Peace, Democracy, and Human Rights in Colombia

“Christopher Welna and Gustavo Gallon have assembled a first-rate group of authors to produce an unusually comprehensive analysis of Colombia's profound and complex problems. The chapters are cogently argued, packed with keen insight, and often buttressed by rich empirical data. They cover the gamut—from culture to drugs to political economy, institutional reform and US policy. It is impossible to come away from reading this superb volume without understanding that, whatever progress has been made in Colombia in recent years, the task of constructing an enduring peace and just society remains a formidable one.” —Michael Shifter, Vice President for Policy, Inter-American Dialogue

"This excellent volume provides not only an introduction to the difficult issues of peace, democracy, and human rights in Colombia; it also offers a series of very intelligent and provocative discussions of these issues. The authors make use of a wide variety of primary and secondary sources that will be of interest to scholars, policymakers, and the growing number of general readers interested in the direction of U.S. foreign policy." —John C. Dugas, Kalamazoo College

“Welna and Gallón have admirably met the challenge put to them by the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, who asked ‘What can a university in the United States do to help resolve Colombia's conflict?’ Bringing together clear-eyed analyses by the foremost Colombian and American scholars, they shed much-needed light on the root causes of the longest-running guerrilla war in this hemisphere. They provide a critical path to understanding Colombia's core political challenges, and in so doing they lay the groundwork for an eventual resolution to Latin America's costliest struggle for democracy.” —Anthony DePalma, The New York Times

“Chapters in part 1, ‘Peace,’ ask why Colombia’s internal war has lasted so long and why peace efforts have not achieved peace. Part 2, ‘Democracy,’ deals with structural problems in Colombian government—the flawed 1991 constitutional and electoral reform in particular—and includes a chapter on organized crime from 1978 to 1998. Part 3, ‘Human Rights,’ contains essays arguing that human rights should not be subordinated to the war on drugs. . . . Recommended.” —Choice

“Welna and Gallon present 11 papers . . . addressing such topics as the cultural contexts of conflict, changes in illicit drug organizations, political reform after 1991, the struggle for electoral reform, interactions between organized crime and the political system, and human rights effects of the 'War on Drugs.'” —Research Book News

“Organized around the three themes in the title—the interlinked issues of peace, democracy and human rights—the volume explores such key topics of relevance to Colombian politics as the drug trade, the peace process, institutional reform and the effects of U.S. foreign policy. . . There continues to be a shortage of solid political science work of the topic of Colombia, despite its complexity and centrality to U.S. foreign policy, and this volume helps fill that gap. The presentation is such that the book can be is useful and accessible to academics, policymakers and the general public.” —The Americas

“This collection of papers asks why Colombia’s peace efforts have failed to produce durable peace. Why has Colombia’s long-standing democracy experienced such glaring failures? Who should be accountable for the violence suffered by the Colombian people? This book tries to answer these questions, and delves deeply into the underlying politics and human rights issues in Colombia.” —Abstracts of Public Administration, Development, and Environment

“The contributors to the book write on essential themes, such as institutional (especially electoral) reform, the politics of the narcotics trade, shifts and continuities in the US policy, and human rights. . . . The volume puts a particular stress on Plan Colombia. Its contributors argue convincingly that the rhetoric of an integrated approach to Colombian narco-violence was not acted upon. Resources were heavily concentrated in a counter-narcotics campaign that stressed the defeat of terrorism and undercutting the resource base of the guerrillas, together with the interdiction and penalisation of drugs, traffic, crop fumigation, and eradication.” —Bulletin of Latin American Research