A Century of Violence in a Red City by Lesley Gill

8/20/2019 A Century of Violence in a Red City by Lesley Gill

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RED

CITY Popular Struggle, Counterinsurgency,

and Human Rights in Colombia

LESLEY GILL

A CENTURY OF

VIOLENCE IN A


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A CENTURY

OF VIOLENCE

IN A RED CITY


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A CENTURY OF

VIOLENCE IN A

RED

CITYPopular Sruggle,Counerinsurgency,

and Human Righs

in Colombia

LESLEY GILL

. . .DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS

Durham and London 2016


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© 2016 Duke Universiy Press

All righs reserved

Prined in he Unied Saes of America on

acid-free paper ♾

Designed by Amy Ruh Buchanan

ypese in Chaparral Pro and Franklin Gohic

by seng Informaion Sysems, Inc.

Library of Congress Caaloging-in-Publicaion DaaGill, Lesley, auhor.

A cenury of violence in a red ciy : popularsruggle, counerinsurgency, and human righs inColombia / Lesley Gill.pages cmIncludes bibliographical references and index. 978-0-8223-6029-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)

978-0-8223-6060-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 978-0-8223-7470-1 (e-book)1. Human righs—Colombia—Hisory—20h cen-ury. 2. Working class—Colombia—Hisory—20hcenury. 3. Labor dispues—Colombia—Barran-cabermeja—Hisory—20h cenury. . ile.599.755 2016986.1′25—dc232015026279

Cover design: Jenni Ohnsad


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IN MEMORY OF MY

MOTHER, JOAN GILL

(1927–2012)


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CONTENTS

List of Acronyms ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Inroducion 1

ONE Black Gold, Milian Labor 29

TWO Cold War Crucible 61

THREE error and Impuniy 95

FOUR Unraveling 123

FIVE Fragmened Sovereigny 152

SIX Narrowing Poliical Opionsand Human Righs 183

SEVEN Te Afermah of

Counerinsurgency 216

Conclusion 237

Notes 249

References 263

Index 275


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ACRONYMS

Asociación Campesina de Ganaderos y Agri-culores del Magdalena Medio (Associaion ofMiddle Magdalena Ranchers and Farmers)

Alianza Nacional Popular (Naional Popular Alliance)

Asociación Nacional de Usuarios Campesinos(Naional Associaion of Peasan Landholders)

Auodefensas Unidas de Colombia (Unied Self-Defense Forces of Colombia)

bandas criminales (criminal gangs) Bloque Cenral Bolívar (Cenral Bolívar Bloc) Cenro de Invesigación y Educación Popular

(Cener for Research and Popular Educaion) Consuloría para los Derechos Humanos y Des-

plazamieno (Consulancy for Human Righs

and Displacemen)s Cooperaivas de Vigilancia y Seguridad Privada(Cooperaives for Vigilance and Privae Securiy)

Corporación Regional para la Defensa de losDerechos Humanos (Regional Corporaion forhe Defense of Human Righs)

Confederación Sindical de rabajadores Colom-bianos (Union Confederaion of ColombianWorkers)


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x ACRONYMS

Confederación de rabajadores Colombianos(Confederaion of Colombian Workers)

Cenral Uniaria de rabajadores (UniaryWorkers Cenral)

Deparameno Adminisraivo de Seguridad(Deparmen of Adminisraive Securiy)

Empresa Colombiana de Peróleos (ColombianOil Company)

Ejércio Nacional de Liberación (Naional Libera-ion Army)

Ejércio Popular de Liberación (Popular Libera-ion Army)

Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia(Revoluionary Armed Forces of Colombia) Federación Nacional del ranspore Maríimo,

Fluvial, Poruario y Aéreo (Naional Federaionof Mariime ranspor, River, Por and Air)

company name Frene de Izquierda Liberal Auénica (Fron of

he Auhenic Liberal Lef)s juntas de acción comunal (neighborhood acion

commitee) lesbian, gay, bisexual, and ransgender Movimieno de Reconsrucción Nacional

