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（TC）是朝着重建包容的历史记忆和建立可持续、变革的和平迈出的有意义的一步。我有幸在哥伦比亚技术中心为我的哲学硕士学位进行实地考察，研究毒品战争如何在冲突叙述和历史记忆中发挥作用。这个跨学科的项目将发展我现有的研究合作与TC收集和分析证词受毒品战争相关的暴力影响的地区，了解哥伦比亚人的经验和当代冲突的记忆已被反毒品和安全政策塑造。这个项目的重点是普图马约的古柯农民。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行动者控制的战略领域（O'Shaughnessy和Branford， 2005）。农民面临多种形式的压迫，这些压迫来自：(1)贫困，(2)参与非法产业，(3)化学空中熏蒸，(4)武装冲突（GMH, 2012; Ramirez, 2017; Dejusticia, 2017）。我的硕士研究表明，毒品战争在很大程度上被基层组织和国家批准的报告（见历史委员会（2015）和国家历史记忆中心（NCHM））所忽视，试图打开哥伦比亚近代史的记忆寻求倡议。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农民身上。我希望通过委员会的正式形式和更广泛的公众参与，为这个边缘化群体创造机会，让他们的声音得到倾听。-研究目标和研究问题本项目旨在回答：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)由于反毒品和安全政策，普图马约的农民是否经历了暴力或社会和政治条件的变化？3)反毒品和安全政策在哪些方面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当代哥伦比亚冲突的细致理解，促进对冲突根源的了解，并在过渡司法进程中为“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。这些记忆位于经济结构的交汇处，这些经济结构造成并持续了冲突，而暴力表现为冲突的“症状”，正如南非和柬埔寨等国的国际过渡时期司法经验所表明的那样，这一点往往被忽视。合作将创造对话，加强社区、技术委员会和当地合作伙伴之间的关系。调查结果旨在为委员会的最终报告、就毒品政策和实施阶段（包括通过教育）向哥伦比亚政府提出的建议作出贡献，以促进长期变革。

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.