Indigenous Micropolitics of Reconciliation in Jimaín, Colombia

• Author: Angela Santamaría
• DOI: 10.1177/0094582X19898535
• Published date: 01 September 2020
• Date: 01 September 2020
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X19898535

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 234, Vol. 47 No. 5, September 2020, 212–226

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X19898535

© 2020 Latin American Perspectives

212

Indigenous Micropolitics of Reconciliation in

Jimaín, Colombia

by

Angela Santamaría

The Colombian postconflict period requires titanic efforts on the part of the local gov-

ernment of the Arhuaco of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, caught between their own

ancestral battles and the demands of central government institutions that may not even

reach this region to administer justice and reintegration for territorial peace building. The

reintegration of Arhuaco ex-combatants into their home communities has posed one of the

greatest challenges. The interaction between Arhuaco justice and the Special Jurisdiction

for Peace adopted in March 2017 is crucial for their effective reincorporation. Examination

of the experiences of a group of Arhuaco authorities that has succeeded in building peace

in a territory plagued by paramilitary and guerrilla violence, the military action of the

Colombian government, and the entry of mega-projects into the region reveals the obsta-

cles and the individual and collective development opportunities that have shaped those

experiences.

El período posconflicto colombiano requiere esfuerzos titánicos por parte del gobierno

local del Arhuaco de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, atrapado entre sus propias batallas

ancestrales y las demandas de las instituciones del gobierno central que quizás ni siquiera

lleguen a esta región para administrar justicia y reintegración para la construcción de la

paz territorial. La reintegración de los excombatientes de Arhuaco en sus comunidades de

origen ha planteado uno de los mayores desafíos. La interacción entre la justicia de Arhuaco

y la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz adoptada en marzo de 2017 es crucial para su rein-

corporación efectiva. El examen de las experiencias de un grupo de autoridades de Arhuaco

que ha logrado construir la paz en un territorio plagado de violencia paramilitar y guer-

rillera, la acción militar del gobierno colombiano y la entrada de megaproyectos en la

región revela los obstáculos y las oportunidades individuales y colectivos de desarrollo que

han dado forma a esas experiencias.

Keywords: Ex-combatants, Paramilitaries, Arhuaco, Transformative justice,

Colombia

The focus of this article is the interaction between the local justice of the

Arhuaco of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, among the region’s more tradi-

tional indigenous peoples, and Colombia’s Special Peace Jurisdiction for the

effective reincorporation of Arhuaco ex-combatants during the implementa-

tion of the peace accords with the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de

Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—FARC). It uses the case

Angela Santamaria is director of the Escuela Intercultural de Diplomacia Indígena and professor

and cofounder of the Centro de Paz, Conflictos y Postconflictos at the Universidad del Rosario.

898535LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X19898535Latin American PerspectivesSantamaría / Micropolitics of Reconciliation In Colombia

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