(Movemen of Naional Reconsrucion) Movimieno Revolucionario Liberal (Liberal

Revoluionary Movemen) nongovernmenal organizaion Organización Femenina Popular (Popular Femi-

nine Organizaion) company name Parido Comunisa de Colombia (Colombian

Communis Pary) a Pepsi botling company Parido Socialisa Revolucionario (Revoluionary

Socialis Pary) Sindicao Nacional de rabajadores de la Indus-

ria de Alimienos (Naional Union of Food and

Beverage Workers)


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ACRONYMS xi

an older union ropical Oil Company Unión Izquierda Revolucionaria (Revoluionary

Lef Union)

Unión Parióica (Parioic Union) Unión Sindical Obrera (Syndicaed Worker

Union)


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledgmens are expressions of solidariy: hey give one he op-poruniy o connec he people whose suppor, paience, insigh, andaffecion inerwine in he producion of a book. Because he researchand wriing of A Century of Violence in a Red City ook en years, I owean enormous deb of graiude o a number of individuals and organi-zaions.

In Colombia, he projec would have been impossible wihou he

susained suppor of , he indomiable Colombian radeunion ha never succumbed o inimidaion and error, even in hedarkes days of he diry war, and ha coninues o figh for equaliy,peace, and jusice. Javier Correa, Juan Carlos Galvis, Luis EduardoGarcía, Efraín Guerrero, Armando Jurado, William Mendoza, EdgarPáez, Alfredo Porras, Gonzalo Quijano, Efraín Zurmay, and many moreanswered my endless quesions, inroduced me o ohers, poined mein new direcions, and, on occasion, pu me up in heir homes. Teir

generosiy, humor, and poliical insighs mean a lo o me, and heirresilien sruggles are a source of coninuing inspiraion.In addiion o , a number of people and organiza-

ions educaed me abou daily life in he working-class barrios of Ba-rrancabermeja, afer righ-wing paramiliaries ied o he miliaryoccupied hese neighborhoods and made life a living hell for a greamany residens. Enrique explained he specific problems faced bysexual minoriies. Eduardo illuminaed he workings of he neighbor-hood acion commitees. Discussions wih Pedro Lozada abou rural

life in he Middle Magdalena made me undersand anodyne conceps,


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xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

such as “displacemen,” in more visceral, emoion-laden ways and oappreciae he challenges faced by displaced people in he ciy. Salva-dor described he frusraions and dilemmas of he young, and JaimePeña demonsraed wha i akes o demand jusice. Te women of he

Popular Feminine Organizaion () inroduced me o residens indifferen neighborhoods and explained he hisory of female popularsruggle in Barrancabermeja. I am paricularly graeful o Yolanda Be-cerra and Jackeline Rojas for heir ime and paience. Te ChrisianPeacemaker eams generously accommodaed me for a period of imeand helped me undersand he naure of human righs acivism inhe ciy. Special hanks o Susana Collerd for her insighs abou lifein norheas Barrancabermeja and o Amanda Marin of Winess for

Peace for housing me in Bogoá and leting me ag along during a ripo Barrancabermeja.In he Unied Saes, I have benefied from years of ongoing dis-

cussions wih Aviva Chomsky, Forres Hylon, Sharryn Kasmir, SeveSriffler, and Winifred ae, who read all or porions of he manuscrip.Te book is immensely beter because of heir insighs and observa-ions. Chris Krupa and David Nugen simulaed my hinking abouhe sae during a conference hey organized in Quio, Ecuador. CamiloRomero was a grea friend, and Camilo Garcia lisened o my argu-

mens over he course of several years and helped me grasp life in heMiddle Magdalena hrough his sories of working as a journalis here.I feel excepionally forunae o have all hese individuals as friendsand colleagues. I have also had he pleasure o work wih Emma Banksand Gloria Pérez, graduae sudens a Vanderbil Universiy, whoseown research in Colombia has enriched my hinking. eresa Francoprovided ediorial assisance.

