Drug-Trafficking in Colombia: The New Civil War against Democracy and Peacebuilding

Abstract

Drug-trafficking in Colombia has been a widely researched phenomenon, especially now, as the country undergoes a transition process with its oldest guerrilla. Now more than ever it is fundamental to examine how drug-trafficking organization’s violent activities affect the consolidation of peace. This article considers different approaches to study violence derived from drug-trafficking, in order to advance towards the objectives of transitional justice. For that matter, this work is based on the idea that drug-trafficking directly generates and reproduces violence which is fueled by the structural violence present in the Colombian context. My thesis supports that this phenomenon deters non-repetition guarantees and weakens democracy, which is why, I will develop three main arguments that will revolve around the lack of consensus, and the implications of: considering drug wars as civil wars, how decisions related to the conceptual apprehension limits the competence of international humanitarian law, and the need for holistic strategies capable of facing drug-trafficking’s political and violent power. Later, alternatives will be explored around the possibilities that each argument offers, as well as which aspects could contribute to a more appropriate approach to combat drug-trafficking. Lastly, I will defend why implementing bottom-up oriented actions can advance towards transitional justice’s intermediate and final objectives, as it is the only alternative that escapes fatalist, utopian or interventionist scenarios.