OBSERVARE

Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

COLOMBIA UNDERGOING MUTATION: FROM THE CONCEPT OF POST-CONFLICT

TO THE PRAGMATISM OF THE CONFLICT

César Augusto Niño González

cesar.nino@usa.edu.co

Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations of the Sergio Arboleda University

(Colombia). Ph.D. in Current Issues of Spanish and International Law of the University Alfonso X

el Sabio of Spain. Master Degree in National Security and Defence from the Higher School of War

of Colombia. Professional in Politics and International Relations at Sergio Arboleda University.

Daniel Palma Álvarez

palmadap1987@gmail.com

Professor at the Faculty of Government and International Relations of Santo Tomás University

(Colombia) Political scientist at the Faculty of Political Science and Government of the University

of Rosario. Master of Arts in Political Theory with an emphasis on Political Discourse Analysis from

the University of Essex (England).

Abstract

This article aims to generate a critical notion of post-conflict in Colombia to advance the idea

of a scenario undergoing transformation. The dynamics of security and conflict in Colombia

were defined from the existence of a problem that transcended threat. The FARC-EP were a

problem that later became securitized and scaled in the country’s security agenda.

Consequently, it is necessary to warn, on the one hand, that the conflict does not finish with

the end of the FARC-EP process and, on the other hand, there is a secondary effect but not

less important: the change of this group gave rise to the mutation of security and conflict

issues in Colombia, namely, the markets of violence, the dispute over the power voids in the

territory, the armed collectivities arising from the FARC-EP dissidents and the social exclusion

that ex-combatants face. Taking into account the above, the "post-conflict" concept is biased,

ambiguous and distorted, which in itself represents a threat to the development of conflicts

in the country.

Keywords

Conflict, mutation, post-conflict, “farcarización”, “post-farcarización”, imperfect peace

How to cite this article

González, César Augusto Niño; Álvarez, Daniel Palma (2018). "Colombia undergoing

mutation: from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatism of the conflict". JANUS.NET e-

journal of International Relations, Vol. 9, N.º 2, November 2018-April 2019. Consulted

[online] on the date of the last visit, https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.9.2.6

Article received on May 11, 2018 and accepted for publication on September 9, 2018

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

COLOMBIA UNDERGOING MUTATION: FROM THE CONCEPT OF POST-CONFLICT

TO THE PRAGMATISM OF THE CONFLICT

César Augusto Niño González

Daniel Palma Álvarez

1. Prelude

The narratives around the Colombian armed conflict have turned the contemporary

historical development into a single and exclusive actor. The FARC-EP defined Colombia

as the centre of gravity and the only scenario of problems and explanations for the

endless nation-building discourse. However, the events of the conflict have shown that

around the armed confrontation there are actors, phenomena and dynamics that move

away from any classic notion in the conception of the "farcarización" of Colombian

society, a concept that will be explained here and that is vital for the development of this

scientific article. The hypotheses of the gestation of the armed conflict allude to divergent

points in their beginning, in their mutability and, of course, in the outcome. Thus, in

Colombia, simultaneously, parallel and synchronic conflicts swarm. This thesis is different

from the one that tends to point to the existence of a single conflict in whose backbone

lies the beginning and end of the FARC-EP.

The conflict is necessary for the culmination of the construction of the nation. So, from

the divergence, parameters and guidelines arise, converging in the materialization of

nationalism, cultural identity, the exacerbation of progress, and the development of what

is defined as the State. This article seeks to critically examine the notion of post-conflict

compared to post-agreement, to overcome it and draw attention to the advent of

constantly changing scenarios, which must be understood so that the adaptation to new

security scenarios by the institutions and society is not traumatic and does not result in

new forms of exacerbated violence. For the purposes of this research, the methodology

used is based on a qualitative analysis and conceptual interpretation of sociological

theoretical approaches. To that effect, the document focuses first on the theoretical

distinction and debate between the concepts of "post-conflict" and "post-agreement".

Subsequently, a hermeneutic discussion is used on the conceptual and terminological

notion of the "farcarización” and the “post-farcarización" under the lens of the "imperfect

peace" applied to the Colombian case. On the other hand, a notion of transformation of

the conflict and reality is advanced based on the commodification of violence and the

The translation of this article was funded by national funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e

a Tecnologia - as part of OBSERVARE project with the reference UID/CPO/04155/2013, with the aim of

publishing Janus.net. Text translated by Carolina Peralta.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

power void in the territory. Finally, the document closes with a series of conclusions

around the question of the new security dynamics that are beginning to be glimpsed in

the national panorama: the mutability and the demarcation of the FARC-EP phenomenon

that defined the public agenda and the nation during the second half of the 20th century.

