Colombia’s Neoliberal Regime of Governance: Securitization by Dispossession

Abstract

In contrast to many of the countries discussed in this volume, contemporary Colombia can hardly be viewed as a “post” neoliberal regime. The case of Colombia thus provides a useful corrective to the idea that all of Latin America is turning to the left, and indicates the complexity of current trends in the hemisphere. The current president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, has not continued with neoliberalism in the same manner as his predecessors; as both his critics and followers admit, he has transformed the way Colombians are governed with important consequences for the future, not all of which are positive. In the first place, President Alvaro Uribe has transformed the perceived relationship between the economy and politics. Contrary to the widely held belief that changes in the prevailing economic model are necessary to solve the structural conditions of poverty and inequality, Uribe has advanced the idea that conflict was the direct cause, not the consequence, of lack of economic progress. His “democratic security policy” is based on the notion that the elimination of conflict is a precondition for economic prosperity: