Right-Wing Political Violence in Modern Colombia (1970-1990)

The Colombian state-supported right-wing paramilitaries at the most critical phase of the conflict between left-wing insurgents, namely the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, a.k.a. FARC), and the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional a.k.a. ELN). From the 1900s to the early 2000s, these groups worked closely with the Colombian Army to combat left-wing revolutionaries. Media and academic sources suggested former paramilitary and military members enjoyed immunity from prosecution during and after the armed conflict. This assumption raises questions on why and how the practice of immunity was acted in Colombia. This thesis aims to shed light on the counterinsurgency technologies performed by the state and by the paramilitary allies; while investigating why the state-supported the immunity of right-wing paramilitary groups to counterinsurgency. This thesis provides an in-depth review of the literature on right-wing political violence by focusing on the political power gained by paramilitary groups as they escaped from prosecution. A meta-analysis is used to review the existing information that points to the relationship between members of the state and paramilitary groups. The findings reveal the use of biopower, a system of clientelism, necropolitics, systematic violence, para-state, and cleansing explain why Latin American countries performed counterinsurgency technologies, such as massacres and elevated body counts, and social cleansing. Overall, this thesis presents a clear example of the type of violence that undergoes in Latin American countries, the threats that civilians faced coming from members right and left-wing groups with state allies, and the immunity from prosecution that these groups enjoyed.