Yes but No: Havana Peace Agreement’s Ambiguous Sway on Colombia’s Rural Development Policy by Andrés García Trujillo A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Global Governance Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2018 © Andrés García Trujillo Examining Committee Membership The following served on the Examining Committee for this thesis. The decision of the Examining Committee is by majority vote. External Examiner Cristina Rojas Professor, Carleton University Supervisor Jennifer Clapp Professor, University of Waterloo Internal-external Member Reina Neufeldt Professor, University of Waterloo Other Member(s) Yasmine Shamsie Professor, University of Wilfrid Laurier Derek Hall Professor, University of Wilfrid Laurier ii Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. iii Abstract On 24 November 2016, the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed a peace accord to end a six-decade war. One of the items included in the accord was the Comprehensive Rural Reform (CRR), an agreement laying out substantive measures on rural development aimed at improving land access, public goods provision and peasant’s agricultural supports. This thesis explores whether negotiated transitions can serve to enact distributive rural change through an in-depth examination of the relationship between Colombia’s rural development policy and the peace accord. It traces the antecedents, negotiation and early implementation of the CRR. The thesis draws from my direct involvement in the peace process as a government advisor and three years of fieldwork in Bogotá. In order to explain both the CRR’s emergence and the reasons for its ambivalent effect on policy, the thesis develops a framework that weaves together insights from three strands of literature – agrarian political economy, peace implementation and institutional change. By connecting global economic trends, emerging norms, and domestic political dynamics, this framework enables an analysis that captures how the exceptional circumstances of the transition in Colombia influenced policy outcomes. The thesis argues, on one hand, that the peace agreement did open policy space for a distributive rural agenda. This policy space gained leverage due to two factors: first, favorable global and domestic norms appropriated by key decision makers during the negotiation phase; and second, the drafting of robust provisions in the peace agreement translatable into policy actions. On the other hand, the thesis shows that once the negotiation ended, the reform’s scope for change was severely constrained by internal and external obstacles faced by the government. Internally, policy capture by agribusiness elites, coupled with a lack of bureaucratic coordination in the implementation and political pressures exerted by the government’s coalition to move away from the CRR, effectively undermined the government’s distributive agenda. Externally, a strong right-wing opposition heavily affected the legitimacy of both the government and the peace process overall. iv Acknowledgments I would like to begin by thanking my supervisor Jennifer Clapp, who throughout the entire PhD program was much more than that. Since my family and I arrived in Waterloo in 2013, Jennifer was always concerned about our well-being and made sure that we had what everything we needed. I felt very privileged to have her as a mentor all these years. I would also like to thank Derek Hall and Yasmine Shamsie, the other members of my Committee, who were always excited about my project and gave me extremely useful feedback. I have known Derek since I studied my undergraduate degree at Trent University. It was great to meet him again. His curiosity, rigor, critical perspective and humor have always been an inspiration for me. I met Yasmine right after I arrived in Waterloo and it has been great to have her support and generous feedback throughout the research. I would like to than as well professors Cristina Rojas and Reina Neufeldt for their thoughtful reading and comments in the defence. At the Balsillie School of International Affairs, I would like to thank Doctor Andrew Thompson for all his support. Tiffany Bradley, Joanne West and Shelby Davies were always there to support me with various administrative and financial issues. At the Faculty of Environment, I would like to thank also Jennifer Nicholson and Lori McConnell. At the University of Waterloo, I would like to express my gratitude to friends and colleagues. The lively discussions we had with Matt Gaudreau throughout the whole program were very enlightening. Thanks to the people of the Global Food Studies Group, especially to Beth Timmers and Caitlin Scott, who welcomed me on campus during my visit in Spring of 2018. Thanks to Jane Runwursm from the Writing Centre who sat down with me a whole afternoon in March 2018 and encouraged me to keep writing. In