Abstract

GUTIERREZ SANIN, Francisco. A special relationship: Privatization of security, vulnerable elites and political system in Colombia (1982-2002). Estud. Socio-Juríd [online]. 2012, vol.14, n.1, pp.97-134. ISSN 0124-0579.

In the decades from 1982 to 2002 Colombia had been consolidating itself as a democratic state. However, during this time period the paramilitaries brought about one of the most severe rounds of homicidal violence in the country. In the face of this undoubted reality, several hypothesis are put forward to explain this paradox: a) Colombia is not a democracy, but a terrorist regime that wipes out the opposition in order to maintain a top-down system of exclusions; b) The Colombian institutions are yet another victim of the paramilitary violence; and c) the paramilitary phenomenon is due to the insurgency of local and regional elites against peace processes promoted from the top. The first two are clearly questionable. The third is insufficient in terms of identifying the role of decision-makers at the central level, both in the government and in the political system, in the evolution and surge of the paramilitary phenomenon. This article evaluates the three hypotheses and analyzes, based on official documents and press reports from the time, the scope of paramilitary activity in the years between 1982-2002, from the perspective of the role played by Colombian democracy and its institutions, since - contrary to the official discourse of the governments, that for over 30 years have claimed that they have suffered the penetration and aggression of the paramilitaries hand in hand with "bad apples" or "isolated cases"- the paramilitary phenomenon in Colombia in this time period enjoyed a special status that was publicly promoted by centrist politicians, in a matter-of-fact and conciliatory manner, prompted by the pressures of key sectors of the political system and the country's vulnerable elites.

Keywords : vulnerable elites; democracy; privatization of security; political system.

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