2. Between the post-conflict and the post-agreement: a theoretical

distinction

As mentioned at the end of the previous section, there is a challenge for Colombian

society regarding the understanding of the scenarios that open up with the conversion of

the FARC-EP to civilian life. This challenge is based on the need to clarify the difference

and, in turn, the relationship between the concepts of "post-conflict" and "post-

agreement", which even when treated as synonyms by public opinion and citizens in

general, contain different socio-political realities that cannot be equated. Failure to

understand this could endanger the peace process with this armed group, the

restructuring of the entire Colombian community and the institutional response to the

security issues that will remain in force after the end of hostilities with the FARC-EP.

In concrete terms, in order to understand the relationship and the difference between

the concepts of "post-agreement" and "post-conflict", it is necessary to explain the

political, social, security and temporal implications of the latter, which will be done in this

section.

First, in the political sphere, the post-conflict is marked by a duality that must be

addressed: first, the institutional commitment and that of the armed group in

guaranteeing compliance with the agreements signed and the restructuring of the policy

in the long term; and second, the change of view with regard to the "other", who no

longer can be seen as an enemy but as a political opponent in the debate and in the

electoral process.

As regards the first face of duality, that is, the institutional responsibility and that of the

armed group in the observance of the agreements, there is also a double responsibility.

On the one hand, the State has the task of guaranteeing the enactment of the agreement

through laws, decrees and public policies. On the other, the FARC-EP must maintain the

political will to act within the law, so that the possibility of a return to armed conflict is

minimized and there is an effective restructuring of Colombian politics in the long term.

As a result, point six of the Havana agreements on "Implementation, verification and

endorsement" becomes a priority, given that it proposes, among other things, a

Framework Plan with a ten-year validity, which contemplates mechanisms to execute the

stipulated, making reference to the legislative process, the inclusion of the points in the

Development Plan, the budget items, and the national and territorial political reform,

among other provisions (Government of Colombia & FARC-EP, 2016, pp. 196-197).

Likewise, there is the creation of the "Follow-up, Encouragement and Verification

Commission for the Implementation of the Final Agreement (CSIVI)", which will also last

for ten years and whose objective is "[...] to follow-up the components of the Agreement

and verify compliance; encouragement and monitoring of the legislative implementation

of the agreements; implementation of follow-up reports; receive inputs from those in

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

charge of implementation" (Government of Colombia & FARC-EP, 2016: 195-196). In

view of this, it should be noted that the agreements are presented as the starting point

for a political restructuring and not as the termination of a process. Thus, there is a first

difference between the contexts of "post-agreement" and "post-conflict", given that the

second has a longer duration in the long term

As for the other side of duality in the political sphere, one must affirm that it goes beyond

institutions and norms, in terms of how those who become legal are seen politically. In

this sense, given that the members of the FARC-EP will no longer be armed actors but

electoral contenders within the democratic debate, the discursive construction that has

been made of their image has to be changed. In other words, the change is the meaning

shift from enemies to adversaries of the members of the new political movement. To

understand in-depth the importance of this change, we can cite the postulates of Chantal

Mouffe (1999) and her "Radical Democracy" theory.

For this author, the meaning of modern democracies is to give rise to conflict, as a

peaceful and dialogical confrontation within the political community. For this reason, the

ideal stance of current regimes is to allow the passage of antagonism to agonism, that

is, to be the channel through which one goes from a logic of enemies to adversaries

(Mouffe, 1999: 13-16). Thus, the first concept (enemy) involves the elimination of the

"other", the suppression not only of his ideas but of his existence; while, in opposition to

this, the second refers to the legitimacy and right of a person to defend his ideas and to

be tolerated. In Mouffe’s word, "[...] it means that, within the 'we' that constitutes the

political community, the opponent will not be seen as an enemy to be brought down, but

rather as a legitimate adversary who must be tolerated. His ideas will be fought

vigorously, but his right to defend them will never be questioned "(Mouffe, 1999: 16).

The distinction between these words is vital, because in it lies the possibility of building

collectivities open to debate and dissent.

Following this perspective, an effective insertion of new actors in national politics can be

guaranteed, avoiding future accusations against people who have left their weapons to

adopt the path of constitutionality. This is important in the light of Colombian history,

which has shown that, even after having become law abiding, over the years, members

of former armed groups have been stigmatized as guerrillas or terrorists. An example of

this is the references to former M-19members, who today are recognized democratic

figures but who have been rejected due to their belligerent past.

