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ABSTRACT
After two centuries of almost non-stop warfare since Independence in 1819, Colombia now finds itself at a crossroads. One path entails the construction of a culture of peace in the aftermath of the 2017 disarmament of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). Another trajectory entails a profound transformation of war. Colombia is increasingly leaning toward reconfigured warfare. The most prominent feature of this redefined security panorama is the re-conception of boundaries, both physical and ideational. One is reminded of the chilling observation of Gabriel García Márquez that a country ‘condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth.’
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 85.
2. Virlio, Pure War, 27.
3. von Clausewitz, On War, 85.
4. Foucault, Society Must be Defended, 165.
5. This is emphasized in the Introductory Chapter, and in Eduardo Pizarro Leongómez’s “Una lectura multiple y pluralista de la historia,” and Sergio De Zubiría’s “Dimensiones políticas y culturales en el conflict Colombiano,” in Comisión Histórica del Conflictos y sus Victimas, Contribución al entendimiento del conflict armado en Colombia, op. cit.
6. See Gramsci, Prison Notebooks.
7. See Rochlin, Social Forces and the Revolution in Military Affairs, 21–43.
8. Ibid.
9. Hristov, Paramilitarism and Neoliberalism; and Rochlin, Vanguard Revolutionaries in Latin America and Social Forces.
10. Pugh, Sulewski and Moreno, “Adapting Community Mediation for Colombian Migrants in Ecuador,” 412.
11. Martínez, “Transnational Insurgents: Evidence from Colombia’s FARC at the border with Chavez’s Venezuela,” 140.
12. López and Tuesta, “Illicit economies and social order.”
13. Comisión Historica: “Sumario,” 3–4; Pécaut, “Un conflicto armado al servicio del status quo social y politico,” 52; and Wills, “Los tres nudos de la guerra Colombiana,” 1, in Comisión Histórica del Conflictos y sus Victimas, Contribución al entendimiento del conflict armado en Colombia.
14. See various essays in Comisión Histórica: Moncayo, “Hacia la verdad del conflict”; Duncan, “Exclusión, insurrección y crimen”; Estrad Álvarez, “Acumulación capitalis’, dominación de clase y re‘ellion armada”; Francisco Gutiérrez, “Una historia simple?”; and Vega, “Insurgencia de ‘os Estados Unidos, c’trainsurgenci‘ y terrorismo de Estado.”
15. See the Foucauldean perspective of de Zub’ría, “Dimensiones políticas y culturales en el conflict Colombiano,” en Comisión Histórica del Conflictos y sus Victimas, Contribucion al entendimiento del conflict armado en Colombia.
16. For a discussion of the erosion of FARC legitimacy due to its role in crime, see Marks, “FARC 1982–2002, Criminal Foundation for Insurgent Defeat.”
17. Rochlin, “Colombia’s New Left and the Challenges of Security,” 10–27.
18. Regarding an argument that focusses on the military component of the FARC’s defeat see Ovalle, “Was the FARC Militarily Defeated?”.
19. Regarding key provisions of Plan Colombia, see, for example, https://www.wola.org/files/1602_plancol/. For a broader discussion of the military components of Plan Colombia, and the emphasis on defeating the FARC, see: Vauters and Smith, “A Question of Escalation,” 163; and Porch and Delgado, “Masters of Today,” 278. The tension between the objectives to reduce drug flows and defeat the FARC is discussed by Ospina and Marks, “Colombia – Changing Strategy Amidst the Struggle.”
20. Alpert, “15 Years and $10 Billion Later: US Efforts to Curb Colombia’s Cocaine Trade Have Failed.”
21. Casey and Perkins, “Goodbye, Weapons!”
22. de Colombia, Presidencia de la República, Summary of Colombia’s Agreement to End Conflict and Build Peace”.
23. Rochlin, “Plan Colombia and the Revolution in Military Affairs,” 735.
24. Rochlin, Social Forces, 86.
25. Ibid., 87.
26. Ibid., 86–89.
27. Ibid., 87.
28. Wienand and Tremaria, “Paramilitarism in a Post-Demobilization Context?”
29. Rochlin, Social Forces and the Revolution in Military Affairs.
30. Ibid, 120.
31. As reported by Caracol News, 24 June 2005.
32. New York Times, “Colombia’s Capitulation.”
33. Comisión Internacional de Juristas, “Colombia: Políticos del Gobierno Socavan el Estado de Derecho y Consolidan la Impunidad,” 23 and 77.
34. Stevens, “Justice or Colombia Peace Negotiator.”
35. For an extended discussion of the threats and assassinations against Colombian human rights defenders, see documents written by an NGO in Colombia that represents them, Somos Defensores, “Piedra en el Zapato.”
36. McVeigh, “2017 was the deadliest year on record for human rights defenders.”
37. “Colombia: 46 Human Rights Defenders Killed So Far in 2018,” Telesur, 26 April 2018.
38. Justice for Colombia, “Colombia’s attorney general warns of systematic pattern of violence against social leaders.”
39. “Cambios en la JEP son un fraude para el país”: FARC,” El Colombiano.
40. Yagoub, “Colombia’s Growing Local Drug Market Now Worth $2 billion.”
41. Office of National Drug Control Policy, “ONDCP Releases Data on Cocaine Cultivation and Production in Colombia,” and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Colombia: Monitoreo de Territorios Afectados por Cultivos Ilícitos”; and “Por que siguen creciendo los cultivos de coca?” El Tiempo, 16 June 2018.
42. For a further discussion of glyphosate see Rochlin, Social Forces, 69–71.
43. Rochlin, Profits, Security and Human Rights, 80.
44. Silva, “La estrategia contra las disidencias: una cortina de humo.”
45. Trisen, “Colombia Defense Minister Offers Dubious Statistics on ELN Weakening.” InsightCrime.
46. Rochlin, Vanguard Revolutionaries, Chapters Three and Four.
47. Perilla and Herrera, “Clan del Golfo: un amenaza para los procesos politicos en Colombia.”
48. US Department of Justice, “Statement of Anthony Williams.”
49. InSight Crime, “Urabeños,” 14 March 2018.
50. Mouly et.al., “How Peace Takes Shape Locally.”
51. Sanin, “Colombia.”
52. Wienand and Tremaria, “Paramilitarism in a Post-Demobilization Context,” 26.
53. Cardenas, Gleditsch and Guevara, “Network Structure of Insurgent Groups and the Success of DDR Processes in Colombia.”
54. Sanin, “Los golpes de Santos que terminaron dobegando al Clan del Golfo.”
55. Ibid.
56. “Clan de Golfo se gramentaria por la debilidad de su mando,” El Colombiano, 2 April 2018.
57. See “Los ejércitos ilegales …” El Tiempo, 21 December 2018, https://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/investigacion/los-ejercitos-ilegales-que-enfrentara-la-nueva-cupula-militar-305714.
58. See Iglesia acompañará la entrega del Clan del Golfo,” El Colombiano.
59. Interview by author with Juan Carlos Restrepo, Director de Seguridad, Presidencia de la Repúbica, Bogotá, 7 June 2017.
60. Rochlin, “Informal Gold Miners, Security and Development in Colombia,” and Continental Gold, press release, 5 September 2018, Another murderous attack against the company occurred on September 20 in Yarumal, Antioquia.
61. Forero, “Where Colombian Rebels Once Ruled.”
62. Interview by author, Anibal Fernández del Soto, Vice Ministro para Políticas y Asuntos Internacionales, Ministerio de Defensa, Bogotá, 28 June 2017.
63. World Bank, “Despite Challenges …, ” 6 November 2018, https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2018/11/06/despite-challenges-venezuelan-migration-into-colombia-can-boost-its-growth.
64. See “One million fled economic crisis-hit Venezuela in past year,” The Guardian, 9 May 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/09/one-million-refugees-entered-colombia-after-economic-crisis-hit-venezuela, viewed 9 May 2018.
65. Interview by author with Juan Carlos Restrepo, Director of Security, Presidencia de la República.
66. Interview by author with Anibal Fernández de Soto, Vice Ministro para Políticas y Asuntos Internacionales.
67. Interview by author with Johanna Mosgrovejo and William Nelson, Docentes, Departamento de Estudios Internacionales y de Fronteras, Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander, Cúcuta, 20 June 2017.
68. United Nations Refugee Agency, “Taller para periodistas y comunidores sobre la Protección Internacional de las Personas Refuiadas.”
69. See the initial essay in the report by the Comisión Histórica, “‘Sumario,’ 30 for homicide rates, 41–42 for political assassinations, and p. 60 for kidnapping rates,” in Comisión Histórica del Conflictos y sus Victimas, Contribución al entendimiento del conflict armado en Colombia.
70. “Colombia kidnappings down 92% since 2000, police say,” BBC, 28 December 2016.
71. “Tasa de homicidios en Colombia en 2017 es la mas baja en 30 años,” El Colombiano, 26 December 2017, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38450688, viewed 10 January 2018.
72. Statistics by the CISALVA Institute of the Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia, 30 March 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5438222/figure/f1/?report=objectonly, viewed 22 September 2017.
73. Michel Foucault’s work has emphasized the fundamental role of epistemology and complexity in the piece that most fully outlines his conceptual views, The Order of Things.
74. Interview by author with Dr Sergio Zubiría, Departmento de Filosifía, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, and member of the Comisión Histórica del Conflictos y sus Víctimas, Bogotá, 5 June 2017.
75. Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude, 383.
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James Rochlin
James Rochlin is Professor of Politics at UBC Okanagan. He has written widely on Latin American Politics and Security. His most recent books is Profits, Security and Development in Developing Countries.