The political economy of impunity in Colombia: the case of Colombian labour

Abstract

The problem of impunity has dominated the Colombian political landscape against the backdrop of almost non-stop war in the country since independence. The focus here shall be upon impunity in relation to human rights abuses regarding Colombian workers and union members. The central argument is that impunity is socially entrenched in Colombia due to an historical legacy of a weak state, a concomitant lack of institutionalised conflict resolution mechanisms and the stigmatisation of unions as havens for the revolutionary Left.

Keywords:

• Human rights
• Colombia
• impunity
• labour politics

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the Social Sciences and Research Council for its support for research related to this project (‘Human Security and the Canadian Extractive Sector in Colombia’, 2012–2015, $200,000 Cdn).

Notes

1. United Nations Commission on Human Rights, ‘Updated Set of Principles’.

2. For a broader discussion of the Inter-American Court in relation to impunity, see Burbridge, ‘Justice and Peace’. Definition of impunity appears on page 566.

3. International Labour Organisation, ‘Observation’.

4. Gurney, ‘Behind Colombia’s Dramatic Fall’.

5. Author interviews with: Gustavo Gallón, Director, Comisión Colombiana de Juristas, Bogotá, 3 February 2015; and Dr Gregorio Mesa Cuadros, Vicedecano Academico, Facultad de Derecho, Universidad Nacional, Bogotá, 6 February 2015.

6. Coatsworth, ‘Colombia: Roots of Violence’, 8.

7. For an excellent overview of violence in relation to historical politics in Colombia, see Orquist, Violence, Conflict and Politics.

8. Sowell, The Early Colombian Labor Movement, 2, 17.

9. Rochlin, Social Forces and the Revolution, chap. 2.

10. See González, Pasado y Presente, 5; and Pecaut, Politica y Sindicalismo, 89.

11. Urritia, The Development of the Colombian Labor Market, 16.

12. For an excellent discussion of Colombian labour in a historical and comparative context, see Berquist, Comparative Essays.

13. Romero, ‘Elites Regionales’, 170–174.

14. Ibid., 21–42.

15. For a good historical discussion of cocaine trafficking, see Gootenberg, Andean Cocaine.

16. Rochlin, Social Forces and the Revolution, especially 35–36.

17. Ibid., 36.

18. See Rochlin, Social Forces and the Revolution, chaps. 2 and 3, for a broader discussion of the strategic implications of narcotrafficking in Colombia.

19. See ibid.

20. For a detailed historical discussion of the Colombian political system and the place of the Left within it, see Palacios, Between Legitimacy and Violence.

21. Buchanan, ‘Useful Foods as Diplomatic Tools’, 46.

22. Spalding, ‘The Dynamics of Imperialist Control’, 46,

23. Aviva Chomsky. Her interview appeared in Philadelphia Media Center, 16 June 2009. Available at: www.phillyimc.org [Accessed 6 May 2015].

24. Pahl, ‘Wanted: Criminal Justice’, 615–617.

25. For a broader discussion of this, see Restrepo et al., ‘Impunity or Punishment?’.

26. Marcella, ‘Democratic Governance and the Rule of Law’, 25.

27. Giraldo, ‘Corrupted Justice and the Schizophrenic State, 31–32.

28. Correa and Malagón, Imperceptiblemente nos Encerraron, 264.

29. García Márquez, For the Sake of a Country, 11–12.

30. Pahl, ‘Wanted: Criminal Justice’, 600–610.

31. See Guiterrez, ‘Colombia: Overview of Corruption’.

32. World Bank, Distribution of Income and Consumption.

33. Gobierno de Colombia, DANE, Población Económicamente Activa.

34. Author interview with J.R. Rios, Presidente, Union Sindical Obrera (USO), Bogotá, 14 July 2006.

35. Gobierno de Colombia, Presidencia de la República, Política de Defensa, 37.

36. See El Tiempo, 24 July 2010.

37. Rochlin, ‘Plan Colombia and the Revolution’.

38. For an excellent timeline of the peace negotiations between the FARC and the Colombian Government, held in Havana, Cuba, see the website: www.Colombiapeace.org/timeline2013 [Accessed 10 November 2014].

39. Council on Hemispheric Affairs, ‘A Legal Wasteland’.

40. This idea is marvelously captured in the celebrated novel by García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude.

41. Author interview with Gustavo Gallón, Director, Comisión Colombiana de Juristas, Bogotá, 13 May 2015.

42. Author interview with Guillermo Rivera Flores, Counsellor to the President on Human Rights, Bogotá, 10 February 2015.

43. Author interview with Juan Ramon Ríos, Presidente, Unión Sindical Obrera, Bogotá, 14 July 2006.

44. Author interview with Juan Bernardo Rosada Duque, Coordinador, Area de Derechos Humanos y Laborales, Escuela Nacional Sindical, Medellín, 2 August 2004.

