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The following paper examines the notion of territorial peace associated with the Peace Agreement signed in 2016 between the Colombian government and the FARC-EP. More specifically, the political discourse of the FARC-EP is analyzed through nine in-depth interviews with prominent members of the organization, who, in addition, have held or hold positions of political relevance in the formation heir to the armed group – today the political party known as Comunes. The relevance, contradictions, tensions and problems that have accompanied the difficult process of implementation of the Agreement in Colombia will be addressed. The responses given by interviewees reveal a common narrative regarding the failures of the Iván Duque government's commitment and implementation but differ on the scope and significance of the dissident groups or the role that the Comunes party should play in defending the Peace Agreement. Additionally, the territorial dimension emergesas an underlying aspect that requires special attention in all the testimonies. El siguiente artículo examina la noción de paz territorial asociada al Acuerdo de Paz firmado en 2016 entre el gobierno colombiano y las FARC-EP. Más concretamente, se analiza el discurso político de las FARC-EP a través de nueve entrevistas en profundidad a destacados miembros de la organización, quienes, además, han ocupado o ocupan cargos de relevancia política en la formación heredera del grupo armado -hoy el partido político conocido como Comunes. Se abordará la relevancia, contradicciones, tensiones y problemas que han acompañado el difícil proceso de implementación del Acuerdo en Colombia. Las respuestas dadas por los entrevistados revelan una narrativa común sobre los fracasos del compromiso y la implementación del gobierno de Iván Duque, pero difieren sobre el alcance y la importancia de los grupos disidentes o el papel que debería desempeñar el partido Comunes en la defensa del Acuerdo de Paz. Además, la dimensión territorial emerge como un aspecto subyacente que requiere especial atención en todos los testimonios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Latin American Perspectives is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Colombian postconflict period requires titanic efforts on the part of the local government of the Arhuaco of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, caught between their own ancestral battles and the demands of central government institutions that may not even reach this region to administer justice and reintegration for territorial peace building. The reintegration of Arhuaco ex-combatants into their home communities has posed one of the greatest challenges. The interaction between Arhuaco justice and the Special Jurisdiction for Peace adopted in March 2017 is crucial for their effective reincorporation. Examination of the experiences of a group of Arhuaco authorities that has succeeded in building peace in a territory plagued by paramilitary and guerrilla violence, the military action of the Colombian government, and the entry of mega-projects into the region reveals the obstacles and the individual and collective development opportunities that have shaped those experiences. El período posconflicto colombiano requiere esfuerzos titánicos por parte del gobierno local del Arhuaco de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, atrapado entre sus propias batallas ancestrales y las demandas de las instituciones del gobierno central que quizás ni siquiera lleguen a esta región para administrar justicia y reintegración para la construcción de la paz territorial. La reintegración de los excombatientes de Arhuaco en sus comunidades de origen ha planteado uno de los mayores desafíos. La interacción entre la justicia de Arhuaco y la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz adoptada en marzo de 2017 es crucial para su reincorporación efectiva. El examen de las experiencias de un grupo de autoridades de Arhuaco que ha logrado construir la paz en un territorio plagado de violencia paramilitar y guerrillera, la acción militar del gobierno colombiano y la entrada de megaproyectos en la región revela los obstáculos y las oportunidades individuales y colectivos de desarrollo que han dado forma a esas experiencias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the turn of the century, Colombia has become increasingly dependent on mining exports to drive economic growth. While the surge in mining investments in Colombia and the problems associated with this form of economic development have received much attention from scholars and policy analysts, the common explanation is that the state has been undermined or eroded by emergent global forces. However, nation-states should be seen not as victims but as authors and enforcers of new processes of capital accumulation. The Colombian state has acted as the principal guarantor of the political and territorial conditions necessary for this form of extractive capitalism by reconstituting property and contract laws, signing free-trade agreements, reconfiguring the internal state apparatus. and expanding military forces.Desde el principio del siglo, Colombia se ha vuelto cada vez más dependiente de las exportaciones mineras para impulsar el crecimiento económico. Si bien el aumento de las inversiones mineras en Colombia y los problemas asociados con esta forma de desarrollo económico han recibido mucha atención por parte de académicos y analistas de políticas, la explicación común es que el estado ha sido socavado o erosionado por las fuerzas globales emergentes. Sin embargo, los