Search

Objective/context: The article aims to analyze child recruitment as a form of human trafficking. Beyond the theoretical perspectives that focus on security or rights, it addresses the topic as a form of unfree labor. By means of a case study focused on child recruitment by right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia, the paper analyzes how children entered and exited illegal armed groups, the functions they performed, and the exploitation they endured. The research argues that child recruitment operates as a large-scale labor-market uptake in the wartime social order, where the “employers” are paramilitary groups, and the labor force, in part, consists of children and adolescents. Methodology: This case study relies on different sources of information: a database on child recruitment provided by the special Justice and Peace Unit of the Colombian Attorney General’s Office (989 cases between 1981 and 2005), sentences of Peace and Justice, testimonials given by victims in judicial processes, and semi-structured interviews with different actors. Conclusions: The paper shows that child recruitment as a form of trafficking is functional to wartime social order in contexts of poverty and inequality. There is demand and supply; thus, both girls and boys, who worked as soldiers, are not only victims but also agents that make decisions in challenging conditions. Therefore, if the socioeconomic options for these children, even after their demobilization from the armed group, are still a choice between bad and worse, joining a violent (no longer “armed” but “criminal”) group will remain a feasible alternative. Originality: The article contributes to the academic literature on a recent topic, such as the overlapping between child recruitment and human trafficking in armed conflict and post-conflict situations. It also contributes to the literature on “unfree labor,” as the study focuses on an actor (illegal armed groups) that has not been analyzed until now. Finally, the research demonstrates the limits of understanding human trafficking (and child recruitment as a form of trafficking) as a problem of security or rights entitlement. It highlights the analytical and political advantages of categories such as “unfree labor” to provide effective solutions for the prevention and reintegration of child soldiers.

La literatura sobre el uso de sistemas de decisión automatizada (SDA) en el sector público ha dado cuenta de su creciente adopción en América Latina. En el caso de Colombia, no existen trabajos que mapeen y caractericen de forma sistemática el uso de SDA por parte del Estado. Este artículo contribuye a cerrar esa brecha en la literatura a partir del análisis de una nueva base de datos sobre 113 SDA de entidades del sector público colombiano, de los cuales 97 se encuentran en funcionamiento (86%), 14 en pilotaje (12%) y dos más que fueron descontinuados. La base de datos caracteriza los sistemas a partir de 40 variables y fue creada con más de 300 fuentes de información pública. Este artículo describe las principales características, usos y potenciales beneficios de estos sistemas en Colombia. Identificamos sistemas implementados por 51 entidades públicas nacionales y subnacionales del poder ejecutivo, así como por entidades de la rama judicial y de organismos de control. El grueso de los 111 sistemas que están en etapa de pilotaje o en ejecución fueron adoptados por entidades públicas del orden nacional (74%) y la gran mayoría fueron implementados por entidades del poder público ejecutivo (93%). Los SDA son usados para realizar una amplia gama de funciones y para apoyar diferentes tipos de actividades estatales, pero más de la mitad de los sistemas son usados para apoyar actividades de los sectores justicia (18%), educación (17%), y medio ambiente (13%). Además, la mayoría de los SDA pueden aportar a la implementación de políticas públicas (el 98%), pero algunos también pueden contribuir con otras fases del ciclo de las políticas públicas (12% al agendamiento, 18% a formulación y 2% a evaluación). Finalmente, el artículo identifica potenciales riesgos asociados al uso de diferentes tipos de SDA por parte entidades públicas.

This paper provides an updated review of the dengue situation in the Latin-American countries, focusing on Colombia as a highly and historically affected nation. In first instance, it presents a scientific overview about the biology, clinical progress, transmission mode and epidemiology of the disease. Secondly, it describes the different outbreaks in the region during the past five decades. Thirdly, as an illustration of historical trends in most provinces and Colombian territories, early detection and predictive value of a dengue epidemic is inadequate and how a surveillance system should work. Based on these, the document proposes to provide a framework for a pilot model of a sustained and integrated epidemiological surveillance system in Colombia, focused on early detection, prediction (turning point) of outbreaks and recommendation of a model to be implemented by the Colombian local health units of each affected territory. It emphasizes that a vector-borne disease such as dengue must be addressed locally, having the individual, all the way through a primary health care and population-based approach, at the center of the system. It also highlights a new approach for returning to the basics in primary health attention in which the community health promoter be again one of the main participants. The paper concludes that without a primary health care approach, particularly under the existing decentralized local and regional governments, it will be so difficult to achieve real control over this kind of cyclical public health issues.

This paper examines how Colombia’s Justicia Especial para la Paz (JEP) emerges as a tribunal within which the roles of history, politics, and transitional justice becomes contested. The paper starts by placing the JEP in a historical, social, and political context. Building on the contextualization, it focuses on how the JEP appears to be an extension of the five-decade long conflict in Colombia in its attempt to deal with the past. The paper underscores how punishing “bad” things is not an easy task. Against this background, the paper challenges the boundaries of criminal liability by discussing and analyzing “storytelling” as an alternative to truth-telling in the JEP in order to not only provide additional nuances to the conflict, but also as a way to, at least theoretically, tie different social collectives together in a post-conflict society and enable the courtroom to function constructively with difficult social issues in the aftermath of cataclysm.