Likewise, converting an enemy to be destroyed into an adversary to win over in political

fights could prevent an assassination similar to the one the members of the Patriotic

Union had to endure during the 1980s. This is in view of the fact that, for Mouffe,

In fact, this becomes clear when one reads sections of the document in point six, such as: "The day after

the signing of the Final Agreement, the "Follow-up, Encouragement and Verification Commission of the

Implementation of the Final Agreement (CSIVI) will be created", composed of three representatives of the

National Government and three representatives of the FARC-EP or the political party that emerges from its

transition to legal life. The duration of the Commission may be up to 10 years, with an initial period of

operation being agreed until January 2019, date from which the members of the Commission will decide on

its extension" (Government of Colombia & FARC-EP, 2016: 195). In this passage, it is clear that there is a

difference between the process subsequent to the signing of the agreements, which does not end with the

parties’ demonstration of political will but opens the door to joint long-term work for the materialization of

the agreement.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

individuals cannot be forced to think in accordance with a political faction or to conform

to the views of the community as a whole, which renders the idea of "consensus without

exclusion" impossible. On the contrary, it is precisely this capacity to dissent that feeds

the political element and, even more, the meaning shift of the "other" as an adversary

(Mouffe, 1999: 11-12). However, this cannot be seen as an immediate change, but rather

as a constant long-term process that becomes part of the post-conflict.

On the other hand, regarding the post-conflict social sphere, Colombian society must also

undergo a process of reconfiguration, in which there is an effective and peaceful

reincorporation of the former FARC-EP members. It should be noted that these logics of

acceptance of new members who were previously considered a threat, are not short-

term and involve a meaning shift as in the political sphere, since it is about changing

behaviour, social norms, beliefs, etc.

In this regard, we can borrow from the field of sociology to size this social transformation.

Emile Durkheim coined the concept "social fact" to distinguish everything that is given in

society, such as norms, codes and behaviours, among others, which are external to

people but govern them - even exert coercion even if one does not realize it – and through

which they act and interpret the social environment in which they find themselves. In

other words, "they consist of ways of acting, of thinking and feeling external to the

individual, and they are endowed with coercion power by virtue of which they impose

themselves on him" (Durkheim, 2001: 40-41). Therefore, it can be inferred that in the

issue of the reincorporation of ex-combatants, there must be a restructuring of these

social norms and, above all, of the ideas that revolve around these individuals, as

mentioned in the previous paragraph.

However, the change in the "social facts" that have materialized around the conflict with

the FARC-EP for more than half a century will not change in a matter of days or months.

On the contrary, the work of the entire current and future generations of Colombian

society is needed to break the imagined threat and the behaviour codes the ex-

combatants are referred to, so that they are accepted and the stigmatization they are

victims of is eliminated. In fact, Emile Durkheim himself is clear in arguing that social

facts are not relegated or modified without offering resistance, given their ability to

exercise coercion: "even if they are defeated [the rules] finally, they make their coercive

power quite felt due to the resistance they offer" (Durkheim, 2001: 40).

So, in the political and social fields, there is a common aspect, which is the time variable

that plays a transcendental role. Insofar as the political meaning shift is a far-reaching

effort, in the social sphere the joint work of the members of the current Colombian society

and of the Colombians who will come is required in order to break paradigms, views and

treat the ex-combatants, and the imagined views that people have of the conflict and of

the FARC-EP. Here is another expression of the relationship and difference between post-

agreement and post-conflict: the first paves the way to the constant process the second

implies.

Finally, in the field of security, it is also a sine qua non condition to understand the

relationship and difference between post-agreement and post-conflict, because its

misinterpretation may endanger the peace process itself. In this scope, it is important to

briefly consider the concept of "collective imaginary". Although the term is ambiguous in

terms of the amount of existing definitions (Sola-Morales, 2014: 5), it can be said that

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

they are "[...] representation schemes, mechanisms or devices, socially formed, which

allow members of a community understand the surrounding world" (Sola-Morales, 2014:

8); In other words, individuals make collective everything that allows them to understand

their everyday life. Likewise, to this we must add that the words are linked to the

aforementioned concept, while the discourses play a role in the construction of these

social realities (Palma, 2017: 54).

Making explicit the relationship between imaginaries, discourses and security is

significant to interpret the national situation, where there is a media bombardment with

the word "post-conflict" as its centre. The fact that this word is used singularly and

absolutely gives the feeling that with the peace process with the FARC-EP, all conflicts in

Colombia will disappear. This imaginary is reinforced if one examines the same question

of the plebiscite for the endorsement of the agreements: "Do you support the final

agreement to end the conflict and build a stable and lasting peace?"

However, falling into this imaginary is a mistake that paradoxically could endanger the

peace process itself. Contrary to this collective belief that is taking shape, we must listen

to sociologist Sam Richards, for whom a conflict "does not really end until its causes are

solved" (Richards in an interview to El Espectador, 2016), which implies that "stable and

lasting" peace will not come with the signing of the agreements, but with a prolonged

process in which the structural causes of the social demands that first gave rise to the

conflict are addressed, and which require the reconfiguration of the state, the economic

model and giving space to reconciliation.

Likewise, believing that the conflict in Colombia came to an end due to the signing of the

peace agreement with the FARC-EP is also a fatal error for the State because it would

limit its ability to understand and respond to the new threats it faces as a result of the

guerrilla’s disarmament or stemming from those who remain latent despite the

movement’s disappearance. Faced with this, one can bring up a fact of recent Colombian

history: the process of demobilization of the paramilitaries. While it is true that by 2006

a large number of groups had demobilized, the most important being the AUC, it cannot

be denied that not all of them decided to leave the lucrative illegal business, so, from

small strongholds and recidivists, the phenomenon that today is known as BACRIM

started.

