The challenges of a new cycle of violence: a perspective from the territorial construction of the Colombian state

Abstract

This text examines the emergence of a new cycle of violence in Colombia from a perspective centered on the territorial construction of the state, highlighting the hybrid nature of contemporary forms of violence that challenge traditional legal categories and conventional human rights frameworks. It argues that the Colombian state exhibits a differentiated presence across the territory, with uneven levels of institutional penetration and effectiveness in the different regions, resulting in phenomena such as “low-intensity citizenship” and “institutional apartheid”, as well as the coexistence of State agents with illegal armed actors and illicit economies. Within this framework, recent dynamics of violence are explained by disputes over territorial control, intensified following the incomplete demobilization of armed groups and their subsequent reconfiguration, which has fostered the consolidation of parallel social orders and forms of criminal governance in peripheral regions. In light of this scenario, the author contends that peace policies must adopt a territorial approach that recognizes local specificities, strengthens institutions at subnational levels, and promotes effective articulation between the state and communities, emphasizing that overcoming this new cycle of violence depends on the progressive strengthening of state presence beyond exclusively military or centralist responses.