Abstract Introduction: Bedbugs are obligate hematophagous parasites that are difficult to control and eradicate, which can cause a great psychological and economic impact. This paper presents three clinical cases secondary to a tropical bedbug infestation that were morphologically and genetically identified. Case presentation: A three-member family (mother aged 53 years and two daughters aged 25 and 22 years) living in Medellín (Colombia) requested a private teleconsultation due to generalized pruritus and psychological symptoms (feeling of isolation, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and jumpiness). During the appointment, it was found that the patients presented subtle welts on the upper and lower extremities. Therefore, a visit to the family home was scheduled, finding 155 insects that were later identified as Cimex hemipterus. The patients were prescribed symptomatic treatment and informed about measures to control infestations. A pest control company made several visits to eliminate the bed bugs, but they were ineffective. Finally, the insects were eradicated after 3 months of meticulous daily cleaning with steam and heat. Conclusion: These cases confirm the presence of a tropical bedbug (C. hemipterus) in Colombia and illustrate the significant psychological burden that bedbug infestations can cause and the difficulty of controlling them, thus making this issue an important public health problem.

With the guerrilla's strategic weakening and the establishment of the peace dialogues between the FARC and the national government, it started a situation of post-armed conflict, which has been accompanied with the transformation of the Colombian armed forces. In this way, the present paper aims to analyze this initiated in 2011, with the objective of identifying the new role that has been delegated to the military in the context of post-conflict that started with the signing of the Havana Peace Accords in 2016. The hypothesis of the paper is that the process, in one hand, has been consolidating the Colombian armed forces as an institution turned to the accomplishment of subsidiary tasks and, in the other, it has contributed to a renewal of the military dependency with the USA, although with different bases in relation to those observed during the Plan Colombia time. The methodolo gy employed in this research consisted of data analysis collected in international databases, analysis of documents from the Colombian government and literature review about military transformation. Despite this process involving the three armed forces (Army, Navy and Air Force), the first one has been more affected, which for this reason it will be more analyzed.

This paper argues that, in the process of imaginingand making possible the modern nation in SpanishAmerica, the Liberator Simón Bolívar (1783-1830) resorted to the civic and revolutionary origin of the nascent States, rather than to ethnocultural uniformity. In this regard, his position was radically modern and antigenealogical, in that he asserted that the character unity entailed by the nation as a political community does not need to match the limits of na-tionalities. This paper draws upon Discurso de Angostura, deliv-ered by the Liberator in 1819, to show that, at the time of build-ing that great nation that should be called Colombia, Bolivar appealed to political and territorial premises, rather than to na-tionalist premises of linguistic, ethnic or cultural equality. In this regard, his constitutional proposal is in line with the tradition of republican patriotism and the ideal of the nation of citizens.

This paper focuses on the opportunity, in the short and medium term, for a Colombia that is an OECD member and NATO partner to face the challenges of the public security transition, despite no explicit mention of it appearing in the Peace Agreement (or Final Agreement). To do this, an anomaly will have to be overcome: the so-called “Lleras Camargo duality”, which has facilitated excessive decisional autonomy of the security forces, scant parliamentary control and insufficient political leadership of defence. The paper is divided into contextual and a priori sections, with another analytical section focussing on conceptual clarifications and practical lessons of a comparative nature. The final part is dedicated to Colombia’s particularities and the presentation of a proposal for addressing eight major challenges: three general, two focused on external security, and three on internal security. Colombia, peace process, transition, security, security forces, non-political direct violence

Kamsá is a language isolate spoken in the Sibundoy Valley in the Putumayo department of southern Colombia. Its speech community lives on the eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains, between the linguistic areas of the Andes and the Amazon. This paper presents various grammatical features of Kamsá, including its phonology, nominal morphology (especially noun class and case marking), verbal morphology (especially person/number marking for core arguments and evidentiality), morphosyntactic alignment, and syntax (including discussion of causatives, comparatives, and subordinate clauses). In doing so, the paper places Kamsá within its typological and geographical context, between the Amazon and the Andes.

Este artículo expone los resultados del análisis de la representación mediática, sobre el conflicto de la Reserva Thomas Van der Hammen en Bogotá durante el 2016. Para este propósito, la metodología empleada será de corte cualitativo, utilizando como método el análisis del discurso de las noticias publicadas por los periódicos El Espectador y El Tiempo. Igualmente, la técnica de investigación se basará en las entrevistas semi-estructuradas a los actores claves del hecho. Los resultados permitirán afirmar que, la representación mediática de esta Reserva se realizó a partir de fuentes institucionales, desconociendo a los actores sociales como los habitantes de la zona y se construyó a partir de hechos coyunturales y puntuales. Asimismo, la prensa representó a la Reserva como un conflicto político, entre el alcalde Enrique Peñalosa, frente a grupos ambientalistas del país y grupos de oposición a la administración distrital.