I was forunae o have insiuional backing a various sages of

research and wriing. American Universiy, Vanderbil Universiy, andhe Naional Science Foundaion provided crucial financial suppor forhe projec. Gisela Fosado of Duke Universiy Press was a supporiveedior, and he Duke Universiy Press saff was always helpful.

As he has in he pas, Ar Walers made i easier o navigae he dead

ends and deal wih he frusraions ha ypically arise in he course ofwriing a book. He was always willing o lisen o me alk abou issuesand conceps ha I had sill no goten my mind around. More impor-an, his love and suppor made i possible o keep life in perspecive.


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INTRODUCTION

. . .

The fraudulent alienation of the state domains, the robbery of the common

lands, the usurpation of feudal and clan proper ty, and its transformation into

modern private property under circumstances of reckless terrorism, were just

so many idyllic methods of primitive accumulation.—Karl Marx, Capital

When I raveled o Colombia in 2004, a he inviaion of Coca-Colaworkers from he Sindicao Nacional de rabajadores de la Indusria

de Alimenos (Naional Union of Food and Beverage Workers, -), i was he mos dangerous counry in he world o be a radeunionis. For several years, labor leaders had alleged ha clandesineparamiliary groups were murdering and errorizing hem and unionmembers wih he collusion of Coca-Cola Company managemen. Alawsui filed by in U.S. federal cour had charged Coca-Cola wih gross human righs violaions, and he union, feeling is back

o he wall, was desperaely rying o build inernaional suppor for a

campaign agains Coca-Cola ha would pressure he corporaion andhe Colombian governmen o sop he repression ha was rapidlyeroding he ranks of union membership. Coming on he heels of he1999 proess agains he World rade Organizaion in Seatle—he so-called Batle of Seatle—he effors of o focus inerna-ional atenion on he crimes aking place in Colombia, amid a vicious,

decades-long civil war, sruck me as a compelling aspec of wha wassill referred o as he “global social jusice movemen.”

Te leaders of sen me off on a five-ciy our in which


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2 INTRODUCTION

I alked wih workers from various indusries and walks of life abouhe violence ha was earing heir lives apar. Te oil-refining cenerof Barrancabermeja, locaed on he orrid plains of he Middle Magda-lena River valley, was my firs sop. Juan Carlos Galvis, a member of he

local direcorae and a longime Coca-Cola worker, meme a he airpor. As I sepped off he small, propeller-driven plane, iook some searching before I spied Galvis among he cluser of peoplewaiing in he passenger arrival area; he was a head shorer han mosof he oher men. Ye Galvis sood ou in his own way. Dressed in a-shir emblazoned wih he image of Erneso “Che” Guevara on hefron and samped wih he slogan “Hasa la vicoria siempre” acrosshe back, Galvis was making a poliical poin a a momen when Barran-

cabermeja was coming ou of a long srike decreed by he oil workers’union, he Unión Sindical Obrera (Syndicaed Worker Union, ),Colombia’s mos milian and powerful rade union. For Galvis, Chewas much more han an ageless icon of youhful rebellion. Te mur-dered guerrilla leader represened a uopian vision of socialism andcommimen o ideals ha had inspired Galvis for years.

As we lef he erminal, wo men emerged from he shuffle of de-paring ravelers and hovered around us. Galvis inroduced hem ashis bodyguards. Tey followed us o he parking lo, where a large

wih darkened windows baked in he sun. Galvis go ino he righ-side backsea, a place designaed by his securiy proocol; I sa behindhe driver. Wih one bodyguard a he wheel and he oher riding sho-gun, he four of us headed ino own along a winding road. We passedpipelines and birdlike oil pumps ha monoonously dipped up anddown as if drinking from he earh. Pasures covered in low rees andshrubs and crisscrossed by cow pahs inerspersed he oil fields hapockmarked he counryside. Enervaed catle chewing heir cuds and

brushing away flies clusered under he occasional ree large enough ocas a circle of shade. Galvis alked abou he ensions ha he oil srikehad generaed in he ciy.

