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From Combat to Territorial Control: Adapting Security Policy to Contemporary Violence in Colombia
Colombia currently faces a transformed, fragmented form of violence centered on territorial and social control rather than the traditional insurgency. This report argues that state security strategies remain misaligned, relying on outdated military approaches and metrics. To avoid long-term democratic instability, it recommends shifting toward governance-based security, effective civil oversight, strong judicial capacity, and a comprehensive understanding of territorial control.
الصورة
A decade after the signing of the Peace Agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People’s Army (FARC-EP), Colombia is now facing a new cycle of violence that, due to its characteristics, cannot be understood as a simple continuation of the armed conflict of the past. The main transformations lie in the nature of the actors, their capacities, objectives, and repertoires of action, as well as in the role of the state in these disputes. However, this evolution of violence has revealed limitations in the institutional response. Three government administrations with different ideological orientations have promised to resolve the problem using different approaches, yet none have succeeded.
The transformation of violence explains the loss of effectiveness of the strategic and operational frameworks governing security management, but it does not explain the state’s inability to adapt. Thus, the key question is not only what has changed, but why institutions have been unable (or unwilling) to adjust to a new reality. The objective of this report is to provide answers to that question from a public management perspective. It argues that the central problem of security in Colombia lies not only in contextual transformations or in military or police capabilities, but in the strategic governance of security. It contends that there is a gap between the strategic vision and the way violence is organized and carried out in the territories, which has led to planning and deployment within the security and defense sector not only being ineffective but, in some cases, facilitating the reconfiguration and fragmentation of violence.
This analysis represents an initial contribution by ICTJ to understanding these limitations and highlights the need to deepen the debate on sector governance, with the aim of fostering a political environment that considers and promotes the institutional adjustments necessary to respond effectively and legitimately to the new phase of violence persisting in the country, and to strengthen transparency and accountability.
