Paramilitarism in Colombia. An historical review

Abstract

The text is divided into two parts in the introduction analyzes the characteristics of violence in Colombia during the 20th century are analyzed, emphasizing the role that the Colombian State has played, as well as the response of the caciques who controlled areas to which the State weak and fractured, for which we work with a conceptual network made up of the concepts of State, elites, power, violence and war. The first section analyzes the formation of paramilitary groups through a series of decrees, which legalized the creation of groups of armed civilians, and with it the legitimacy and strengthening of the caciques in certain regions of the country. All this allows us to reflect on how the mentality inherited by the long period of violence has impacted on the current forms of conflict resolution in the majority of Colombians.