Te had called he srike on April 15 o hal governmen planso privaize he sae oil company, he Empresa Colombiana de Peró-leos (Colombian Oil Company, ) and furher open he dooro mulinaional corporaions o exploi Colombia’s mineral reserves.Te work soppage lased more han hiry days, and fired248 workers. Operaions had sill no resumed in he oil fields, and

rumors were circulaing ha a special eam of paramiliaries from Calí


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INTRODUCTION 3

had come o own o assassinae srike organizers. As Galvis filled mein, his cell phone rang repeaedly, inerruping his accoun and forcinghim o circle back o previous poins afer each hurried conversaion.When we reached he ouer ring of neighborhoods ha rimmed Ba-

rrancabermeja, he bodyguards deoured pas he refinery, which wasbrisling wih concerina wire and surrounded by soldiers, before head-

ing down Calle 52 o a large, wo-sory cemen building ha housed he

headquarers, where a meeing was under way. Galvis and I joined leaders and represenaives of several popular organizaions whowere planning a march hrough he ciy o proes he deenion ofdozens of srike leaders. Alhough I did no appreciae i a he ime, Iwas winessing he las gasp of a once-powerful working class.

Over he nex couple of years, I reurned o Barrancabermeja, orBarranca, as locals referred o i, and visied oher Colombian ciies,inerviewing scores of Coca-Cola workers and heir family membersand accumulaing informaion abou Coca-Cola’s worldwide opera-ions. Ye I gradually spen more and more ime in Barrancabermeja,where Galvis and presiden William Mendoza wen ouof heir way o faciliae my research. Boh men insised ha I alk wih

oher rade unioniss, human righs defenders, neighborhood aciviss,

and peasan leaders because hey undersood ha here was a deeper

sory o ell han he one abou Coca-Cola.Galvis and Mendoza opened he world of lef poliical acivism o

me, or a leas wha remained of i, and he opporuniy o alk wih somany social movemen leaders and grassroos aciviss was hrilling.Bu i was also overwhelming. My research subjecs quickly cas me inhe role of human righs defender because of my willingness o hangaround wih hem and do whaever i was ha hey were doing. WhaI undersood as paricipan observaion—a basic anhropological re-

search mehod—hey defined as acompañamiento (accompanimen),which, when done by a foreigner, especially one from Norh Americaor Europe, was widely believed o make people safer from paramiliaryatack. Tere were, in fac, several human righs organizaions in Ba-rrancabermeja ha specialized in his kind of pracice.

Being idenified as a human righs advocae overesimaed my ca-paciy o do anyhing abou wha was happening. People expeced meo speak ou agains he violence ha was shredding he social fabricbecause doing so would demonsrae ha hey were par of inerna-

ional neworks ha were capable of mobilizing a rapid response in


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4 INTRODUCTION

case of emergency. I was happy o oblige, bu I could no always verifyhe sories ha I heard, nor did I have he inernaional connecionsha some imagined. In addiion, he horrifying accouns ha peopleold me iniially did no go beyond ales of individual vicimizaion. Te

raumaic narraives, and he urgency and presenism of human righsaccompanimen-cum-paricipan-observaion, complicaed any explo-raion of he poliical projecs and organizaions in which people wereinvolved or he passions ha moivaed working people, especially a aime when discussing one’s involvemen, pas or presen, wih he legal

or illegal lef was dangerous. All of his made i easy o overlook a soryha wen beyond Coca-Cola and he individual sories of brualizaion.

Te deeper sory was abou he violen desrucion of a working

class and abou how violence was neiher a peripheral nor an acciden-al par of he disorganizaion of labor. As he Colombian economybecame one of he mos liberalized in he Americas during he 1990s,harsh new laws had made i easier for firms o hire emporary laborers,while escalaing paramiliary violence suppressed opposiion o henew policies wih hreas, massacres, and argeed assassinaions. Be-ween 1977 and 2004, 114 members of he were murdered; 89 ofhem lived in Barrancabermeja (Valencia and Celis 2012: 125). Beween2000 and 2003, he number of permanen workers affiliaed wih he

dropped by 50 percen, while he number of emporary workersrose. A he same ime, he governmen ousourced much of -’s mainenance and suppor operaions o housands of privaeconracors, some of whom were ied o illegal paramiliary groups ha

placed heir own people in jobs once held by members and weak-ened he union from wihin. Under such condiions, he ’s abiliyo mainain a prolonged srike in 2004 and he popular suppor hai received were remarkable. Bu he effor was no enough. Te 2004

srike was never repeaed, and he privaizaion of and heresrucuring of is labor force coninued. Violence was a cenral parof capialis developmen and he dismanling of a once vibran, polii-cally milian working class, and he experiences of he and - were being repeaed over and over again.