In short, in light of the various implications of the post-conflict concept, the post-

agreement is only the first scenario of an introduction to post-conflict, which in turn is a

much broader process of collective efforts within the time variable. Not only the

agreements signed with the armed group have to be made effective, but also the

institutions must be open to the mutation of the security issues that will materialize in

the spaces that remain empty, after the relinquishment of weapons and reincorporation

of ex-combatants into the civilian life. For these reasons, meanwhile, emphasis is placed

on the importance of seeing the new scenarios and realities in Colombia under the

magnifying glass of the concepts of “farcarización”, “post-farcarización” and imperfect

peace.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

3. From “Farcarización to “post-farcarización” and imperfect peace in

Colombia

The mutability

of the armed conflict in Colombia to unarmed conflict points to a socio-

political structural transformation. Then, believing that with the overcoming of the

weapons in the Colombian context a plenitude of annulment of rival forces is reached, is,

per se, a contradiction. In that sense, in the near future and taking into account the

social, political, cultural, and security conditions, the confidence building stage starts

from a scenario of imperfection.

The FARC-EP defined a large part of Colombia's political and social agenda. For decades,

the country was involved in a "farcarización" phenomenon that meant that all

explanations about political instability, institutional weakness, problems and threats to

security and defence, increased spending in that sector, and the negative macroeconomic

factors, were rooted in the FARC-EP. Interestingly, such "farcarización" is understood

under the notion of the Sixth generation of war (Niño, 2017), trying to understand that

the use of force and the exercise of violence were channels of communication and

interlocution of society, and that the State loses its capacity to respond to irregular

dynamics (Niño, 2017: 38).

According to this argument, one can deepen the explanation of the "farcarización"

concept, resorting to the discursive logics that gave rise to the defining role of the FARC-

EP as the State and society’s greatest threat, against which the institutional image and

that of the "other" (enemy) to be destroyed came to the fore. Thus, it is clear that “there

is no possible conflict without opponents, they are the construction of an otherness that

means, from a real or imaginary point of view, risk and threat, but that at the same time

is needed to sustain [...] the very reason for being [...]" (Angarita et al., 2015: 11).

Consequently, what is emphasized here is that the Farianos, as an armed group, for a

long time played that necessary role to affirm the legality.

In fact, the FARC-EP has been seen in different ways in different periods in this almost

half century of armed struggle, going from "peasant self-defence groups" in the fifties,

to leftist guerrilla in the sixties and drug traffickers in the eighties

, each view with a

different response from the institutions. According to Angarita et al (2015), this escalated

to the point that this illegal group became seen as an absolute enemy, that is, one that

can only be considered as a threat to be annihilated, removing any quality of political

enemy (the one that I can tolerate and with whom there can be dialogue) from it, after

the El Caguán

failed peace dialogues and with the advent of the two governments of

Álvaro Uribe Vélez, when they were no longer a belligerent armed group but a terrorist

one (Angarita et al., 2015: 57-59).

According to this logic of "farcarización of society and institutions", the overcoming of the

armed conflict with the guerrilla requires a transcendental and urgent change in the

Ability to change shape (Oxford Dictionary, 2017).

For additional information concerning the historical evolution of the FARC-EP, see the bibliography of

sociologist and journalist Alfredo Molano, especially the texts: Los años del tropel (1985), Trochas y fusiles

(1994) y A lomo de mula. Viajes al corazón de las Farc (2016).

An area of approximately 42,139 square kilometres between the departments of Meta and Caquetá are

cleared and demilitarized by the government of Andrés Pastrana Arango as a confidence measure for the

dialogues with the guerrilla. This situation generated the military recovery of the FARC and motivated the

establishment of control in that area and its own laws in the region.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

collective imagination and building within imperfection spaces of trust as soon as

possible, which is part of a post-conflict seen as a long-term process that begins with the

post-agreement. As a result, this step depends on multiple factors, one of which

advanced by Paul Collier, who argues that the main challenge is the return of many ex-

combatants to civilian life as soon possible (Collier, 2004). Likewise, it is necessary to

have a prolonged political and social dialogue for the effective incorporation of the armed

insurgents into full legal life, and a change in the idea of the FARC-EP as an armed group

to a political force within constitutionality.

The great challenge that arises is the "post-farcarización" of Colombian society and

institutions, so that the dynamics of prolonged processes are understood and there is a

rapid reaction of the State to the new threats that arise from the demobilization of the

FARC-EP. In other words, the transformed scenarios in Colombia begin to reveal "post-

farcarización” contexts. There is a change, almost mutational, in which the society and

the defining construct of the nation itself, stand out in evolutionary terms from the old

and erroneous notion of the conflict defined by the FARC-EP. Namely, a plausible scenario

identified as the post-war society is acknowledged, which is located above the threshold

of overcoming the armed conflict (Niño, 2014) and does not exclude it from being part

of another atmosphere in which violence is the centre of gravity in social relations.

