In the Colombian-Venezuelan borderlands, the reconfiguration of armed group presence and mass migration create and reinforce conditions of high violence and risk. Against this backdrop, we ask: What are the gendered security implications of the double crisis in the borderlands? Based on fieldwork in four regions along the border, this article argues that the border effect is gendered; the very factors that coalesce to produce this effect exacerbate existing gendered power dynamics, particularly as these relate to gender-based violence. Accordingly, this article demonstrates the specific ways in which the borderas a facilitator, deterrent, magnet, and/or disguisereinforces experiences of gendered insecurity in this region. The article finishes by outlining the implications for other international borderland settings.

This article explores the outcomes of the peace initiatives of two Colombian borderland communities: Samaniego and Las Mercedes. Both attempted to persuade armed actors to abide by certain rules in their territories, yet the community of Samaniego was more effective than that of Las Mercedes. We use data from fieldwork, including interviews, observation and documents, and secondary literature, to compare the two initiatives. We argue that, despite similar regional circumstances, including the presence of multiple armed actors and the strategic importance of both territories for drug cultivation and trafficking, the outcomes differed for three reasons: first, the distinct characteristics of the civil resistance movements, including the levels of participation, cohesion and the type of leadership; second, the differing nature of the relationship of each community with armed actors; third, the role of external actors. Further, we found that national peace processes can catalyse local peace efforts.

the Colombian leftist rebel group National Liberation Army (ELN) imposed a month-long unilateral ceasefire as a reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic. This came after the Colombian Ministry of Health and Social Protection confirmed the first Covid-19 case in the country in early March. Still in March, one of our civil society informants in the remote region of Catatumbo, located at the border to Venezuela, sent us a picture of a pamphlet issued by Colombia's largest active rebel group. It announced severe "revolutionary punishment" to anyone resisting to the curfew the rebel group imposed, purportedly to contain the spread of the virus. Although this partic-abstract In Colombia's borderlands, the Covid-19 pandemic adds a third dimension to the double crisis of continued insecurity rooted in Colombia's ongoing armed conflict and the humanitarian emergency triggered by Venezuelan mass migration. Exacerbated through the border effect, the Colombian government's border closure and armed groups seeking to capitalize on growing uncertainty pose a severe risk to the country's peace agreement, regional stability, and hemispheric security.