Alhough inernaional human righs organizaions documenedhe deahs and relenless violence in Barrancabermeja and acrossColombia, heir repors did no explain wha people were fighing foror he inense emoions ha drove hem ino conflic. In an era when

wealh and power were being redisribued upward, he accouns of he


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INTRODUCTION 5

dead, he disappeared, and he massacred provided few clues o under-sanding he sebacks of organized labor. Tis was because he classdynamics earing Colombian sociey apar were largely ignored. Teywere replaced by a moral argumen agains abusive sae power ha be-

came a consolaion prize for working people sruggling o expand heparameers of democracy and o proec heir jobs, organizaions, andsocial arrangemens from he neoliberal capialis order envisioned bysae policy makers, Colombian elies, and corporae managers.

Poliical violence and capialis developmen were ruhless enginesof social fragmenaion, bu even hough he lae wenieh-cenuryerror ha engulfed Barrancabermeja was exreme, he dispossessionand disorganizaion of is working class were no unique. From he

cold in mines of Llallagua in he Bolivian mounains o he sprawl-ing auomobile facories of Deroi in he American Midwes, workingclasses and ceners of working-class power were fracuring under hecombined pressures of capialis resrucuring, free-rade policies, aus-

eriy programs, and poliical oppression. Te producion of precari-ousness in he lives of ordinary people sood in sark conras o heemergence of enclaves of wealh, where newly mined global billion-aires wihdrew from he urmoil affecing he res of he world. Asworking-class lives were uprooed and people hrown ino he breach,

he chaos forced people o reimagine and re-creae heir ies o eachoher, even as he dispossessed and disenfranchised were incorporaedino new relaionships of dominaion and exploiaion o which heyhad never agreed.

A Century of Violence in a Red City documens he making and un-making of a working class amid he violen conflics ha shaped heMiddle Magdalena region of norhwes Colombia, paricularly he oilown of Barrancabermeja. Beginning in he early wenieh cenury, a

heerogeneous group of peasans, oil workers, small-scale merchans,and prosiues ransformed he sleepy Magdalena River por of Ba-rrancabermeja ino a cener of working-class power. Tey did so as headven of peroleum exracion drew impoverished people from hefar corners of Colombia o he middle srech of he Magdalena Rivervalley and forever changed a ropical fronier region in one of Lain

America’s mos conservaive counries. Hoping for a beter life, heseinrepid souls fough he humidiy, diseases, orrenial rains, pero-leum conaminaion, and he oil company—a subsidiary of he San-

dard Oil Company of New Jersey—o forge a confronaional class cul-


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6 INTRODUCTION

ure leavened wih ani-imperialis naionalism. Unil he early 1980s,diverse working people forged relaionships of solidariy and fougho enac a vision of popular democracy ha wen beyond he officialsae’s promises of moderniy and naional progress. Tey also chal-

lenged he presumpions of foreign oil corporaions and regional elieso dicae he erms of social life. Teir democraic vision embracednaional sovereigny, agrarian reform, labor righs, public services, herighs of liberal ciizenship (e.g., legal equaliy, consiuional proec-ions, and individual freedom) and socialis-inspired noions of hecommon good, and i opposed he disrupive forces of capialism haroiled Barrancabermeja and he Middle Magdalena region.