Taking into account the above, within the “post-farcarización”, it is indispensable to

notice a new context: the transformation of the threshold of violence in the State. Based

on this, it is understood that violence is a factual communication vehicle in which different

dynamics converge in its exercise and that is not directly proportional to a state of

security. That is, a full security stage can be permeated by highly violent conditions and

vice versa.

In a systemic scenario, the concept is represented in that violence is a relative

anthropomorphic category that refers to surplus energy that exceeds the normal

thresholds of absorption and mutation of the physical system, or psychic in the case of

the individual, and the subsystems of infrastructures in the case of society (García,

2017). In Colombia, violence has been the causal motor of the conflict and not, per se,

the causal conflict of violence. Consequently, with the "post-farcarización", the redesign

of the thresholds of violence is not eliminated but transfigured.

Therefore, the construction of post-conflict spaces provokes an almost paradigmatic

change in the understanding of violence. Thus, the possibilities of generalizing and

perpetuating themselves in time and the social penetration of rival phenomena seem to

confirm the thesis of the structural superiority of violent processes over those of

pacification (Waldmann, 1999). It means that violence is located in a broad spectrum in

the social life of the State. The tendency after the termination of an armed conflict is a

virulent atomization and overflow of violence.

For example, a particular case in El Salvador has to do with the fact that while it is true

that the 1992 Chapultepec Peace Agreement ended an internal armed conflict, it was also

the starting point for the mutation of civil hostilities into an enclave of violence after the

conflict (Niño, 2016). An endemic situation that shows that the new territorial battles

involving members of gangs mixed between drug trafficking and extortion (The Guardian,

2015) dispute markets, vital spaces and occupy empty places left by the State.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

In Colombia, such logic is not unfamiliar. To understand the polyhedron of violence in

the transformation of the "post-farcarización", it is vital to recognise that violence is not

a derivative of the exercise of the FARC-EP, it is not born with them, much less is it an

exclusive credit of the said group. It is a combination of actors, phenomena,

responsibilities, policies, opportunities and strategic issues that converge there. Violence

in Colombia is constituted under a dynamic of multiple edges that respond to diverse

natures.

In light of what has been said up to this point, in order to make the leap from

“farcarización” to “post-farcarización”, it is necessary to start talking about imperfect

peace as the concept that will guide post-conflict in Colombia. This concept suggests that

the resolution of conflicts is not absolute. On the contrary, it is a matter of internalizing

that mutability is a characteristic of human conflict and, in this sense, it is not enough

with the "cease-fire" between the parties. The end of a confrontation opens the door to

new scenarios in which new problems cannot be excluded. In concrete terms: [...] the

recognition of imperfection invites us to consider different favourable solutions for the

parties in the context of a conflict that is not resolved completely. The fact of proposing

a broad concept of peace based on the nonviolent solutions [sic.] that occur permanently

in response to multiple conflicts leads us to think about the possibility of an imperfect

peace revealed as a dynamic and perennially inconclusive peace (López, 2011: 90).

As a result of the above, it is an imperfect peace because, in spite of peacefully handling

disputes, it coexists with conflicts and some forms of violence (Muñoz, 2004). In other

words, imperfection is the perfect way to conceive the transformed scenario that

Colombia is beginning to face. Namely, imperfect peace does not refer to a situation in

which the agreements established between the rival actors are defined from a pejorative

or negative angle, rather, it is ascribed to a systemic logic in which the conflict is central

and separates the notion that war and conflict are symbiotic. In fact, imperfect peace is

the best possible scenario for the consolidation and termination of the evolutionary

character of society.

Accordingly, it is imperative to note that almost half of the peace agreements fail during

the first five years of implementation (Hudson, 2011). So, the construction of a

negotiated or imperfect peace is much more demanding, in political, economic and social

terms, than the indefinite prolongation of war or the unilateral imposition of victory

(Molano, 2016). Consequently, the need to propose the reconfiguration of Colombian

society in the medium and long term (thus returning to the difference between post-

agreement and post-conflict).

