SUMMARY
Colombia has been a democratic state for most of the period since 1830 even though the political contest between the liberal and conservative parties occasionally have led to violence. The country experienced a short-lived military dictatorship 1953-58, while the country in the ensuing 16 years was ruled by a coalition of liberals and conservatives. Since 1958, the military has not shown any intentions of intervening in the political process. Even though Colombian presidents have pursued different policies in handling the ongoing conflict, the military has been the prime actor responsible for developing and implementing the strategy on-the-ground.
After the turbulent period of “La Violencia” in Colombia 1948-58, the Colombian military started to implement a new counterinsurgency strategy, influenced by US advisors. This strategy included the creation of armed civilian units in “civil defense”, “self-defense”, or “population organization operations”. During military operations, it was possible to declare a “state of siege” which limited civilian oversight of the army, and it was legal for the military to freely distribute arms to and co-operate with paramilitary groups during 1965-1989. In the early 1980s, this policy encouraged landowners, drug lords, local businessmen, and authorities to create a large number of paramilitary groups, which were given training and weaponry from the army. The connections between parts of the army intelligence and the paramilitary groups were further strengthened in meetings 1986-87 when joint norms, structures, and tactics were discussed.
Following reports of severe human rights abuses by the Colombian military and the paramilitary groups, the “self-defence” groups were declared illegal in 1989. Even in the period that followed, some parts of the military as well as some elite units of the Colombian police maintained close links with paramilitary groups. The Government of Colombia has since been more willing to investigate claims of human rights abuses from state agents, and it seems like most of the attacks on civilians have been instigated by local commanders rather than government policy.
The government of Colombia has been involved in the intra-state and one-sided categories of UCDP organised violence.
