An approach to illegality, organized and state absence in the Colombian - Venezuelan border crime. The case of the department of La Guajira in Colombia

A Political Ecology of Food Security in La Guajira, Colombia

“…As the Colombian state started with little respect among the Wayuu and has largely failed to provide any form of income or food aid, it has naturally garnered little additional legitimacy (Zuñiga Hernández, 2015). Trejos and Cediel (2014) argue that this lack of state legitimacy among the inhabitants of La Guajira as a result of a lack of infrastructure and welfare investment is just as important a cause of violence in the region as a lack of state capability, a symptom of this lack of investment. Using an economic analogy, as politics and economics are intimately connected, the authors argue that by failing provide sufficient infrastructure and welfare, the Colombian state failed to monopolize the "violence market," leaving the door open for paramilitaries, guerillas, and other extrajudicial armed actors (p. 139).…”

“…The lack of state control in the region led to the development of a complex contraband economy centered around Riohacha which had existed since the pre-Columbian era and included both direct local trade and the transit of goods through the nearby city of Valledupar for distribution to the Andean region (Trejos and Cediel, 2014). Commodities such as pearls were traded from La Guajira in exchange for daily essentials such as rice and fabric.…”

“…When the Colombian conflict escalated in the mid-1970s with the end of the bipartisan National Front government, La Guajira became a hotbed of left-wing guerilla groups and later on, the brutal right-wing paramilitaries that opposed them. Paramilitaries, guerillas, and American businessmen all saw the lawless frontier of La Guajira as a perfect region in which to grow and transport the marijuana and cocaine that financed their violent adventures (Trejos and Cediel, 2014). As the region gradually became more integrated with the global economy in the mid to late 20th century, multinational corporations moved in to extract the region's coal, decimating Wayuu livelihoods (Forero Lloreda et al, 2017).…”

Fronteras: Espacios de sociabilidad en la Santa Marta de mediados del XVIII en Colombia

“…Particularmente Mompox estaba ubicada en una posición estratégica para el comercio formal e informal, dado que era paso obligado para quienes traían maderas, resinas, oro, plata, pieles, del sur del virreinato a los puertos del Mar Caribe para su exportación o comercialización. También era el cruce por donde pasaban las mercancías que entraban legalmente por los puertos autorizados en la época, Santa Marta, Cartagena, Portobelo; pero también de contrabando de los ingleses y holandeses por Riohacha hacia el sur (Trejos y Luquetta, 2014). Dice Salzedo del Villar (1987) que Mompox logró adquirir un estatus comercial convirtiéndose en el núcleo comercial de la provincia (Herrera, 2002) "Su comercio era considerable y activo; no errando en decir que era la segunda plaza comercial de la Colonia" (p. 75).…”