!"# $%&'%& ()"%%$ %* #)%&%+,)( -&' .%$,!,)-$ (),#&)# P-/-+,$,!-/0 P%1#/ -&' “P-/-.%$,!,)(”: S23&-!,%&-$ P-!!#/&( %* C/,+,&-$,4-!,%& %* P%$,!,),-&( -&' P%$,!,),4-!,%& %* C/,+,&-$( ,& C%$%+3,- M-/,-&- E()%3-/ A/-&5% A!"#(,( (23+,!!#' !% !"# D#.-/!+#&! %* G%6#/&+#&! %* !"# L%&'%& S)"%%$ %* E)%&%+,)( *%/ !"# '#5/## %* D%)!%/ %* P",$%(%."0,N%6#+3#/ 789: DECLARATION I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the Lon- don School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior writ- ten consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of !",#$! words. (!-!#+#&! %* 2(# %* !",/' .-/!0 *%/ #',!%/,-$ "#$. I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and gram- mar by Stefan Bauchowitz. % “Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead”. G.K. Chesterton INMEMORIAM ToRogelio Martinez, a peasant leader from Sucre assassinated on the %"th of May #&%& in San Onofre, who became my greatest support and friend during my fieldwork in Sucre in #&&!. Tomy dearest friend Josué Giraldo Cardona, Unión Patriótica leader, assassinated by paramil- itaries in Meta department on the %$th of October %!!'. To Mía, my grandmother and greatest woman I have ever met. $ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS irst and foremost I thank this wonderful place called Colombia, with its gruelling concoc- F tion of heaven and hell. Although this PhD thesis is the result of a painful journey upon which hundreds of thousands of people were sacrificed, it is also the product of a country that struggles to become the very best kind of it. I am indebted to all the dead and survivors in this road. I wish to express my gratitude to my exceptional supervisor John T. Sidel. It has been an honour to be his PhD student. He has taught me how the very best qualitative research is done. I appreciate all his contributions of time, ideas, and patience to make my PhD experience productive, stimulating and possible. I am mostly thankful for his unflagging encouragement and for giving me great freedom to pursue independent and committed research work. I gratefully acknowledge the support of those who made my fieldwork possible: the people from the Red Montemariana and Father Rafael del Castillo in Sucre; Víctor Bautista and Rafael Oviedo in Norte de Santander, and all the interviewed people who opened their hearts and minds to make this research possible and with a balanced approach. I am thankful to my funding source, the Colombian government’s National Planning Depart- ment, which made my PhD work possible. One of the joys of completion is to look over the journey past and remember all the friends and family who helped and supported me. I am grateful for my Colombian soul mates Pao and Santi, Mona and Sergio, Cata and Nico, Mauri and Francesca, Carito, Javi, Rafa, Cha, and my “patrón” Roberto Angulo. And Y.He knows why (or not). My time at the LSE was made wonderful due to the extraordinary people I met in London: my Mendocino angel Evelina Bertranou; José Olivas-Osuna, Mariana Dates, Victoria and Martín Olivas-Dates; Nicolás Pergola; my dearest friend and wonderful editor Stefan Bauchowitz; Mike Seiferling, Max Hänska-Ahy, His Excellency Edgar Ciceño, Thomas Alexander David Gaisford a.k.a. Tomatito, Jetty van Ossenbruggen, Antik, Annie Bird, Eric Woods, Ninfa Fuentes, Lila Caballero and Jack Cattell, David Marshall, Sarah McLaughlin, Johannes Wol(, Vassilis Paipais, Milena Torciano and Fabiano Continanza. This thesis belongs to the Escobar Arango family. It is a combination of the good, the human and the love of my mother’s joy of life and Ovid dreams; of my father’s symphonies and bebops, and my brother Andrés’ Alexandrian libraries and rock ecstasies. Words cannot express how grateful I also am with María T, Solita, and Magdalena. This thesis is dedicated to Pedro and Miguel, my bigger than life nephews. ) ABSTRACT The phenomenon of corruption in the context of civil wars is of increasing interest in schol- arly literature. Colombia exhibits a particular case in which right-wing paramilitaries from the United Self-Defence of Colombia, strongly supported in drug tra*cking activities, col- luded with local politicians and captured the subnational state in many a region, under a phenomenon known as “parapolitics” or the politics of paramilitaries. Unlike the latest gen- eration of armed conflicts in which warlords have sought to deconstruct the state, Colom- bian paramilitaries levered their strategic interests within the existing institutional framework, backed