The Fatal Attraction of Civil War: Violence and the Oil Sector in Arauca

Abstract

With an appreciation that neither civil war nor development are spread uniformly across countries, this chapter provides a regional case study of violence and development in Colombia. This chapter focuses on the links between political violence, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and international trade. By analysing Colombia’s petroleum industry, the sector that attracts the majority of FDI in Colombia compared to other sectors and is one of Colombia’s largest exports markets, Chap. 3 provides a regional case study of Arauca, an oil rich region of the country. The evidence indicates that military/paramilitary violence has facilitated the expansion of Arauca’s oil sector by protecting oil infrastructure, by clearing land for oil exploration and by targeting civilian groups deemed inimical to the interests of the oil industry.