Este artículo desarrolla un análisis de la Política nacional de Envejecimiento humano y vejez en Colombia 2015-2024 y de Política Nacional de Salud mental de 2018, con énfasis en la sa-lud mental de la población adulta mayor, de acuerdo con las recomendaciones establecidas en el contexto internacional desde 2002 en esta área. Metodología: Se realiza un análisis de cada política pública y un abordaje comparativo. Resultados: Se evidencia en el análisis de cada política y su comparación, los avances en los enfoques de derechos humanos, curso de vida y participación social ciudadana. Sin embargo, carecen cada una de ellas de elementos comprensivos y de aproximación específica de la salud mental en la población adulta mayor. Así también, se ven limitadas al abordar la salud mental en términos positivos. Esto subesti-ma la alta carga acumulada de esta población y sus familias, así como comprender la salud mental como una construcción social.

This paper aims to provide a general reflection on systems engineering as a profession as well as on the current perspective prevalent in the Colombian public educational sector on this discipline both as a degree program and as a profession in the country’s labor market. Various social and academic aspects are analyzed that impact the lack of interest on the part of students in the public sector, taking into account that the information and communication technology (ICT) industry in the country lacks a large number of professionals who can meet the current needs of the enterprise and the academic sector. Therefore, this paper aims to raise awareness of the importance of this industry as well as to better promote this degree program among inclusive social sectors, which require a good number of students with a highly qualified academic training for the software sector.

Colombian literature of the nineteenth century captures the emerging process of the new nation and shows the ethical changes needed for the formation of a new country. By using the Colombian novel and poetry produced in the nineteenth-century, this paper will show how these are unfolded in practical effects of the works, drawing on the authors’ desire to influence with their work the ethical and political progress of the country, their society and the life of citizens, and to contribute to the foundation of the modern state in Colombia through a citizen ethics proposed in the texts. Additionally, this paper stresses the literary effort of reappraising the national moral and political situation, of confronting this with the past and, accordingly, of assessing the current situation.

This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of informal settlements in Tunja, Colombia, from 2010 to 2022. It examines the historical, social, and economic factors that contribute to these settlements, using various data sources, including development and territorial planning plans, the Agustín Codazzi Geographic Institute, and local government records. The study highlights significant inequalities in access to public services between urban and rural areas, exacerbated by environmental hazards from nearby mines, landfills, and sewage treatment plants. The research employs a descriptive and explanatory approach, detailing the historical context and theoretical frameworks related to agglomeration economics, territorial inequality, and urbanization processes. A historical-deductive method ensures logical consistency in the analysis of data from 2010 to 2022. The study also utilizes georeferencing techniques to present spatial data on service coverage and demographic characteristics, differentiating urban and rural disparities. Findings show that informal settlements in Tunja are predominantly located on the periphery of the city, with significant disparities in service coverage. While urban areas have over 90% coverage of basic services, rural areas lack adequate infrastructure, particularly sewage, gas, and internet services. The study identifies specific settlements, such as Runta and Pirgua, details their access to services and highlights environmental and structural issues.

Introducción: Con la creciente demanda de aplicaciones en el mercado, las empresas han priorizado atender las necesidades tecnológicas del usuario promedio en detrimento de aquellos con diversidad funcional. Esto ha convertido la accesibilidad en un desafío crucial en diversos contextos, especialmente en el ámbito educativo, donde la diversidad de personas que acceden a contenido web es notable. Objetivo: Este trabajo presenta un estudio basado en una inspección de accesibilidad de seis portales web pertenecientes a universidades en la ciudad de Cartagena. El objetivo es determinar la relación entre la inclusión de pautas de accesibilidad y los factores de posicionamiento web obtenidos a través de Webometrics. Metodología: Se definen cinco fases metodológicas: elección de los portales web, selección de herramientas de inspección, aplicación de la inspección de accesibilidad, análisis de los resultados y formulación de conclusiones y recomendaciones. Resultados: Como resultado del estudio, se ha determinado una correlación superior a 0.8 entre el ranking local de las universidades según Webometrics y el ranking de problemas de accesibilidad identificados mediante herramientas de inspección automática. Conclusiones: El uso de herramientas automáticas de evaluación web debería ser implementado por las instituciones educativas para mejorar la accesibilidad de los sitios institucionales. Esta revisión periódica y la corrección de errores es una buena práctica para mejorar el posicionamiento local e internacional. ABSTRACT Introduction: With the growing demand for applications in the market, companies have increasingly focused on meeting the technological needs of the average user, often overlooking those with functional diversity. Consequently, accessibility has emerged as a critical challenge across various contexts, particularly within the educational sphere, where the diverse range of individuals accessing web content is particularly pronounced. Objective: This paper presents a study centered on the accessibility inspection of six university websites located in the city of Cartagena. The primary aim is to ascertain the relationship between the integration of accessibility guidelines and web positioning factors as determined by Webometrics. Methodology: The methodology comprises five distinct phases: website selection, tool selection for inspection, execution of accessibility inspection, analysis of obtained results, and formulation of conclusions and recommendations. Results: The study revealed a correlation exceeding 0.8 between the local ranking of universities according to Webometrics and the ranking of accessibility issues identified through automated inspection tools. Conclusions: It is recommended that educational institutions adopt automatic web evaluation tools to enhance the accessibility of their institutional websites. This regular review and rectification of issues represent best practices for improving both local and international visibility and usability.