By he early weny-firs cenury, his vision had dimmed. Barranca’s

dense infrasrucure of popular solidariy—unions, neighborhood as-sociaions, church groups, suden organizaions, lef poliical paries,and, for a ime, guerrilla miliias—lay in ruins. Counerinsurgen vio-lence ha escalaed in he 1980s and spun ou of conrol in he 1990sand he firs decade of he new millennium led o he deahs, forcibledisplacemen, or disappearance of housands of people. Many peoplesuffered he rauma of losing family members, friends, neighbors, andworkmaes. Years of diry war and neoliberal economic policies hadsparked a boom in exracive minerals and biofuel producion on he

graves of hose who had imagined a differen fuure. Worker righs andproecions won in pas sruggles eiher no longer exised or lingered in

degraded form, and anyone who quesioned he saus quo was warnedagains heir challenge wih deah hreas. As dispossessed peasans,downsized workers, and impoverished urbanies negoiaed a pahhrough a more unequal and auhoriarian ciy, hey found hemselvesmuch more alone han in he pas, severed from he social neworksand insiuions ha once susained hem and exposed o forces be-

yond heir conrol. Te specer of Barrancabermeja’s defeaed workingclass and divided memories abou he diry war hung over he lives ofhe vicims and survivors like a hungry ghos, hauning heir effors orebuild livelihoods and bedeviling he reimaginaion of a shared fuure.

Tis book is less concerned wih documening he exisence of aclass and is subsequen dissoluion han wih analyzing he violenpoliical sruggles ha undergirded he composiion and decomposi-ion of working-class power, organizaion, and culure. I places up-rooed peasans, wage laborers, and unwaged and wage-insecure urban

immigrans wihin a single analyic framework and explores how heir


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INTRODUCTION 7

sruggles over labor righs, public services, and human righs broughhem ogeher and pulled hem apar over nearly a cenury. Tesesruggles were cenral o he formaion and dissoluion of class. Tebook conribues o he developmen of a new anhropology of labor

ha dispenses wih saic ypologies—waged and unwaged, rural andurban, and formal and informal—and revives he noion of class as afluid analyic caegory ha capures he cenraliy of conflic o heformaion of social relaions. In his way, i atends o E. P. Tompson’s(1963) insisence on a processual and relaional approach o he sudyof labor, one ha focuses on he always open-ended making of class.Tis perspecive helps us explore he common undersandings and alli-ances, as well as he social rupures and ideological divisions, ha pro-

pel changes in how working people undersand heir experiences, heiries o each oher, and heir relaionships o more powerful groups andinsiuions.

A Century of Violence in a Red City also examines how processes ofclass formaion and capial accumulaion generaed fierce batles overerriory in which, a differen imes, ransnaional oil companies,guerrilla insurgencies, and paramiliary organizaions operaed along-side, wih, or agains official sae represenaives and insiuions andatemped o regulae he lives of people under heir conrol. I argue

ha “he sae” never operaed alone bu in over or cover allianceswih oher powerful acors o promoe paricular projecs of rule hasough o produce, normalize, and legiimae differen forms of polii-cal and economic inequaliy. Such complex geographies of power weredynamic, unsable, and violen. Tey arose from he conradicionsgeneraed by capialis accumulaion pracices and forms of popularmobilizaion, or demobilizaion, in paricular hisorical momens. Tey

also condiioned he abiliy of working people o susain hemselves,

heir organizaions, and heir visions of he fuure and o connec heirsruggles o wider poliical movemens. Building on he work of previ-ous scholars who have examined he ensions beween popular polii-cal sruggles and processes of sae formaion (e.g., Joseph and Nugen1994; Mallon 2005; Nugen 1997), his book places working people ahe cener of concern. I shows ha shifing configuraions of powerand processes of sae formaion urned on he conrol of resources,changing forms of labor exploiaion, and he making and unmaking of

class in which he demands, visions, and sruggles of a heerogeneous

group of working people played a cenral par. Sae and class forma-


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8 INTRODUCTION

ion were hus imbricaed wih each oher and shaped changing formsof social regulaion over ime.