Estados-nación deberían ser vistos no como víctimas sino como autores y ejecutores de nuevos procesos de acumulación de capital. El estado colombiano ha actuado como el principal garante de las condiciones políticas y territoriales necesarias para esta forma de capitalismo extractivo mediante la reconstitución de las leyes de propiedad y contratos, la firma de acuerdos de libre comercio, la reconfiguración del aparato estatal interno, y la expansión de fuerzas militares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Latin American Perspectives is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Gallery of Memory, a street exhibit organized by Colombian activists affiliated with the Victims of State Crimes Movement to memorialize human rights violations, connects individual cases of human rights abuse with a larger critique of state violence. Through this exercise, activists bring together earlier and current violations of human rights and provide a framework that situates present undemocratic currents within the trajectory of the state’s politics of exception and its correlates, national security and the internal enemy. Critical reflection on the potential for place-based, coproduced resignification of security measures in a context of systemic violence suggests that the Gallery has become part of the movement-based human rights repertoire for democratizing citizenship in Colombia.La Galería de la Memoria, una exhibición callejera organizada por un grupo de activistas colombianos afiliado al Movimiento de Víctimas de Crímenes de Estado para conmemorar violaciones a los derechos humanos, conecta casos individuales de abusos a derechos humanos con una crítica más amplia de la violencia del Estado. Por medio de esta práctica, los activistas sitúan las corrientes antidemocráticas actuales dentro de la trayectoria de las políticas de excepción del estado y sus correlatos de la seguridad nacional y el enemigo interno. Al promover una reflexión crítica sobre el potencial para una resignificación específica y coproducida de las medidas de seguridad en un contexto de violencia sistémica, la Galería se ha convertido en parte de un repertorio de derechos humanos para la democratización ciudadana en Colombia con base en los movimientos sociales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Colombia’s asymmetric war has evolved, gravitating toward cities, it has become absorbed by a transitional justice system. In the process, language used to name relevant stakeholders, shape national narratives of collective memory, and activate legal infrastructure is mediated by a symbolic and often duplicitous system of governance. A history of political violence and attempts to impose security focusing on the contemporary population of Comuna 13, the fastest-growing site of urban displacement in the city of Medellín, gives context to stories of violence that are otherwise eclipsed by the process of collective memory making and describes grassroots attempts at retracing a public narrative.Mientras la guerra asimétrica en Colombia ha ido evolucionado, gravitando más y más hacia las ciudades, ésta ha sido absorbida por un sistema de justicia transicional. En este proceso, el lenguaje que se utiliza para nombrar a los actores más importantes, construir narrativas nacionales sobre la memoria colectiva y activar una infraestructura legal está condicionado por un sistema de gobernanza simbólico y a menudo engañoso. La historia sobre la violencia política y los esfuerzos por imponer medidas de seguridad en la Comuna 13—la zona de desplazamiento urbano de más alto crecimiento en la ciudad de Medellín— le da un contexto a las historias de violencia que de otra manera serían eclipsadas por el proceso de construir la memoria colectiva y describe los esfuerzos de base para recrear una narrativa pública. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liberation theology was very important in Latin America between 1970 and 1980. While it is less significant today, it has not disappeared. If we look at Colombia, we can see the pastoral and political commitment of the religious and the laity in various regions as they accompany marginalized communities, victims of government and parastatal violence, in conformity with their preferential option for the poor. Motivated by the crucified Christ, the heirs of liberation theology have developed a theology of life or of human rights. As human rights advocates, they identify among the causes of violence the policies of capitalist development, denounced as imperialist and responsible for the poverty of the majority of the population. This development has its origin in the parallel dynamics of social and international relations and the associated adaptation of the social movement.La teología de la liberación tuvo mucha importancia en América Latina entre los años 1970 y 1980. Bien que hoy ella sea menos relevante, no ha desaparecido. Si tomamos el caso de Colombia podemos ver el compromiso pastoral y político de laicos y religiosos presentes en diferentes regiones del país, quienes consecuentes ante su opción preferencial por los pobres están acompañando comunidades marginalizadas, víctimas de la violencia estatal y paraestatal. Inspirados en Jesús crucificado, los herederos de la teología de la liberación han hilado una teología de los derechos humanos o de la vida. Como defensores de derechos humanos, ellos identifican dentro de las causas de la violencia las políticas de desarrollo capitalista, denunciadas como imperialistas y como responsables de la miseria de las grandes mayorías. Esta trasformación se origina en la dinámica paralela de las relaciones sociales e internacionales y la adaptación consecuente del movimiento social. