Truth, memory and the drug war: uncovering conflict narratives of coca farmers in Colombia's Putumayo region

全球毒品战争对当代哥伦比亚冲突有何影响？哥伦比亚已经开始了过渡和建设和平的时期。成立真相委员会是朝着重建包容各方的历史记忆和建设可持续、变革性和平迈出的有意义的一步。我有幸为我的MPHIL在哥伦比亚的TC进行了实地考察，调查毒品战争是如何在冲突叙事和历史记忆中呈现出来的。这个跨学科项目将发展我与反恐委员会现有的研究合作，以收集和分析受毒品战争相关暴力影响的地区的证词，以了解哥伦比亚人对当代冲突的经历和记忆是如何受到禁毒和安全政策的影响的。该项目的重点是普图马约的古柯种植者。由于自然资源的普遍存在，该部门长期以来一直是哥伦比亚冲突中武装分子的战略控制区(O‘Shaughnessy和Branford，2005年)。农民面临多种形式的压迫，原因包括：1)贫困；2)参与非法工业；3)化学空气熏蒸；4)武装冲突(GMH，2012；Ramirez，2017；Dejutisa，2017)。我的大师研究显示，在试图揭开哥伦比亚近代史的记忆寻觅倡议中，草根团体和国家批准的报告(参见历史委员会(2015)和国家历史记忆中心(NCHM))在很大程度上忽视了毒品战争。此外，在解决冲突根源的调查中，委员会没有把重点放在古柯种植者身上。我希望为这一被边缘化的群体创造机会，让他们的声音得到委员会的正式倾听，并通过更广泛的公众参与。-本项目试图回答的研究目的和研究问题：1)毒品和毒品政策如何在普图马约农民的冲突叙述中发挥作用？2)由于禁毒和安全政策，普图马约的农民经历了暴力或社会和政治状况的变化吗？3)禁毒和安全政策以什么方式改变了先前存在的冲突动态？总体目标是提供对毒品战争如何塑造哥伦比亚当代冲突的细微差别的理解，促进对冲突根源的了解，并为过渡司法进程中的“全国真相对话”提供信息。为了实现这一目标，我的目标是收集和分析普图马约古柯种植者的新证词。这些记忆是在导致和持续冲突的经济结构和作为其“症状”出现的暴力的交界处，正如国际过渡司法(TJ)在南非和柬埔寨等地的经验所表明的那样，这些往往被忽视。协作将创造对话，并加强社区、TC和当地合作伙伴之间的关系。这些发现旨在为委员会的最终报告做出贡献，并就毒品政策向哥伦比亚政府提出建议，以及实施阶段--包括通过教育--以刺激长期变化。

What is the impact of the global drug war on the contemporary Colombian conflict? Colombia has started a period of transition and peacebuilding. The establishment of a truth commission (TC) is a meaningful step towards reconstructing an inclusive historical memory and building a sustainable, transformative peace. I had the privilege of carrying out fieldwork at Colombia's TC for my MPhil which investigates how the drug war features in conflict narratives and historical memory. This interdisciplinary project will develop my existing research collaboration with the TC to collect and analyse testimony in regions impacted by drug war-related violence, to understand how Colombians' experiences and memories of contemporary conflict have been shaped by counter-drug and security policies. The focus of this project is coca farmers in Putumayo. The department has long been a strategic area of control for the armed actors in Colombia's conflict due to the prevalence of natural resources (O'Shaughnessy and Branford, 2005). Farmers face multiple forms of oppression derived from i) poverty, ii) involvement in illegal industry, iii) chemical aerial fumigation, and, iv) armed conflict (GMH, 2012; Ramirez, 2017; Dejusticia, 2017). My masters research reveals that the drug war has largely been neglected by both grassroots groups and state-sanctioned reports (see the Historical Commission (2015) and the National Centre for Historical Memory (NCHM)) in memory-seeking initiatives trying to open up Colombia's recent history. Furthermore, the TC has no focus on coca farmers within its investigations to address the root causes of conflict. I hope to create opportunities for this marginalised group to be heard, formally by the commission and through wider public engagement. - Research aim and research questions This project seeks to answer: 1) How do drugs and drug policy feature in the conflict narratives of farmers in Putumayo?2) Have farmers in Putumayo experienced changes in violence, or social and political conditions, due to counter-drug and security policies?3) In what ways have counter-drug and security policies changed the pre-existing dynamics of conflict?The overall objective is to provide a nuanced understanding of how the drug war has shaped the contemporary Colombian conflict, to contribute to advancing knowledge about root causes of conflict and feed into the 'National Dialogue for Truth' within the transitional justice process. To achieve this, I aim to collect and analyse new testimonies from coca farmers in Putumayo. These memories are at the interfaces of economic structures that caused and sustained conflict and the violence that appears as its 'symptoms', which as international transitional justice (TJ) experience from contexts such as South Africa and Cambodia demonstrate, are often overlooked. Collaboration will create dialogue and strengthen relationships between this community, the TC and local partners. The findings are intended to contribute to the TC's final report, its recommendations to the Colombian government with regards to drug policy, and implementation stages - including through education -, to stimulate long-term change.