This paper focuses on the link between Transitional Justice (TJ) and Indigenous Peoples in Colombia. The aim is to identify and discuss how Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia (ONIC) has used and appropriated the Transitional Justice in Colombia during the past 10 years. Thus, the main argument is the Colombian TJ, which is a social process of interactions involving diverse types of agents and multiple levels of law. This implies that Indigenous Peoples have engaged in a TJ from below through multi-sited uses of the discourse. This case study is analysed through a socio-legal and the sociology of social movements approach that articulates Law and globalization perspectives and, the diffusion and uses of law. The action-research perspective, the qualitative approach of ethnography and the methods of non-participant observation and in-depth interviews of some activists and social actors are used. In addition, qualitative content analysis of laws, policy papers, NGOs and indigenous organizations reports. Este artículo se centra en la relación entre la Justicia Transicional (JT) y los Pueblos Indígenas en Colombia. El objetivo es identificar y debatir cómo la Organización Nacional Indígena de Colombia (ONIC) ha utilizado y se ha apropiado de la Justicia Transicional durante los últimos 10 años. El argumento central es que la JT colombiana es un proceso social de interacciones que involucra diversos tipos de agentes y niveles del derecho. Esto implica que los Pueblos Indígenas se han involucrado en una JT desde abajo a través de los usos del discurso en múltiples lugares. Este estudio de caso es analizado a través de un enfoque socio-jurídico y de sociología de los movimientos sociales que articula las perspectivas del Derecho y la globalización, y la difusión y los usos del derecho. Metodológicamente usa la perspectiva de la investigación-acción, el enfoque cualitativo de la etnografía y los métodos de observación no participante y entrevistas en profundidad, y el análisis de contenido cualitativo de leyes, de documentos de políticas públicas, de ONG y de informes. Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-0960

This interdisciplinary research aims to expose the responsibility of oil corporations operating in conflict-prone countries on the dynamics of the conflict itself and for human rights violations. In particular, the paper assesses the role of the oil industry in the conflict dynamics in Colombia. Based on two separate trips to and interviews in Colombia, the paper argues that oil activities have significantly contributed to exacerbate violence in the oil producing areas and that most oil corporations have inadequately responded to the social risks of operating in wartorn regions. The paper stresses the need for more field-based analysis on the role of the international private sector in Colombia and the effectiveness of corporate responses to mitigate or minimise destabilising effects of business activity. The research analysis is based on a case study of the department of Casanare which highlights the complexity of these issues in relation to the experiences of BPXC.Published online: 11 December 2017

The following paper analyzes the Colombian security and defense policies, specifically regarding the changing nature of how the policies were designed between 2002 and 2012. The analysis of the three policies drafted during this time, is focused on the problems that arose (understood as threats) and the solutions (understood as the objectives) that were set by the government. The paper ́s conclusions show a coherent behavior in terms of security and defense, since the continuity and the changes aim towards maintaining the optimum level of security.

This article studies the emergence and consolidation of the bookstores in Colombia. Focusing on the first half of the 19th Century, the elements that originated the fairly specialized profession of the booksellers as well as the commercial circulation of books during this period are explored here. This paper argues that the relationship between bookstores and international trade networks was a key element for their organization, always in alignment with changes in the national book market and the local radio of readers. Thus, the paper provides a characterization of the nineteenth-century booksellers, highlighting the commercial role of the catalogues, their shift toward the editorial environment and its connections to the political power.

This paper aims to analyze the application either of the subjective regime or the objective regime by the State Council against cases of unlawful deprivation of freedoms addressed when holding the State liable. To this end the judgments by this high court between the years 2013-2016 will be analyzed. A situation that is intended to unravel in the jurisprudence of this High Court in the time range between the years 2013 to 2016. A qualitative explanatory research method was applied. This paper intends to offer the reader a clear and forceful explanation about the legal regime used in this matter.