Finally, the suggestion of establishing the difference between post-agreement and post-

conflict, and the construction of the concepts of "farcarización" and “post-farcarización",

linked to imperfect peace, give rise to the third and last point of this research, which

discusses two of the security scenarios that emerge at this crucial moment for society

and the Colombian state, apart from the change of the image from enemy to political

opponent that has already been discussed.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

4. Pragmatism of the conflict and transformation of realities in Colombia:

power voids and markets of violence

The signing of the agreement between the Government and the FARC-EP creates

expectations regarding the possibility of reducing the violence associated with the armed

confrontation and the illicit activities of that group in border areas (Cabrera, 2016). Under

the previous premise, the " post-farcarización" leads to the appearance of empty spaces

where ungoverned territories where the FARC-EP was previously present tend to emerge

(Rabasa, et al., 2007). They are not, far from it, a kind of "Wild West" where only the

law of the jungle rules (Molano & Zarama, 2016). They are dysfunctional territories where

the State lacks any title to exercise basic functions, that is, the ungoverned territories

reflect the old problem of effective territorial sovereignty (Molano & Zarama, 2016) and

the contemporary view of the control of the said spaces by parastatal groups.

Certainly, the Colombian State has always had a problem to exercise control and affirm

its presence in some territories within the country, a difficulty that according to Margarita

Serge (2011) can be traced back to the colony period when they were treated as "wild

areas" related to smuggling, and nowadays as "red zones" where illicit activities such as

drug trafficking proliferate. In her words: Colombia appears as a fragmented country. A

series of private armies, guerrillas and paramilitary groups dispute the state's territorial

control. This situation is not, however, novel: the colonial State never managed to impose

its control over the entire territory of what is now Colombia [...] They have never ceased

to be "no man's land", "red zones" [...] ] (Serge, 2011: 15-18).

Based on the above, at first sight it would seem that the typology of "misgovernance" in

the border areas proliferates when determining their nature. Namely, volatile zones in

the configuration of the State, porosity areas due the natural conditions and adversities

due to the geography. Still, although it is true that the extreme areas of the country lack

institutional presence, the ungoverned territories can also exist in central areas and

centres of power in the country.

Consequently, while it is true that the lack of state presence over vast areas of the

territory, where armed actors are present and exercise power, is not a new phenomenon

and goes far back in time, we must also be aware that the demobilization of the FARC-

EP does not imply directly that the institutions will take those gaps that will remain after

the disarmament. In contrast, with the "post-farcarización", one must understand that

what will happen is a reconfiguration of the presence of actors outside the law (other

guerrillas, FARC dissidents, organized crime, emerging gangs, etc.) to fill those spaces.

In fact, this territorial displacement for the control of the zones has already begun to

occur. At the end of 2016, the United Nations Office for Human Rights warned the national

government that “as FARC members abandon areas traditionally under their control, the

State has not fully assumed its functions, leaving a power void", and, likewise, they

pointed out that 61 murders of social leaders took place during that year, mostly in rural

areas and after the signing of the final agreements (El Espectador, 2016).

On the other hand, the demobilization of the FARC-EP has not been absolute, which has

left spaces in the national territory at the mercy of middle chiefs, who are motivated to

remain illegal due to the income the activity generates. At the end of 2016, the FARC-EP

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

expelled five of its commanders

for being against the "political-military" stance of the

organization and opposing the peace process, motivated by the pursuit of individual

profits derived from illicit activities (El Espectador, 2016). Although the number of

dissidents calculated by the Ministry of Defence does not exceed 200 militias, the

implications in the national geography are worrisome, since much of the Amazon is under

control of these structures (which can no longer be considered FARC), specifically the

Departments of Guaviare, Vichada, Guainía and Meta (Semana Magazina, 2016).

However, the new panorama of power voids in the territory does not stop with

denunciations and dissent. In fact, prior to the UN alarms and the expulsion of FARC-EP

commanders, in 2015 the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation presented a report

entitled "What we have achieved", which presents the Violent Post-Conflict Risk Index

(done by the foundation), to "[...] identify municipalities that require greater attention in

post-conflict..." (Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, 2015: 57). This index takes into

account variables such as violence, social, geographic and institutional indicators, as well

as the presence of illegal mining, cocaine crops and rurality index, among others. The

results of this analysis are alarming: 87 municipalities are in "extreme vulnerability", 85

are at "High" level and 104 are at "Medium High" level (Peace and Reconciliation

Foundation, 2015: 61) (See Map 1).

Based on the fragmentation of the territory Serge emphasizes, and the absence of

institutional presence in the peripheral areas of the State, the commodification of violence

became a tradable good. In other words, violence in Colombia enters a subterranean

"production chain" in which illegal activities largely solve patterns of hostile behaviour

that occupy the empty spaces analyzed above.

The markets of violence, for Georg Elwet (1998), generally originate in non-economic

conflicts. This is the initial reason why the commodification of the phenomenon has a

certain level of attractiveness by taking advantage of institutional gaps and "black holes".

In fact, these markets shape fields of action and are circumscribed to physical spaces

where an economic dynamic predominates, dominated by players who use violence as a

resource to regulate it (Elwert, 2003).