45. Correa and Malagón, Imperceptiblemente nos Encerraron, 295.

46. The name of the corporation and those who made these remarks will be kept anonymous for reasons of confidentiality.

47. Escuela Nacional Sindical, Informe Sobre Los Cuatro Primeros Años, 42, 49.

48. Equal Times, ‘Anti Trade Union Violence on the Rise in Colombia’, 10 January 2014. Available at: http://www.equaltimes.org/anti-trade-union-violence-on-the#.VX3ekMYhMwE [Accessed 15 June 2015].

49. Office of the United States Trade Representative, ‘US—Colombia Trade Agreement’.

50. Escuela Sindical Nacional, Informe Sobre los Cuatros Primeros Años, 54.

51. Ibid., 51.

52. Ibid.

53. Escuela Nacional Sindical, ‘Report of the First Three Years’, 30–31.

54. Author interview with Andres Mauricio Ramirez, Secretario Tecnico, Comision Permanente de Concertacion, Ministerio de Trabajo, Bogotá, 9 February 2015.

55. Ibid.

56. Escuela Nacional Sindical, ‘Report of the First Three Years’, 7–8.

57. See Colabora’s website: http://pqrd.mintrabajo.gov.co/index.php?/Tickets/Submit&tipo=1 [Accessed 23 February 2015].

58. See Escuela Nacional Sindical, Informe Sobre los Cuatro Primeros Anos, 4.

59. Ibid., 58–73.

60. Ibid., 24.

61. Ibid., 47.

62. Ibid., 33.

63. Ibid.

64. For a broader discussion of this, see Rochlin, Profits, Security and Human Rights, chap. 2.

65. Industrial Global Union, ‘Victoria; Dirigentes de la USO en Libertad’, 24 February 2014. Available at:

http://www.industriall-union.org/es/victoria-dirigentes-de-la-uso-en-libertad [Accessed 15 June 2015].

66. Rochlin, Profits, Security and Human Rights.

67. Author interview with Guillermo Rivera Flores, Counsellor to the President on Human Rights, Bogotá, 10 February 2015.

68. For a broad discussion of this, see Rochlin, Social Forces and the Revolution, chap. 6, especially 86–89.

69. ‘Colombia’s Capitulation’, New York Times, 6 July 2005. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/05/opinion/05iht-edcolombia.html?_r=0 [Accessed 6 July 2005].

70. Ahmad, ‘The Colombian Law of Justice and Peace’, 34.

71. See Rochlin, Profits, Security and Human Rights.

72. Perret, ‘Privatization of the War on Drugs’, 54.

73. Ibid.

74. Author interview with Gustavo Gallón, Bogotá, 12 February 2015. For a broader discussion of this, see Rochlin, ‘Colombian Labor and a Ray of Hope’.

75. Perhaps Michel Foucault’s best work in this regard is Fearless Speech. The book addresses the discourse of truth, juridical truth, and who can speak the truth and under what circumstances.

76. Peralta Gonzalez, ‘Finding Truth in Colombia’.

77. Ibid., 153.

78. For a broader discussion of this, see Rochlin, Social Forces and the Revolution, 34, 75 and 94.

79. Author interview with Dr Gregorio Mesa Cuadros, Vicedecano Academico, Facultad de Derecho, Universidad Nacional, Bogotá, 6 February 2015.

80. Transparency International, ‘Colombia’. Available at: http://www.glo.com.tw/en/index.jsp [Accessed 18 February 2015].

81. Author interview with Jose Herrera Vergara, former Secretaria General de la Procuradía General de la Nacion and former Presidente de la Corte Suprema de Justicia, Bogotá, 5 February 2015.

82. Author interview with Guillermo Rivera Flores, Counsellor to the President on Human Rights, Bogotá, 10 February 2015.

83. Author interview with Dr Gregorio Mesa Cuadros, Vicedecano Academico, Facultad de Derecho, Universidad Nacional, Bogotá, 6 February 2015.

84. Author interview with Guillermo Rivera Flores, Counsellor to the President on Human Rights, Bogotá, 10 February 2015.

85. Author interview with Jose Herrera Vergara, former Secretaria General de la Procuradía General de la Nacion and former Presidente de la Corte Suprema de Justicia, Bogotá, 5 February 2015.

86. Ibid.

87. Author interview with Alejandro Jimenez Ramirez, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Pacific Rubiales, Bogotá, 18 September 2014.

88. See Rochlin, ‘A Golden Opportunity Lost’.

89. Adrian Alsema, ‘Colombia Registers Record Trade Deficit due to Falling Oil Prices and Cheap Peso’. Colombia Reports, 22 February 2015. Available at: http://colombiareports.co/colombia-registers-record-trade-deficit-due-falling-oil-prices-and-cheap-peso/ [Accessed 22 February 2015].