Memory, conflict and the drug war in Colombia

: an analysis of drugs-related violence in conflict narratives

Abstract

In November 2016, representatives of the Colombian state and the FARC-EP signed the final peace agreement which was designed to end Colombia’s protracted conflict. This peace agreement established a transitional justice system to address crimes committed during the conflict. There is broad consensus that the illegal drugs trade has contributed significantly to the Colombian conflict, but it is disputed whether drugs-related violence is a cause of conflict or a symptom of structural problems. This research explores how drugs and drug policy feature in contemporary memory projects produced by victims’ organisations and community groups, as well as state-sanctioned memory and truth-seeking interventions, including Colombia’s Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Repetition (CEV). The findings reveal that the global drug war is a critical blind spot in the country’s historical memory of contemporary armed conflict. I argue that the dissonance between the impact of the drug war in Colombia’s armed conflict, particularly since the mid-1990s, and how it is remembered in the country’s historical memory is striking. In crossing the boundaries between ‘political’ violence and the drugs war, my research breaks away from most scholarship about the causes of conflict in Colombia. In doing so, this research builds upon extensive scholarship concerning debates about causes of conflict in Colombia. I suggest that silence around the drug war in Colombia’s historical memory of armed conflict undermines the fundamental goal of the Colombian peace process to guarantee the non-repetition of the conflict and to construct a stable and long-lasting peace.

Date of Award	24 Mar 2020
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Matthew D Brown (Supervisor) & Julia Paulson (Supervisor)