Thus, situations where legal and illegal activities, such as mining or drug trafficking,

occur, become a strategic platform and a plausible breeding ground for the origin and

empowerment of these markets. One of the main characteristics of violence as a tradable

good is that it involves natural factors of extraction of resources without institutional

control. This scenario opens the door to irregular transactions that erode beyond the

environment to escalated social conflicts. Indeed, according to Michael Reed (2012), the

markets of violence create a system of durability, while the economic equation favours

those who control violence (Reed, 2012).

According to the above, given the lack of capacity and presence of the State, many agents

are willing to use violence as a tool to regulate the supply and demand of goods and

services (Reed, 2012), to stimulate social variables and to use violence as a

communication medium in an underground social contract.

The expelled commanders are: alias Gentil Duarte, Euclides Mora, John 40, Giovanny Chuspas and Julián

Chollo (El Espectador, 2016).

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

Map 1: Vulnerability Index in the Post-conflict of the Peace and Reconciliation

Foundation

Source: (Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, 2015: 61)

That is to say, the transformation of the scenarios linked to the armed conflict means

that contemporary violence is detached from the conflictive logic of the past decades to

act in circumstances that have to do with the empty spaces, misgovernments and

markets of violence. Although violence is not cancelled off by signing agreements, it does

mutate due to the traceability of violence when it acquires an economic component. This

violence is linked to the new actors that dispute the control of the dysfunctional territories

in the periphery and the centre, the commodification of violent exercise, and the increase

of public and urban security issues and problems. These are the neuralgic points of

Colomba’s reality that are keys to understanding post-conflict pragmatism.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

4. Conclusion

To draw attention to the transformations of Colombia after the overcoming of an episode

that marked the notion of a country for several decades is an eminent investment on the

construction of conceptual and terminological stages. The analysis of the variables of the

conflict in Colombia leads to the discovery of realities according to convergent and

divergent narratives. This article does not present the conflict as a stain in the history of

the country but as a necessary factor for the culmination of the construction of the nation

according to its definition.

Consequently, it should be noted that Colombia has been defined by a phenomenon and

a highly volatile actor that absorbed a good part of the political, economic, security,

social, and even psychological agenda of the State. In other words, Colombia was

"farcarizada" and, from that reality, Colombian history was interpreted, as well as the

dynamics of the conflict and the institutional responses.

This farcarización became the threshold and yardstick of the "things" that provided the

explanations about the national situation. Based on the above, what happened between

the Government and the FARC-EP, on the excuse of overcoming the armed conflict, has

opened a "Pandora's Box" according to the issues that the "post- farcarización" brings

with it. Colombia must begin to understand itself without "another" that defines it.

Thus, the aim of this article is to start the debate on the new security dynamics that are

beginning to emerge in Colombia, so that the adaptation of the State and society as a

whole to these new contexts is not a traumatic and violent step, and peaceful dialogue

in the future can be attained.

5. References

Angarita, P., Gallo, H., & Jiménez, B., et. al. (2015). La construcción del enemigo en el

conflicto armado colombiano 1998-2010. Medellín: Universidad de Antioquia.

Cabrera, I. (2016). Conflicto armado, criminalidad y violencia en la frontera colombo-

panameña: elementos críticos para buscar una transición. En A. Molano, Fronteras en

Colombia como zonas estratégicas: análisis y perspectivas (pág. 221). Bogotá: Konrad

Adenauer Stiftung - Instituto de Ciencia Política "Hernán Echavarría Olózaga".

Collier, P. (2004). El desafío global de los conflictos locales. The International Bank for

Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank, 39.

Oxford Dictionary. (22/05/2017). Diccionario de Oxford. Definition of Mutability:

https://es.oxforddictionaries.com/definicion/mutabilidad. Accessed 5 December 2017

Durkheim, E. (2001). Las reglas del método sociológico. Mexico D.C.: Fondo de Cultura

Económica.

El Espectador. (18 de mayo de 2016). “Un conflicto no termina hasta que sus causas no

estén solucionadas": sociologist Sam Richards. El Espectador. Retrived from

http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/paz/un-conflicto-no-termina-hasta-sus-causas-

no-esten-soluc-articulo-632904. Accessed 14 December 2017

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

El Espectador. (14 de Diciembre de 2016). Así son los cinco jefes de las Farc que se

declararon en disidencia. El Espectador. Retrived from

http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/judicial/asi-son-los-cinco-jefes-de-farc-se-

declararon-disidenci-articulo-670457. Accessed 12 March 2018.

El Espectador. (16 de Diciembre de 2016). ONU advierte de vacío de poder en zonas que

abandonan las Farc. El Espectador. Retrived from

http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/paz/onu-advierte-de-vacio-de-poder-zonas-

abandonan-farc-articulo-670697. Accessed 1 December 2017.

Elwert, G. (2003). Intervention on markets of violence. In J. Koehler, & C. Zürcher,

Potentials of Disorder: Explaining Conflict and Stability in the Caucasus and in the Former

Yugoslavia (pp. 219-242). Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Farc-Ep, G. d. (2016). Acuerdo Final de La Habana.

