According to the ‘rebels-turned-narcos’ premise, increasing involvement in the illicit drug industry causes insurgent groups to lose sight of their political aims, as they shift their focus to profit-making. The (former) Colombian rebel group, the FARC-EP, became a paragon for this idea. Drawing on primary research, we argue that the FARC-EP’s involvement in the illicit drug economy was itself political. Their involvement included governance activities, which are by their very nature political. Furthermore, these activities formed part of the FARC-EP’s political project, aimed at ensuring the reproduction of the peasant smallholder economy. Our argument challenges the rebels-turned-narcos premise more broadly by showing why involvement in the illicit drug economy, on its own, is insufficient evidence to posit the depoliticization of an insurgent group.
CITATION STYLE
Gutiérrez D, J. A., & Thomson, F. (2020). Rebels-Turned-Narcos? The FARC-EP’s Political Involvement in Colombia’s Cocaine Economy. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 26–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2020.1793456
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