The violent process of State formation during the beginnings of the National Front in Tolima, Colombia

Abstract

The anthropology of the State, using the concepts of the subaltern and postcolonial studies, understands the State from a constructivist and performative perspective. It moves away from the idea that the Western Nation-State is a universal example that other human societies should emulate. Thus, anthropologists of the State do not examine it as a prefigured or predefined object; instead, they analyze the continual process of its formation. The delimitation between the State and civil society is one of the most important aspects of the formation of the former. The constitution of a legitimate State with respect to a particular civil society may occur in a peaceful manner through elections, popular consultation, and parliamentary debates or through the demands of social movements, if they are taken into account by the government. However, the processes of State formation are often violent and involve the use of physical violence on the part of para-state groups, and anti-state actors in the area of State force and power. Using the concepts of the anthropology of the State, this article analyzes the violent processes of State formation during the first governments of the National Front in the department of Tolima, Colombia. Based on written sources from various archives, in addition to periodicals, court records, and memoranda of the Government, the article investigates the armed struggles against the political opposition of the left in Tolima and border zones. It shows that liberal and conservative governments —in spite of their intent to pacify the country and formally maintain a democratic character— did not renounce irregular groups, with the goal of causing the State to “exist” at its margins. In both directly and indirectly making use of groups of liberal ex-guerrillas to defend the political system of the period, the violent processes of formation of the State were perpetuated into the present.

Keywords

• formación violenta del Estado
• grupos paraestatales
• guerra civil
• orígenes de las guerrillas comunistas
• violencia política.