Fundación Paz y Reconciliación. (2015). Lo que hemos ganado. Bogotá: Fundación Paz y

Reconciliación. Retrived from http://www.pares.com.co/wp-

content/uploads/2015/02/Descargue-Informe-Completo.pdf. Accessed 29 January 2017

García, A. (25 de Mayo de 2017). La violencia ni se crea ni se destruye: Teoría general

de la violencia natural, política, social y doméstica. Retrieved from

http://perso.unifr.ch/derechopenal/assets/files/tribuna/tr_20080616_20.pdf

Gobierno de Colombia, F.-E. (2016). Acuerdo Final de La Habana. La Habana.

Hudson, H. (2011). La violencia de la construcción de la paz neoliberal en África:

analizando sus "trampas" a través de un lente de género. Relaciones Internacionales, 73.

López, M. (2011). Teorías para la paz y perspectivas ambientales del desarrollo como

diálogos de imperfectos. Luna Azul(33), 85-96. Retrieved from

http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=321727235008. Accessed 10 December 2017

Molano, A. (2016). Mercados de la violencia en el posconflicto colombiano: escolios a un

riesgo implícito. En C. Niño, Perspectivas y prospectivas de la seguridad en Colombia (p.

77). Bogotá: Ediciones USTA.

Molano, A., & Zarama, F. (2016). Fronteras: desgobernanza, sesibilidad y vulnerabilidad.

En A. Molano, Fronteras en Colombia como zonas estratégicas: análisis y perspectivas

(p. 19). Bogotá: Fundación Konrad Adenauer Stiftung - Instituto de Ciencia Política

Hernán Echavarría Olózaga.

Mouffe, C. (1999). El retorno de lo político. Comunidad, ciudadanía, pluralismo,

democracia radical. barcelona: Paidós.

Muñoz, F. (2004). Paz Imperfecta. In M. López, Enciclopedia de Paz y Conflictos (p.

1227). Granada: Editorial Universidad de Granada.

Niño, C. (2014). Sociedad posbélica: nuevas amenazas y oportunidades para Colombia.

Revista Fuerzas Armadas, 26-33.

Niño, C. (9 May 2016). Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica. Retrieved from El Salvador: armas

y violencia como servicios intercambiables: http://revistafal.com/el-salvador-armas-y-

violencia-como-servicios-intercambiables/. Accessed 2 January 2018

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 9, Nº. 2 (November 2018-April 2019), pp. 78-92

Colombia undergoing mutation:

from the concept of post-conflict to the pragmatismo of the conflict

César Augusto Niño González, Daniel Palma Álvarez

Niño, C. (2017). La sexta generación de la guerra: entre degeneraciones y violencias en

la seguridad internacional. En A. Castillo, & C. Niño, Nociones sobre Seguridad y Paz en

las Relaciones Internacionales Contemporáneas (p. 37). Bogotá: Ediciones USTA.

Palma, D. (2017). Definición del concepto de discurso político: algunas aproximaciones

teórico-prácticas. In Dulfary Calderón, Gina Enciso, & Claudia Árias (Comps.), Manual de

márketing político. Estrategias para una campaña existosa (pp. 53-73). Bogotá:

Universidad Santo Tomás.

Rabasa, Á., Boraz, S., Chalk, P., Cragin, K., Karasik, T., Moroney, J., et. al. (12 August

2007). Ungoverned territories: understanding and reducing terrorism risks. Retrieved

from RAND Corporation: http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG561. Accessed 11

February 2018

Reed, M. (13 de Mayo de 2012). Desarrollo minero y mercados de la violencia. Retrieved

from El Colombiano:

http://www.elcolombiano.com/historico/desarrollo_minero_y_mercados_de_violencia-

JVEC_181778. Accessed 7 January 2018

Revista Semana. (17 December e 2016). Los disidentes de las Farc. Revista Semana.

Retrieved from http://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/desercion-de-cinco-mandos-

medios-de-las-farc-en-el-guaviare/509760. Accessed 12 February 2018

Serge, M. (2011). El revés de la nación: territorios de salvajes, fronteras y tierras de

nadie. Bogotá: Universidad de los Andes.

Sola-Morales, S. (2014). Imaginarios sociales, procesos de identificación y comunicaciòn

mediática. Prisma.com(25), 3-22. Retrieved from

http://revistas.ua.pt/index.php/prismacom/article/view/3044/pdf_26. Accessed 12

December 2017

The Guardian. (3 June 2015). El Salvador's 'most violent month': homicide rate hits

record high in May. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/03/el-

salvador-homicide-killings-gangs. Accessed 23 January 2018

Waldmann, P. (1999). Sobre la asimetría existente entre la dinámica de la violencia y la

dinámica de la paz utilizando como ejemplo las guerras civiles. Eguzkilore: Cuaderno

del Instituto Vasco de Criminología (13), 201.