Sae formaion, as well as he making, unmaking, and remaking ofclass, is rooed in violence. Ye violence ofen passes unobserved in ab-

srac, economisic accouns of capialis processes in which he mar-ke’s “invisible hand,” capial, he sae, and globalizaion have a decep-ive coherence and raionaliy. o he exen ha violence appears a all,

i does so as an episodic, regretable, and emporary side effec of hedisrupions ha accompany he reforms demanded by ruling classesand sae officials for economic expansion o ake place. Te experienceof working people in Barrancabermeja, however, suggess a more crii-cal perspecive in which violence is one of he major ools ha forges

he developmen of capialis relaions, propels he formaion of com-peing projecs of rule wihin and across space, and drives he pace ofsocial change. Te sory of working-class Barrancabermeja offers in-sighs ino how violence becomes enmeshed wihin he inerrelaedprocesses of capial accumulaion, sae formaion, and working-classdisorganizaion and dispossession.

Te Politics of Labor and Class

Wih noable excepions, anhropologiss have no focused on “class”as an imporan social relaionship or analyic caegory. As AugusCarbonella and Sharryn Kasmir (2014) noe, scholars have ofen iner-preed he decline of Fordis producion sysems in he Unied Saesand Europe as he end of class iself, raher han he passing of a his-orically specific class formaion and is accompanying social welfaresae. Meanwhile, he collapse of Sovie and Easern European com-munism, China’s “capialis urn,” and new labor relaions and forms of

inequaliy generaed by he pos–cold war expansion of neoliberalismhave incorporaed millions of new workers ino capialis processes,while he so-called Grea Recession ha began in 2008 has deepenedsocial suffering and amplified previously unheard criiques of he un-fetered “marke” as he source of freedom and well- being. Te ou-sourcing of producion from radiional manufacuring ceners o low-wage regions has dispersed working-class power away from formerunion srongholds, while he opening of new exracive froniers inoil, naural gas, precious gems, minerals, and drugs, secured by para-

miliaries, mafias, and privae securiy firms, has creaed new spaces of


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INTRODUCTION 9

marginalizaion and exploiaion (e.g., Ferguson 2005; Richani 2007). Ye despie he proliferaion of new and remade ways of working, aswell as wide-ranging evidence of sark dispariies in wealh and socialwell-being, discussions of class have only recenly reenered main-

sream poliical debae, afer a wave of social proess, from OccupyWall Sree o revols in Europe and Lain America, pried open he pub-

lic agenda and energized new research.Wha David Harvey (2003) calls “accumulaion by dispossession”—

he recurren dispossession of working people under capialism—hasmade or reconfigured working classes over and over again, creaingnew divisions and labor relaions, and forcing people o assess whahey can, and canno, do wih each oher. Updaing Marx’s noion of

“primiive accumulaion,” a one-off process ha enailed he enclosureof common propery, he expulsion of peasans, and he commodifica-ion of heir labor a he dawn of capialism, Harvey argues ha whaMarx described as he “reckless error” of plunder and enslavemen isacually a feaure of capialism ha happens, and has happened, re-peaedly in he long hisory of capialis developmen. I consiss of avariey of processes ha include usury, violen physical displacemen,deb, and he privaizaion of public asses, such as land and nauralresources, as well as he social wage (pensions, healh care, welfare,

ec.) won hrough years of sruggle (Harvey 2003: 137–82). In he pashree decades, accumulaion by dispossession and he violence asso-ciaed wih i have inensified povery, marginalizaion, and socialfragmenaion among a larger swah of he world’s populaion hroughhe moneizaion of social relaionships and he upward redisribuionof wealh. I has obliged more people o become dependen on cash in-comes and migrae o find work. In he conex of so much upheaval,how o caegorize he people whose lives have been uprooed and orn

apar, and who couns as a worker, is no always clear.Hernando de Soo (1989), for example, is well known for claimingha he ruined peasans and par-ime laborers in he impoverishedfringes of Lain American, African, and Asian ciies are less workershan “microenrepreneurs,” eager for propery iles and microcredi o