This paper investigates the impact of the unprecedented climate shocks of the 2010 in Colombia on the results of the Saber 11 standardized test for the 2010- 2012 period. By using two unique datasets, this paper contributes to the literature by providing a better estimate of the human capital costs of climate shocks. The findings indicate that the climate shocks occurred on 2010 decreased Saber 11 test scores. The impact was stronger for female students, students from rural areas and students from low-income families. A possible channel of transmission is identified: the destruction of schools.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) linked to the 2030 Agenda have been widely accepted by public and private companies, with many choosing to incorporate them within the framework of their social responsibility initiatives. This research article aims to find out how the SDGs are reflected in corporate sustainability reports and in which business activities they stand out the most. To this end, using a sequential explanatory methodology, the authors analyzed 12 sustainability reports issued in 2021 by large companies in Colombia, Chile, and Ecuador to verify their alignment with the SDGs. The reports showed evidence of a diverse range of programs associated with at least three SDGs, thus highlighting the importance of fulfilling not only the needs based on each company’s field of expertise but also those of its audiences and the community in general. The most prevalent SDGs were “decent work and economic growth” (SDG 8) and “gender equality” (SDG 5), followed by “responsible consumption and production” (SDG 12). This paper contributes to a growing interest among academia in the research on sustainability communication evidenced in annual reports.

Internal forced displacement, a consequence of territorial control strategies by armed groups, has resulted in profound socioeconomic challenges for receiving areas. Approximately eight million people have been affected in Colombia, where internal conflict and criminal networks have prevailed for over five decades. This paper explores the relationship between internal forced migration and crime rates in Colombian municipalities from 2003 to 2016, focusing on spatial dynamics. The study utilizes a spatial panel model and considers five crime categories: homicides, kidnapping, personal injuries, automobile theft, and residential burglary. The results reveal significant associations between forced displacement and certain types of crime, highlighting the importance of spatial analysis in understanding the interaction between migration and crime. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and researchers, facilitating informed policy interventions and community initiatives to address the repercussions of internal migration on crime dynamics.

Social protests were crucial to the election of Colombia's progressive government in 2022. However, it's role in the violence against Venezuelan migrants that preceded it is still unclear. This paper examines racial bias in media responses to Venezuelan migrants during Colombia's 2019-2021 social protests. Theorists suggest that structural changes like migration can normalize hostility against vulnerable groups when specific conditions increase hostile perceptions. Colombia's press has not been scrutinized for misanthropic and hostile views, focusing on xenophobic urban riots that occurred alongside social protests in November 2019. We conducted a content analysis of Colombian newspapers, linking migration, violence, and protests, along with public migration data from Venezuela. Our findings reveal that social movements in Colombia intersect with contemporary Venezuelan migration, highlighting the ambivalence of social protests. While protests may have shifted attention away from racist attributions toward Venezuelan migrants, they do not signify a new perception of vulnerable populations.

This paper examines the creation of the Colombian Indigenista Institute, CII (1942), its institutional history, and its closure (1949). The CII, influenced by the Mexican indigenista movement, fought for indigenous peoples’ visibility for eight years. In the end, however, the CII failed due to a combination of internal factors such as ideological disagreements, and internal ones, including violence, scarce resources, and lack of awareness on the part of politicians and elites about the status, challenges, and even existence of Amerindian groups in Colombia. Three Colombian scholars created the CII. They attended the First Inter-American Indigenista Congress (Pátzcuaro 1940) where they got in touch with Manuel Gamio, then director of the Interamerican Indigenista Institute. Gamio´s ideas —that Indians have the right to govern themselves, to have tribal organizations, to elect their community leaders, and to maintain and assert their cultural identity— inspired the Colombians. In this paper, I trace the influences of the Mexican indigenista movement on Colombian indigenismo projects between 1940 and 1950. I draw on a variety of sources including Colombian newspapers and magazines, as well as letters of the indigenistas housed at the Colombian library Luis Ángel Arango in Bogotá and the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin. I conclude by explaining why Colombian indigenismo of the decade between 1940 and 1950 ultimately failed.

El artículo tiene por objetivo determinar las variables que pueden condicionar la decisión observable de un individuo con respecto a escuchar música grabada en Colombia. Para ello, se estiman modelos probit usando microdatos de la Encuesta de Consumo Cultural 2008. Los resultados muestran que individuos con educación superior, que toman cursos y talleres culturales y se sitúan en los niveles medios y altos de estrato socio-económico presentan la mayor probabilidad de escuchar música grabada. Igualmente, se encuentra que individuos que se auto-reconocen como afro-descendientes se asocian con una menor probabilidad de escuchar música grabada. El artículo contribuye a la escasa literatura empírica sobre los determinantes de la participación cultural en países de América Latina. || This paper purpose is to determine the variables that could influence the individual observable decision of listening to recorded music in Colombia. To do so, probit models are estimated using micro-data from the Encuesta de Consumo Cultural 2008 [Cultural Consumption Survey 2008 ]. Empirical results show that individuals with higher education that take cultural courses and workshops, and belong to medium and high socio-economic strata, are those with the highest probability of listening to recorded music. Additionally, self-identied individuals as African-Colombian-descendent present the lowest likelihood. This paper contributes to the scarce empirical literature on the determinants of cultural participation in Latin America.

