Reclaimed Territory: Civil society against the Colombian war
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Development. Copyright © 2000 The Society for International Development. SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi), 1011-6370 (200009) 43:3; 52–57; 014214.
Local/Global Encounters
Reclaimed Territory: Civil society against the Colombian war SARA CAMERON AND MARINA C U RT I S - E VA N S 1
ABSTRACT Sara Cameron and Marina Curtis-Evans look at the role civil society has played in Colombia to confront the long-term guerrilla war fed by drug and criminal activities. They argue that without civil society groups’ efforts, particularly children, the peace process would never have reached the level it has today. KEYWORDS children’s movement; cocaine; guerrilla; paramilitary; peace march; Vaccination against Violence
Introduction Colombia’s guerrilla war did not turn criminal until the early 1980s, when it began to expand on revenue derived from taxation of the incipient cocaine industry. Contributions from coca growers helped the FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) to triple the number of ‘fronts’ they were fighting between 1979 and 1983 (Pearce, 1990). In traditional FARC-held territories, farmers had apparently given willing support to the guerrillas in exchange for protection and policing services. As the guerrilla organization expanded, they moved into areas where farmers were not accustomed to contributing to ‘the cause’ and felt less need for these ‘services’. Coercion became more common and demands for protection money grew closer to extortion. Kidnapping, mostly for ransom, also escalated, from almost 550 kidnappings in the 1970s, to just over 3000 in the 1980s and more than 16,000 during the 1990s (Pais Libre, ). By then, guerrilla forces were effectively controlling 40 percent of the country. As the economic foundation of the guerrillas became criminalized, so rapid expansion of their forces meant that fewer rank and file guerrillas were politicized. The ideology behind the war became diluted, and abuses more likely to happen. The FARC’s 11th front, which operated in the Magdalena Medio region, gained special notoriety for extortion and kidnapping and the area became a breeding ground for the extreme right.
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Cameron and Curtis-Evans: Reclaimed Territory The rise of the ‘narco-gentry’ In 1982, the mayor of Puerto Boyacá, a municipality in the Magdalena Medio, called a meeting of local politicians, business people and ranchers. They decided it was necessary to not only defend themselves from the guerrillas, but to ‘cleanse’ the area of subversives. They agreed to gather guns, clothing, food and funds to pay young men to fight on their behalf. The Colombian military offered tactical support and training for the paramilitary group which became known as Muerte a Secuestradores (MAS or Death to Kidnappers), the same as another paramilitary organization formed by drug traffickers in the city of Cali.2 It was the involvement of drug traffickers that transformed paramilitaries into a deadly force. The cocaine boom took off in the 1980s and by t
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