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的影响是什么？哥伦比亚已经开始了过渡和建设和平时期。成立真相委员会是重建包容性历史记忆和建设可持续、变革性和平的一个有意义的步骤。我有幸在哥伦比亚的TC为我的哲学硕士进行实地考察，研究毒品战争如何在冲突叙事和历史记忆中发挥作用。这个跨学科的项目将发展我与TC现有的研究合作，收集和分析受毒品战争相关暴力影响的地区的证词，以了解禁毒和安全政策如何塑造哥伦比亚人对当代冲突的经历和记忆。该项目的重点是普图马约的古柯种植者。由于自然资源丰富，该省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）。农民面临着多种形式的压迫，这些压迫来自i）贫困，ii）参与非法工业，iii）化学空中熏蒸，以及iv）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团体和国家批准的报告（见历史委员会（2015年）和国家历史记忆中心（NCHM））在试图打开哥伦比亚近代历史的记忆寻求举措中忽视。此外，过渡委员会在其为解决冲突根源而进行的调查中没有将古柯种植者作为重点。我希望创造机会，让这个被边缘化的群体能够被委员会正式听取意见，并通过更广泛的公众参与。- 研究目的和研究问题本项目试图回答：1）如何在普图马约农民的冲突叙事毒品和毒品政策的特点？2)普图马约的农民是否因禁毒和安全政策而经历了暴力或社会和政治状况的变化？3)禁毒和安全政策以何种方式改变了先前存在的冲突动态？总体目标是提供一个微妙的理解毒品战争如何塑造了当代哥伦比亚冲突，以促进对冲突的根本原因的知识，并在过渡时期司法进程中的“全国真相对话”。为此，我打算收集和分析普图马约古柯种植者的新证词。这些记忆处于造成和维持冲突的经济结构的界面上，而暴力似乎是冲突的“根源”，正如南非和柬埔寨等背景下的国际过渡时期司法经验所表明的那样，这往往被忽视。合作将促进对话，加强社区、TC和当地合作伙伴之间的关系。这些调查结果旨在为过渡委员会的最终报告、其向哥伦比亚政府提出的有关毒品政策和实施阶段（包括通过教育）的建议做出贡献，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.