by local political elites and authorities, and pivoted on patron-client ties. In the context of these alliances, paramilitaries provided politicians with a violent muscle meant to protect electoral processes and maximize votes. In return, politicians protected paramilitary activ- ities and represented the Self- Defence warlords in Congress in order to feed their political, judicial and economic domains. By elucidating the nature of “parapolitics” and by addressing the question of why (condi- tions), how (mechanisms) and to what purpose (ultimate goal) did the phenomenon emerge in Colombia, I examine in subnational comparative perspective the cases of Sucre and Norte de Santander departments. By building causal paths in historical perspective I substantiate parapolitics in the selected cases as well as variations in the processes and outcomes thereof. Although the cases do not represent the whole universe of “parapolitics”, causal paths help building explanatory frameworks that may be generalizable to a larger universe of similar cases. + CONTENTS ,&!/%'2)!,%& %) Research questions: a conceptual approach to parapolitics . %! Parapolitics and Available Literature . #& Filling the Gaps . #+ Methodological approach . $% Method . $% Case selection . $# Causal paths . $$ Data and field research . $) Structure of the thesis . $) 9 #$2),'-!,&5 !"# /%-'( !% .-/-.%$,!,)(:!"# -&-$0!,)-$ ;#0( $+ Subnational cleavages in the state formation process . $' The relative weakness of the state . $! The changes in the opportunity structure of the state . )% Widening the political spectrum . )$ Increasing local autonomy . )) Economic liberalization . )' The endogenous connection of drug tra*c with the internal armed conflict . )" Fragmentation, de-institutionalization and criminalization . )! 7 !"# #&5,&##/,&5 %* .-/-.%$,!,)( +$ Preferences, Opportunities and Possibilities of Warlords . +) The Arrangements of Parapolitics . +! Arrangements with political predominance . +! Foundational pacts and co-governance alliances . +! Point alliances for electoral purposes . '+ Arrangements with economic predominance . '' Drug tra*c and money laundering . ', Public budgets and contracts . '" Rural land . ,& The geographic and partisan distribution of parapolitics . ,% The Uribista coalition and parapolitics in Congress . ,$ The capture of local o*ce........................... ,, : !"# 3-$-&)# %* .-/-.%$,!,)( ,! The investigation of parapolitics . ,! The demobilization process and the transitional justice system . "# ' )%&!#&!( Eliminating political status as a condition for signing peace agreements . "# Demobilization and disarmament . "$ Justice and Peace Law (JPL) . ") The breach of trust and extradition: the reversal of parapolitics . "+ Extradition . "+ What came next? . "' Re-emerging structures: the recycling of the AUC? . "' The survival of parapoliticians by the means of intermediaries . ", < !"# -2!"%/,!-/,-& (23&-!,%&-$ (!-!#:- 5#&#/-$ 3-);5/%2&' *%/ !"# )-(# %* (2)/# !& Basic characterization . !# State formation, creation of political parties and the nature of early politics . !" The opening of the internal frontier and the first wave of colonization . %&) From tradional forms of clientelism to machine politics . %&' Inequality, social conflict and the failure of the agriarian reform . %&" The failure of the social movement . %%# The failure of the social movement and the rise of machine politics . %%# Money politics . %%+ The rise of the García house . %%' Political atomization and the dominance of the García house . %#% The intensification of the internal conflict . %#) = !"# )-.!2/# %* !"# (!-!# ,& (2)/#:-$$ -3%2! .%$,!,)( %#" The strategic value of Sucre’s territory . %$& The building of the criminal enterprise . %$# The creation and financing of AUC structures (%!!,–#&&%)..........%$# Counter-insurgent campaigns: the weakening of guerrillas and the cre- ation of geographies of terror . %$' The infiltration of security agencies . %)& The accumulation logic of the AUC . %)% Politics . %)$ The consolidation of the AUC and its inclusion in the subnational ruling coali- tion (#&&#–#&&')............................%)+ The electoral performance of García and Merlano houses . %)' San Onofre: the recipe for success . %+% The co-government of warlords . %+$ The social front for peace: crisis and shift in the AUC strategy . %+' Unveiling the criminal enterprise . %'& The shift in key agencies at the subnational level . %'& The Attorney General’s O*ce and the Supreme Court