This paper compares a federal country, Brazil, and a centralist one, Colombia, both of which, at a given point in time, enacted a recentralization of resources despite the differences in their economies. The hypothesis is that similarities in expenditure autonomy of their intermediate-level governments are a consequence of changes in that direction enacted with the new Constitutions, dating back from 1991 in Colombia and from 1988 in Brazil. To test such hypothesis the paper first shows the differences in economic conditions during the 1990s in both countries after the Constitutional changes; subsequently, it shows how the previous developments within the realm of intergovernmental relations are very similar from the political point of view, allowing to understand how the loss of expenditure autonomy of intermediate-level governments during the 1990s took place. Finally, it concludes that the different economic realities of both national economies as well as those of intermediate-level governments, were subordinated to political priorities deriving from long-term processes. Debt allowed for the recentralization in both countries because of the use it was subject to.

El objetivo principal de esta investigación pasa por responder a la siguiente pregunta: ¿cuáles son las condiciones y las posibilidades de establecer una paz territorial en Colombia? Fruto de que la dimensión territorial de la concordia se erige como uno de los conceptos más importantes del acuerdo de paz del Gobierno colombiano con las FARC y de la negociación con el ELN, de lo que se trataría sería de describir las realidades y las posibilidades de establecer una paz en clave local. Lo anterior implica analizar las dinámicas de violencia directa y de violencia estructural que actualmente presenta el país, para lo cual se recurre a la utilización de seis regiones diferenciadas desde las que extraer conclusiones al respecto. Para ello se integran datos cuantitativos provenientes de 246 encuestas realizadas a los alcaldes y a las alcaldesas colombianos entre 2014 y 2015. De otra parte, para abordar la violencia directa, se incorporan, además, cifras facilitadas ex profeso por el Observatorio de Derechos Humanos y Derecho Internacional Humanitario adscrito a la Presidencia de la República y por la Oficina de Naciones Unidas contra la Droga y el Delito. Por su parte, la violencia estructural se analiza tomando en cuenta las cifras oficiales del Departamento de Prosperidad Social y el Departamento Nacional de Estadística. El resultado más relevante es el de mostrar cómo en varias regiones de Colombia, especialmente en el sur y en el oriente, el problema de la violencia directa y estructural se presenta con especial notoriedad, lo cual supone uno de los principales desafíos a efectos de consolidar la paz negociada recientemente con las FARC y la que, muy posiblemente, dentro de medio plazo, tendrá lugar con el ELN.

En este trabajo se estudian las maneras en que diferentes diarios colombianos construyen discursivamente, en sus versiones online, determinados participantes y procesos, en una temporalidad y espacialidad específica de carácter coyuntural. El marco teórico y metodológico se inscribe en los postulados de la Lingüística Crítica, atendiendo a dos ideas claves de esta escuela, la clasificación y los paradigmas de disputa. El artículo muestra cómo la discusión en torno del tópico La Macarena comienza con la denominación “fosa” y termina en la denominación “cementerio”, dejando entrever la disputa ideológica y las trasformaciones discursivas que activan mecanismos de silenciamiento en la construcción y clasificación discursiva del mundo social. Abstract This paper analyzes the ways in which various Colombian online newspapers construct discursively certain participants and processes in a conjunctural and specific temporality and spatiality. The theoretical and methodological framework is part of the postulates of Critical Linguistics, specially two key ideas of these theories: classification and paradigms of dispute. The paper shows how the discussion of topical La Macarena begins with the sign “fosa” and ends with the sign “cementerio”, suggesting the ideological dispute and discursive transformations that trigger silencing mechanisms in discursive construction and classification of the social world.

En el presente artículo se presentan algunas aproximaciones metodológicas que se han aplicado para la definición de áreas metropolitanas en España en las que se ha tomado como variable clave la movilidad residencia-trabajo. Se realiza un ejercicio explicativo mediante la aplicación y adaptación de una de estas metodologías al contexto colombiano y se hace un análisis sobre las decisiones y procedimientos llevados a cabo destacando las particularidades y diferencias con procesos de delimitación semejantes llevados a cabo en otros países. Finalmente, se hace un ejercicio de medición y caracterización de la movilidad espacial de la población en las áreas metropolitanas delimitadas producto de la metodología aplicada. El artículo busca describir, analizar y aplicar las decisiones y procedimientos llevados a cabo para alcanzar la delimitación metropolitana, a la vez que busca probar su consistencia a través de la caracterización de los movimientos de población entre las unidades metropolitanas en contextos y realidades territoriales diferentes a los españoles.

