Colombia’s democracy has been on a decline for quite some time now. Evidence of democratic backsliding can be seen through acts of violence within the state, human rights abuses, and drug trafficking. Over time, these factors have eroded those values that are inherent to democracy, and in turn Colombia has become less democratic and more authoritarian. I think it is important to note that these factors led to serious outcomes in Colombia over many years that have seriously affected the well-being of Colombia and its citizens. When a state begins to lose its democratic values, its people begin to lose their rights.
According to Freedom House, “Colombia is among the longest-standing democracies in Latin America, but one with a history of widespread violence and serious human rights abuses”. [MJB1] There are a few major contributors to this violence and abuse. For one, the FARC, otherwise known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, has played a major role in the violence that is seen in Colombia. The FARC is a guerilla army in Colombia that was founded in 1962 by Manuel Marulanda and Jacobo Arenas to represent the rural population after the civil war of 1948 to 1958. According to Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, the FARC’s original plan was “to overthrow the government, and it financed its operations through the drug trade, kidnapping, extortion, and illegal gold mining.” For years, many people have viewed the FARC as a terrorist group, even the Colombian government has viewed it as such and yet in 2016, the FARC became a legitimate political party. The Colombian government decided to sign a peace agreement with the FARC that would make them disarm and demobilize their troops and in turn, they would be recognized as a legitimate political party in the state known as the Revolutionary Alternative Common Force. There are still some FARC members that have no disarmed or demobilized, which obviously continues to pose a threat for Colombians.
Human rights abuses are another prevalent issue in Colombia. Colombia’s human rights have suffered greatly in part because of the FARC’s actions. Even Amnesty International has recognized it as “the most dangerous country in the world for those who defend human rights”. Troops that have not demobilized nor disarmed continue to terrorize innocent civilians. According to Human Rights Watch “FARC dissident groups have committed serious abuses, including murder, child recruitment, and forced displacement” in the southern state of Cauca and most recently since ethe pandemic began, they have even also “imposed their own measures to slow the spread of Covid-19, including lockdowns, and threatened, attacked, and killed some for allegedly not complying.”
The FARC is clearly still a problem and an active terrorist group in Colombia. The fact that they were able to become a political party serves as proof that Colombia’s democracy has been deteriorating for a while now. Controlling this terrorist group should have been a main concern for Colombia and legitimizing them by making them a political party simply gives the more power. Most notably in May of 2021, Ivan Duque proposed a tax reform [MJB2] that he claimed would help Colombia’s economy, since they supposedly had no money during the pandemic. The true cause of the shortage of money is due to rampant corruption by state officials. This reform would tax the working and middle class 19% on services such as water, gas, electricity, internet, and sewerage and essentials such as meat, fish, milk, eggs, cheese, gasoline, medications, tampons, books, and rice. The reform would impose new income tax on people who earn more than the equivalent of $700 USD a month. However, the minimum salary in Colombia is only $260 USD a month. Colombia’s economy was already suffering from a harsh blow from the pandemic which led the unemployment rate to increase to more than 14%. Poverty, hunger, and economic devastation were widespread across the state. Colombian citizens were rightfully outraged by this tax reform and took to the streets to protest.
Colombia has a well-known and long history of drug trafficking, which can lead to corruption in a state[MJB3] . Drug traffickers in Colombia specifically have been known to pay off people in a position of power, which corrupts those institutions that are set in place to ensure that democratic values are upheld. Drugs lead to a loss in productivity in the economy and high costs for healthcare because people seek medical treatment for drug related medical consequences.
Colombia’s democracy has largely because of its high level of crimes like murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping, corruption, and domestic violence. The state’s history has played a huge role its present-day state and while it is possible for things to turn around- it is simply a matter of having the right institutions set in place to promote and protect values of democracy.
Works Cited
“Colombia Archives.” Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/americas/south-america/colombia/.
“Colombia: Country Profile.” Freedom House, https://freedomhouse.org/country/colombia.
Daniel Payares-Montoya | April 29, 2021Click to read this article in Spanish Click to read this article in English. “Mission Impossible? A Look at Colombia’s Proposed Tax Reform.” Global Americans, 30 Apr. 2021, https://theglobalamericans.org/2021/04/mission-impossible-a-look-at-colombias-proposed-tax-reform/.
“MMP: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).” FSI, https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/revolutionary-armed-forces-colombia-farc.
Muchow, Francesca, et al. Drug Cartels and the Colombian Economy. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/24636/muchow_urs_2019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
“World Report 2021: Rights Trends in Colombia.” Human Rights Watch, 13 Jan. 2021, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/colombia.