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Latin American Perspectives is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The production of the visual artists Juan Obando (Colombia), José Ignacio García (United States–Mexico), and the Narcochingadazo collective (United States–Mexico–Colombia) under the umbrella of what they call “narcoaesthetics” is linked to contemporary democratic processes in Colombia and Mexico and the implementation of branding techniques aimed at offsetting these countries’ bad image due to the drug issue. From a decolonizing reading of their work a definition of “narcoculture” emerges that, along with other cultural forms, complements an understanding of the ways in which the narco phenomenon is reshaping the region after the consolidation of the late phase of modernity.La obra de los artistas visuales Juan Obando (Colombia), José Ignacio García (México–Estados Unidos) y la colectiva Narcochingadazo (Estados Unidos–México–Colombia) pertenece a la categoría de lo que ellos llaman la “narcoestética” y está vinculada a procesos democráticos contemporáneos en Colombia y México, al igual que a la aplicación de técnicas destinadas a contrarrestar la mala imagen de estos países en el tema de las drogas. Una perspectiva decolonizadora nos brinda una definición de “narcocultura” que, junto con otras formas culturales, ayuda a entender las maneras en que el fenómeno del narco está remodelando a la región después de la consolidación de la última fase de la modernidad. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Case studies of drug trafficking in Colombia and Mexico illuminate the effects of mafias on the relationship between political power and the social order. First, in addition to extracting income, mafias seek to impose social orders in peripheral spaces of society, mainly as an unintended consequence of the most obvious reason for their intervention in politics: to provide immunity to criminals facing potential threats of state repression. This objective makes them rivals of the state, and this competition is not only a matter of their ability to corrupt it. Their capacity for regulating society is essentially a result of their coercive power, and as a consequence their existence is a challenge to the Weberian premise of the modern state as a monopoly on coercion. What we see in Colombia and Mexico today is oligopolies of coercion, a situation in which several organizations have simultaneous and overlapping control of the means of coercion necessary to regulate societal transactions.Estudios de caso del narcotráfico en Colombia y México iluminan los efectos de las mafias en la relación entre el poder político y el orden social. Primero, más allá de la extracción de ingresos, las mafias buscan imponer un orden social en los espacios periféricos de la sociedad, principalmente como consecuencia no intencionada de su razón obvia por intervenir en la política: proveer inmunidad a los criminales enfrentados con la represión de parte del estado. Este objetivo los hace rivales del estado, y esta competencia no acaba en solo su habilidad para corromperlo. Su capacidad para regular a la sociedad es esencialmente consecuencia de su poder y, como consecuencia de su existencia, un reto a la premisa weberiana del estado moderno como monopolio coercitivo. Lo que se ve en Colombia y México hoy día son oligopolios de coerción en donde varias organizaciones tienen coincidencia simultánea en los medios de coerción necesarios para regular a las transacciones sociales. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Latin American Perspectives is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Is the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia–Ejército del Pueblo [Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People’s Army]) merely a terrorist organization involved in narcotrafficking and the predatory tactics of survival, or does it represent a legitimate political movement or alternative? Should the Colombian left sever any ties to the FARC, or should it attempt to integrate it into the political process? These questions are particularly salient now because the political left in Colombia is arguably emergent, whereas the FARC’s military strength has been eroded by the vigorous military and political attacks of the Uribe administration and its tactics have made it an unattractive political option.¿Qué on las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarios de Colombia–Ejército del Pueblo (FARC), una organización terrorista involucrada con el narcotráfico y tácticas rapaces de supervivencia, o una alternativa o movimiento político legítimos? ¿Debería la izquierda colombiana deslindarse de ellas, o integrarlas al proceso político? Estas preguntas son de particular importancia hoy día ya que, mientras que la izquierda política es una fuerza emergente en Colombia, el poder militar de las FARC se ha erosionado a partir de los vigorosos ataques militares y políticos de la administración de Uribe. Además, sus tácticas les han convertido en una opción política poco atractiva. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A number of communities in rural Colombia are implementing nonviolence and sustainable resource projects with external support as a means of resisting displacement and dispossession. Practicing peace and rejecting relations with armed groups is a self-protective measure that raises the visibility of the communities’ neutrality and status as noncombatants. Community residents’ strong motivation to continue to live in a specific landscape and maintain small-scale, local-resource-based livelihoods opens potential sources of support beyond the realm of human rights, humanitarian relief, and solidarity organizations to groups interested in protecting traditional cultures and conserving natural landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The trajectory of trade negotiations between the European Union and the Comunidad Andina de Naciones can be seen as an expression of the contemporary character of dependency between the two regions and of the conflict between competing strategies of integration within the Andean region itself. The first strategy reinforces current patterns of accumulation in the area of three “strategic openings” (primary and raw materials, services, and the state), the expansion of rights for Northern investors, and the state violence that has accompanied the internationalization of Colombian and Peruvian capital over the past few years. The second strategy, while mired in the class-based constraints that accompanied earlier experiments with “inward-looking development,” positions regional integration as an alternative to neoliberalism and integration with Northern blocs dominated by imperialist interests. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The indigenous peoples of Colombia have used various forms of resistance to attempt to change their identities and appropriate their lands. Over time the emphasis has shifted from law and legal titles to marches and land occupations to armed resistance and back again to the law. The legal liberalism that emerged with the 1991 Constitution in Colombia led to the demobilization of the indigenous movement of the time as marches and land occupations were abandoned in favor of lawsuits that identified violations of rights. Success in the courts did not result in any change in the government’s policies or its model of development. As the focus shifted from the local to the national level, indigenous peoples’ problems on the ground remained unresolved. In recent years, however, local organizations have rediscovered old forms of resistance and use the law as just one tool among many for protecting their rights.Los indígenas colombianos han empleado diversas estrategias de resistencia en sus intentos por cambiar su identidad y conservar sus tierras. Lo que en un principio se manifestó como apelaciones a la ley y títulos legales dio, posteriormente, lugar a marchas, ocupación de tierras y resistencia armada, para eventualmente volver a la ley. El liberalismo legal producto de la Constitución de 1991 llevó a la desmovilización del movimiento indígena y las marchas y ocupaciones fueron sustituidas por demandas legales en torno a violación de derechos. Los éxitos obtenidos en la corte, sin embargo, no alteraron la política gubernamental o el modelo de desarrollo. Conforme la atención pasó de los niveles locales al entorno nacional, los problemas indígenas continuaron sin resolución alguna. Recientemente, algunas organizaciones locales han redescubierto antiguas formas de resistencia y utilizan la ley como una herramienta más para proteger sus derechos. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After the breakdown of the International Coffee Agreement, armed conflict intensified in the Colombian coffee region. The decline of international coffee prices after the agreement was abandoned increased local poverty and made it difficult for the National Coffee Federation to compensate for the state's failure to provide economic stability and social services. Poverty and a weakened Federation in turn opened windows of opportunity for illegal armed actors, cultivators of illegal crops, and drug traffickers. The link between change in international coffee markets and local violence is shaped by domestic processes of resource extraction such as land distribution, joint crop techniques, the periodic employment of a temporary workforce, and the nature of institutional regulation. Study of this link exposes the vulnerability of underdeveloped economies to economic and political decision-making processes beyond national borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examination of the experiences of one contemporary Latin American indigenous rural movement, the Indigenous Regional Council of Cauca (CRIC), demonstrates the centrality to those experiences of resource expropriation, exploitation, and military repression. At the same time, it draws attention to the ways in which the cultural history of the indigenous people of Cauca has shaped their strategies of resistance. Out of this analysis arises the argument that forms of oppression along the lines of class and ethnicity/race are inextricably linked and that an intersectional approach is required to capture the dynamics and complexities of these movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first decades of the twentieth century produced an enormous shift in Colombian political sensibilities, political discourse, and forms of political expression. The relationship of Colombian socialism in its most dynamic stage (1926-1930) with the Communist International was characterized by both sympathy and distance because its desire to become part of the international communist movement sometimes contradicted its commitments to a rich local political tradition. Colombian socialists eventually established ties with the Comintern in a roundabout way, but the ideological direction it offered was difficult to assimilate to the ideological substrate of militants and leaders, in which Christian values, liberal practices, and artisanal traditions mixed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]