This paper reasons about the importance of the strategic planning for territorial development and on the contribution of the Euro-Latin American co-operation to the strengthening of the capacities of local authorities in Colombia. Within this context, the paper presents as case study the Project «European Union and Latin America for Welfare Integrated Policies» implemented between 2009 and 2013 under the URB AL Regional Programme. The Project, led by the Italian Region Emilia Romagna, has established a network of local authorities representing five countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Italy and Spain) for the exchange of best practices and the support to public policies for territorial development and local governance

This paper contributes to the important body of research on entrepreneurship and social capital. Most previous work on social capital and business incubators has analyzed how the structure of personal networks (measured by network size or density) and their quality (measured by tie strength) influence venture performance. However, few studies have focused on the mobilization of partners’ resources. This paper analyses how these three dimensions of social capital —defined in this article as the structural dimension, the relational dimension and the resource dimension— are closely linked to the three types of interactions in a business incubator: networking, counseling and resourcing. An Ordinary Least Squares regression was applied to a sample made up of incubating firms in Colombia. Results from the data analysis show that resourcing interactions constitute the most significant aspect of business incubators for entrepreneurs.

This paper presents a study on the intentions to quit of employees working in Colombian cooperatives. These enterprises were created to include woman affected by political violence into the labor market. According to some scholars, cooperative enterprises driven by a fundamental social mission face retention and recruitment problems. 332 workers participated in the survey. Structural Equation Modeling was used for data analyses. The findings suggest that within this type of enterprise, leader-member exchange has a negative indirect effect on turnover intentions. Consistent with previous research, this relationship is mediated by perceived organizational support. Moreover, the relationship between leader-member exchange and turnover intentions is also mediated by job-embeddedness. The limitations of the study as well as practical and theoretical implications are presented at the end of the paper.

The current migratory movement from Venezuela to Colombia is at the heart of a heated debate. This paper aims to focus the attention on the Colombian context, starting from the transition process generated after the internal armed conflict. After that, border dynamics and migration policies will be examined, highlighting how the centrality of the subject order / disorder, social harmony / disharmony has also oriented the construction of the figure of the Venezuelan migrant both politically and in the media, with consequences on the reception and inclusion.

El objeto de las siguientes líneas pasa por hacer valer, como hipótesis de investigación, la periferialización experimentada por el conflicto armado colombiano en los últimos años. Como consecuencia del alcance experimentado por la Política de Seguridad Democrática y el Plan Colombia, pero también por el particular impacto del paramilitarismo, se ha llevado a cabo una tendencia centrífuga de la seguridad pública pero también de la violencia derivada del conflicto armado. Esta periferialización plantea un importante reto al Estado colombiano, sobre todo, porque una hipotética desactivación del conflicto con las FARC, y posiblemente con el ELN, dentro de los actuales diálogos de La Habana, solo será posible si se aboga por la superación de unos condicionantes estructurales de la violencia que, hoy por hoy, continúan irresolutos. De no darse esta circunstancia, muy posiblemente el sentido de la paz en Colombia siga siendo limitado y confiera a una parte importante de su territorio una lógica en la que la presencia de los grupos armados irregulares y la traducción violenta que ello supone siga resultando una constante lejos de cualquier atisbo de superación.

The paper describes how the Oro Verde Program emerged, and how it has gained recognition as an innovative program that has successfully promoted improved social and environmental practices for small scale miners. The paper describes the local and regional context where the miners from Oro Verde are from, and attempts to explain how it waspossible for two afro-colombian communities, two NGOs and a government agency to find alternative arrangements to overcome the challenges that result from the complexities of the Choco region in Colombia. The paper argues that one factor of success is the interaction among participants to create a Non-State Market Driven Governance System. In the case of the Oro Verde Program, the norms created by the international system surrounding sustainable development were necessary for allowing the NGOs to bring financial resources into the project as well as opening the doors to isolated communities in Choco to an international market that valued sustainably produced products. Similarly, the national policies surrounding Green Markets and the existence of a government research institution, made the certification process possible and legitimate. Finally, having a law that recognized land rights to afro-Colombian communities and the community councils as local authorities, as well as customary laws about natural resource use and access within these territories was key for the viability of the project. All of these organizations, working as a nested governance system, that respected and embraced different but interdependent norms and interests, were key for the consolidation of a NSMD that has resonated throughout the world and that has become an element of some afro-Colombians’ struggle to protect their rights for self-determination.