[MJB1]Include this link as a hyperlink, like on the word “Freedom House”
[MJB2]cite
Colombia’s democracy has been on a decline for quite some time now. Evidence of democratic backsliding can be seen through acts of violence within the state, human rights abuses, and drug trafficking. Over time, these factors have eroded those values that are inherent to democracy, and in turn Colombia has become less democratic and more authoritarian. I think it is important to note that these factors led to serious outcomes in Colombia over many years that have seriously affected the well-being of Colombia and its citizens. When a state begins to lose its democratic values, its people begin to lose their rights.
According to Freedom House, “Colombia is among the longest-standing democracies in Latin America, but one with a history of widespread violence and serious human rights abuses”. [MJB1] There are a few major contributors to this violence and abuse. For one, the FARC, otherwise known as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, has played a major role in the violence that is seen in Colombia. The FARC is a guerilla army in Colombia that was founded in 1962 by Manuel Marulanda and Jacobo Arenas to represent the rural population after the civil war of 1948 to 1958. According to Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, the FARC’s original plan was “to overthrow the government, and it financed its operations through the drug trade, kidnapping, extortion, and illegal gold mining.” For years, many people have viewed the FARC as a terrorist group, even the Colombian government has viewed it as such and yet in 2016, the FARC became a legitimate political party. The Colombian government decided to sign a peace agreement with the FARC that would make them disarm and demobilize their troops and in turn, they would be recognized as a legitimate political party in the state known as the Revolutionary Alternative Common Force. There are still some FARC members that have no disarmed or demobilized, which obviously continues to pose a threat for Colombians.
Human rights abuses are another prevalent issue in Colombia. Colombia’s human rights have suffered greatly in part because of the FARC’s actions. Even Amnesty International has recognized it as “the most dangerous country in the world for those who defend human rights”. Troops that have not demobilized nor disarmed continue to terrorize innocent civilians. According to Human Rights Watch “FARC dissident groups have committed serious abuses, including murder, child recruitment, and forced displacement” in the southern state of Cauca and most recently since ethe pandemic began, they have even also “imposed their own measures to slow the spread of Covid-19, including lockdowns, and threatened, attacked, and killed some for allegedly not complying.”
The FARC is clearly still a problem and an active terrorist group in Colombia. The fact that they were able to become a political party serves as proof that Colombia’s democracy has been deteriorating for a while now. Controlling this terrorist group should have been a main concern for Colombia and legitimizing them by making them a political party simply gives the more power. Most notably in May of 2021, Ivan Duque proposed a tax reform [MJB2] that he claimed would help Colombia’s economy, since they supposedly had no money during the pandemic. The true cause of the shortage of money is due to rampant corruption by state officials. This reform would tax the working and middle class 19% on services such as water, gas, electricity, internet, and sewerage and essentials such as meat, fish, milk, eggs, cheese, gasoline, medications, tampons, books, and rice. The reform would impose new income tax on people who earn more than the equivalent of $700 USD a month. However, the minimum salary in Colombia is only $260 USD a month. Colombia’s economy was already suffering from a harsh blow from the pandemic which led the unemployment rate to increase to more than 14%. Poverty, hunger, and economic devastation were widespread across the state. Colombian citizens were rightfully outraged by this tax reform and took to the streets to protest.
Colombia has a well-known and long history of drug trafficking, which can lead to corruption in a state[MJB3] . Drug traffickers in Colombia specifically have been known to pay off people in a position of power, which corrupts those institutions that are set in place to ensure that democratic values are upheld. Drugs lead to a loss in productivity in the economy and high costs for healthcare because people seek medical treatment for drug related medical consequences.
Colombia’s democracy has largely because of its high level of crimes like murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping, corruption, and domestic violence. The state’s history has played a huge role its present-day state and while it is possible for things to turn around- it is simply a matter of having the right institutions set in place to promote and protect values of democracy.
Works Cited
“Colombia Archives.” Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/americas/south-america/colombia/.
“Colombia: Country Profile.” Freedom House, https://freedomhouse.org/country/colombia.
Daniel Payares-Montoya | April 29, 2021Click to read this article in Spanish Click to read this article in English. “Mission Impossible? A Look at Colombia’s Proposed Tax Reform.” Global Americans, 30 Apr. 2021, https://theglobalamericans.org/2021/04/mission-impossible-a-look-at-colombias-proposed-tax-reform/.
“MMP: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).” FSI, https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/revolutionary-armed-forces-colombia-farc.
Muchow, Francesca, et al. Drug Cartels and the Colombian Economy. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/24636/muchow_urs_2019.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
“World Report 2021: Rights Trends in Colombia.” Human Rights Watch, 13 Jan. 2021, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/colombia.
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