Juan Albarracín is assistant professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) focusing on political order, political and criminal violence, criminal governance, and electoral politics.
The Brazilian Amazon is a dangerous place for social activists, particularly those who fight for land rights and environmental protection. In our recent study, published in the Journal of Peace Research, we find that high levels of deforestation are strongly linked to the assassination of activists. We argue that this is due to the highly territorialized nature of this criminal practice, which involves dispossessing local communities of their land. This violence is driven by local criminalpolitical networks protecting illegal profits as well as local authoritarian orders underpinning them. It poses serious threats to local civic spaces, democratic participation, and environmental protection.
Ever since the conclusion of the peace deal between the Colombian government and FARC guerrilla in late 2016, the number of social leaders murdered has risen sharply – something that even the latest developments surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic have had little bearing on. These acts of violence are frequently attributed to the presence of armed non-state actors and their fight for control over illegal economies. And yet, the situation has an unmistakably political side to it, reflecting the very modus operandi of local authoritarian orders in Colombia. For counterstrategies to be developed, it is crucial to acknowledge the political logic behind the violence.
Seit dem Abschluss des Friedensabkommens zwischen der kolumbianischen Regierung und der FARC-Guerrilla Ende 2016 sind die Morde an sozialen Aktivist*innen deutlich angestiegen. Daran hat sich auch unter den Bedingungen der COVID-19-Pandemie nichts geändert. Häufig wird diese Gewalt allein auf die Präsenz bewaffneter, nichtstaatlicher Akteure und deren Kampf um die Kontrolle illegaler Ökonomien zurückgeführt. Sie hat aber zugleich eine dezidiert politische Seite und spiegelt konkret die Funktionsweise lokaler autoritärer Ordnungen in Kolumbien. Diese politische Logik anzuerkennen, ist wichtig, um Gegenstrategien zu entwickeln.