Objetivo: analizar las capacidades de investigación en determinantes sociales de la salud (dss) existentes en Colombia a partir de la información registrada en la plataforma de Colciencias entre enero del 2005 y abril del 2012, así como la opinión de coordinadores de grupos de investigación. Metodología: se diseñó un estudio observacional descriptivo sobre la base Scienti de Colciencias, específicamente sobre aspectos relacionados con los grupos, los investigadores y la producción científica sobre dss. Se complementó con cuestionarios y grupos focales con previo consentimiento informado y estudio del sistema nacional de investigación. Resultados: entre los 65 grupos registrados en el Programa de Ciencias de la Salud de Colciencias (6%) se han publicado 123 productos, mediante artículo científico en idioma español (48%). Privilegian estudios de poblaciones demográficamente relevantes sobre sistemas de salud, inequidad en salud y enfermedades prevalentes, elaborados con métodos empírico analíticos y algunos en proyectos en red de carácter nacional. Las dificultades se refieren al escaso respaldo político e institucional local y nacional para investigar en DSS, poca interacción con formuladores de políticas y con otros grupos en otros idiomas. Conclusiones: predominan los estudios con el enfoque propuesto por la Comisión de Determinantes Sociales de la Salud en 2005. Recomendaciones: fortalecer capacidades de investigación en dss desde diversos enfoques, especialmente los latinoamericanos, desarrollar proyectos colaborativos en red y movilizar acción colectiva con incidencia en políticas de investigación en salud pro equidad. - Objective: This paper focuses on the research groups registered in the Colciencias platform from January 2005 to April 2012 in order to analyze their ability to conduct research on the social determinants of health (sdh) as well as the opinion of the coordinators of such groups. Methodology: a descriptive observational study focusing on the Colciencias Scienti platform (which holds information on Colombian research groups) and particularly on aspects such as the groups, the researchers and the sdh-related research products. The study was complemented with questionnaires, focus groups and a study on the national system for research. In addition, researchers signed an informed consent form before participating in the study. Results: the 65 groups registered in Colciencias’ Health Sciences Program (6%) have published 123 products in the form of scientific papers written in Spanish (48%). Moreover, the predominant studies are those conducted with demographically relevant populations, focusing on health systems, health inequity and prevalent diseases, and based on empirical and analytical methods, as well as the network projects of national scope. The difficulties identified were: scarce political and institutional support for local and national research on the sdh and reduced interaction with policy makers and with other groups speaking other languages. Conclusions: studies based on the approach proposed by the Commission on Social Determinants of Health in 2005 were predominant. Recommendations: it is essential to strengthen the ability to conduct research on the SDH using different approaches -particularly the Latin American approaches-; likewise collaborative network projects should be developed and collective actions should be taken which affect the health research policies for equity

This paper describes the Colombian legal framework applicable for the mining industry and identifies the problematic issues within and then proposes some straightforward reforms. To accomplish this objective the presents some information about the importance of this activity in the current political and economic setting and describes the fast growth of this industry as well as the influence of the global markets with regard to the needs of the mining activity. The paper proposes six basic reforms to adjust the legal framework to the current challenges of the industry.

This paper investigates the suitability of the economic reintegration strategy for former Colombian combatants, taking into account the challenges facing this population. It argues that the international discourse primarily consists of a market-centred versus a people-centred perspective, each with a distinct approach to economic reintegration. The paper finds that in Colombia there was a lack of inclusion of key stakeholders in the initial design of the process. As a result, the economic reintegration strategy ended up merely accommodating certain neoliberal ideals and thereby leaned towards a market-centred approach. Lately, steps have been taken towards an increasingly people-centred approach. This is currently reflected in improved results of the process, which predict a brighter future for economic reintegration of former combatants in Colombia.

Se presentan los resultados de una investigación exploratoria a través de un estudio comparado para conocer la situación de las bibliotecas públicas en México y Colombia. Se exponen los antecedentes y el marco conceptual, los comparativos de datos socio-demográficos, legales y normativos, las estructuras bibliotecarias y la información de estadísticas e indicadores generados en cada uno de estos países. Además, se considera una propuesta del Programa Iberoamericano de Cooperación en Bibliotecas Públicas (PICBIP) para un sistema de indicadores de gestión mínimos para las bibliotecas públicas de Iberoamérica, se presentan conclusiones de este estudio y recomendaciones sobre las líneas de investigación a seguir.A report of the results of a comparative study of public libraries in Mexico and Colombia is provided in this paper, which examines the respective backgrounds and operative rules; legal and theoretical frameworks, as well as the statistical indicators of the libraries in each country. The paper also examines the minimal management indicators for public libraries developed by the Iberian-American Program for Cooperation in Public Libraries (PICBIP, by its Spanish acronym ), followed by conclusions and recommendation for further research.

En el presente estudio, que parte de la investigación doctoral, buscamos en primera medida realizar un acercamiento al proceso de descentralización latinoamericano en su conjunto para observar sus avances y sus dificultades más visibles, remarcando la importancia de la institucionalidad (tanto formal como informal) en los niveles de éxito o fracaso de dichas reformas. A punto seguido, tomamos el caso colombiano para realizar una revisión a dos bandas: en primer lugar, observamos el diseño de las instituciones que enmarcan dicha transferencia de competencias, para luego, por medio de un estudio de caso, señalar puntos de importancia dentro de los contextos locales que marcan la prevalencia (y en ocasiones fortalecimiento) de mecanismos no democráticos después de las reformas de descentralización. Terminamos este trabajo enfatizando la necesidad de revisar no solo las cuestiones formales que implica un nuevo protagonismo de la esfera local, sino también las cuestiones informales trazadas por las concepciones sociales alrededor de lo público, del papel de los organismos estatales, y de la propia ciudadanía en la definición de objetivos y en la implementación de mecanismos que permita alcanzarlos de manera conjunta en pos del bien común.