Working Paper No.27. Criminal Rebels? A discussion of war and criminality from the Colombian experience.

From:
Department for International Development
Published
1 January 2003
Country:
Colombia
Document Type:
Working Paper
Theme:
Governance and Conflict
Authors:
Francisco Gutiérrez Sanín

Abstract

The Colombian conflict seems to be a typical instance of a 'greedy war', and exhibits very strong links between criminal activities and rebel organisations. Against this, Guitérrez suggests that not even in Colombia does Collier's 'criminal rebels' thesis hold, with the Colombian case showing that criminality and war mix in ways that escape a strictly economic interpretation of war. Analysing the experience of the two leading Colombian guerrilla armies (FARC and ELN), he demonstrates the need for a different framework for the understanding of wars waged by non- (or not strictly) materialistic soldiers.

Citation

Gutiérrez Sanín, F., Criminal Rebels? A discussion of war and criminality from the Colombian experience, Working Paper No.27 (series 1), 2003, London, UK; Crisis States Research Centre, 28 pp.

Working Paper No.27. Criminal Rebels? A discussion of war and criminality from the Colombian experience.

Published 1 January 2003
Contents