in conflict and contentious areas.