Colombia, I would like to thank my friends and former work colleagues at the Thematic Direction of the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (OHCP): Sergio Jaramillo, Elena Ambrosi, Gerson Arias, Carolina Varela, María del Pilar Barbosa, Carlos Prieto, Ana Alonso, Sofia Cabarcas, Daniela Quinche, Oriana Alonso and others. By being part of the peace process we all shared a life-changing experience that inspired and motivated this research. Thanks especially to Carol Barajas who gave me access to the memoirs of the peace talks. I am grateful as well with all of those with whom I shared the experience of implementing the agreement’s provisions on rural development and particularly to Carolina Varela, with whom we shared all the positive and difficult things of working in government. I also want to thank the Institute for Integrated Transitions (IFIT), which provided me with the space and material support when I most needed it. Particularly, many thanks to Mark Freeman, Juanita Goebertus, Martha Maya, Mariana Otoya and Mariana Casij. Juanita’s friendship, support and encouragement were key for finishing my research. I was able to share earlier versions of drafts and ideas with various friends and colleagues to whom I am very grateful. Andrés Bermúdez gave me great feedback on earlier versions of chapters 3 and 5. Julián Arévalo, also a great friend and colleague, with whom we share our academic interests and political views, was a careful reader of my initial project and a great partner to have very fruitful conversations. Thanks to Iván Vargas’ attentive and careful reading of chapters 3 and 5. v I would like to thank as well Álvaro Balcázar, who has been a mentor for me not only in rural issues but more generally in life. Thanks also to Alejandro Reyes, who generously shared with me the thorough notes he took at the negotiating table. I am indebted to the various persons working at the government institutions with whom I had the chance to work and exchange views over the course of the years. Thanks to all my interviewees for their generosity, time and patience. I benefited greatly from the conversations I had with one of the oldest FARC’s leaders. I was fortunate to present part of my research at academic workshops and forums. I am grateful to the people from the Seminario de Problemas de Desarrollo Rural, in particular Rocío Londoño, Mauricio Velásquez, Juana Dávila, Carolina Castro, Armando Corredor and Cristina Lleras. Thanks as well to the people that attended the Seminario on Conflict organized in January 2018 by Michael Weintraub at Universidad de los Andes, especially to Devin Finn whose comments were of great help. Thanks to the Seminario en Desarrollo Rural at the Universidad Javeriana, and particularly to Juan Guillermo Ferro and Olga Lucía Castillo, who invited me over to present my work at an early stage. I would like to thank the Departamento de Ciencia Política at Universidad de los Andes, which opened the doors to me very generously and supported me during my stay in Bogotá as a visiting researcher. Many thanks to professors Juan Carlos Rodríguez, Laura Wills and to the administrative officer, Ana Teresa Chacón. I received invaluable research assistantship at different stages of the project from Carolina Velandia, Carol Rojas, Patricia Leguizamón and, especially, Juanita Cuéllar, whose support in the final stage of the research was of great help. I thank Antulio and Masaya, who have been an essential influence in my life, more than they can ever imagine. Mauricio and María’s friendship in Bogotá after we came back in 2015 has been essential and continues to be. Their encouragement, guidance and affection was definitive in my writing process. Thanks to Cody for his close friendship and editorship, especially at the beginning of the research project. Thanks to Eresbey, my spiritual guide and a support. Thanks to Marina, who helped us at home keeping our place tidy all these years. Thanks to my brothers and sisters who gave me their affection, warmth, and humor. Thanks to Canada, Waterloo and Toronto, places that received us warmly during the first two years of the program and have shaped who I am. Thanks to the coca leaf tea, which gave me its energy and wisdom mostly in early mornings and helped me staying focused. Thanks to Monserrate, the mountain that guards Bogotá, that kept me physically fit and taught me the value of perseverance. Thanks to my dog Momo and my cat Simona, who kept me always in the present moment. Thanks to my parents, who have always been supportive and proud of my work. Their unconditional love has been a continuous source of motivation for me. Eduardo, thanks for travelling to Canada with us and for your affection, patience, love and humor throughout this project that has existed since you were a young teenager Liliana, my partner, my love, thanks for being with me all this time.