Abstract

CALLE ALZATE, Laura. Businesses, Economic Resources, and Indigenous Governments: An Approach to the Study of Clientelistic Networks in an Indigenous Reserve of the Colombian High Plain. univ.humanist. [online]. 2017, n.84, pp.171-199. ISSN 0120-4807.  https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.uh84.ereg.

This paper intends to illustrate some of the effects that derive from the presence of national and international companies engaged in the extraction of raw materials and agroindustry work on the internal political relationships of an indigenous territory, based on the results of the ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Wacoyo reserve. The presence of these companies has had significant impacts on the internal political dynamics of indigenous peoples living in the municipality, weakening and fragmenting communities and their governments. Particularly, this paper exposes how these resources have become the new economic base that feeds clientelistic networks in indigenous communities, and how it causes political tension and disputes between indigenous comuneros and leaders. It begins by describing how a new development model was imposed in the region, and later explains how clientelistic networks work in regions and communities.

Keywords : Sikuani; high plain; clientelism; extractive-export model; indigenous people.

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