propel heir capialis venures forward. Ye he noion of microenre-preneur and older caegories, such as “penny capialis” (ax 1963), failo draw a disincion beween small-scale accumulaion and bare sur-vival, and hey imply ha he righs of propery, raher han righs

and proecions for labor, are he cenral issue faced by impoverished


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10 INTRODUCTION

urban residens oday. In conras, Jan Breman (1994) characerizeshe denizens of India’s peri-urban setlemens as “wage huners andgaherers,” and Michael Denning (2010) emphasizes he cenraliy ofwagelessness among he poor, marginalized inhabians of burgeon-

ing urban peripheries, arguing ha he imperaive o earn a living, nohe wage conrac, consiues he analyic saring poin for under-sanding conemporary labor processes. Breman and Denning remindus ha being wihou a wage is a widely shared experience of conem-porary capialism and, as Carbonella and Kasmir noe, “solidariy, aswell as difference, is always a possibiliy” (2014: 9). Similarly, CharlesBergquis argues ha issues of conrol lie a he core of labor sudiesand ha by addressing he muliple ways ha diverse people sruggle

o conrol heir work, he producs of heir labor, and heir living con-diions, social scieniss can “see he informal secor less as a schoolfor pety capialiss han as an exension of he working class” (1996:193). Addressing hese issues, Bergquis insiss, enables scholars omove beyond concepualizing labor as “he sudy of free bu no co-erced workers, urban bu no rural workers, indusrial bu no agricul-ural workers” (184–85).

Carbonella and Kasmir sugges ha who ges labeled as a “worker”and wha sors of labor arrangemens (e.g., formal/informal, waged/

unwaged, rural/indusrial) figure as valued economic aciviies arepoliical quesions whose answers have no always provided analyicclariy. Tey argue ha labor is bes undersood as “a political entity,whose social proess and quieude, formal and informal organizaionsand poliical culures reflec is muliple engagemens wih capial andhe sae, as well as he relaionships wih oher workers, locally, region-

ally, and globally” (Carbonella and Kasmir 2014: 7). Tis undersandingof labor embraces numerous ways of working and is no limied o he

prolearia, and i makes room for exploring how working people comeogeher (or no) wihin shifing fields of power. Various combinaionsof waged and unwaged labor have always been presen—and simula-neously produced—hroughou he long hisory of capialism.

Muliple forms of dispossession, such as land loss, forced displace-men, he privaizaion of public uiliies and resources, job loss, andcus o pensions and healh care, have given rise o a new mix of laborrelaions in places like Colombia, where poliical violence and neoliber-alism are inerwined. Peasan producion sysems are in decline; em-

porary or par-ime, nonunionized workers are replacing a relaively


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INTRODUCTION 11

small group of people who once had sable union jobs; and unwaged,wage-insecure, and criminalized labor are inensifying on he impov-erished urban peripheries, where he vicims of dispossession havesetled. Tese ransformaions open he door for exploring he fluidiy

of class relaions over ime. Tey enable us o focus our atenion on henumerous, changing ways of working, as well as he connecions anddivisions ha arise among working people wihin shifing conexs ofviolence and inequaliy, as saes, corporaions, guerrilla insurgencies,and paramiliary armies conend wih he organizaional forms (e.g.,unions, neighborhood associaions, poliical paries) ha express andchannel popular concerns. We can also begin o grasp how memories ofhe violen pas ake shape in paricular poliical conexs and inform

how diverse people undersand he presen and imagine he fuure.Sudies of he “precaria” (Sanding 2011), or “informal prolearia”(Davis 2006) in he global Souh, where is expansion is mos pro-nounced, reveal he imporance of wage-insecure and wageless laboro he producion of wealh wihin local, naional, and inernaionalcircuis of capial flows. Judih Whiehead (2012), for example, docu-mens he exreme fragmenaion of labor markes and labor in aMumbai shanyown, where mos of he laboring populaion works assree venders, home workers, pety commodiy producers, conrac

workers in larger firms, consrucion workers, and so forh. She ex-plores how specific livelihood pracices are repeaedly conneced, dis-conneced, and reconneced o global and naional capial flows in aconex where capial is hypermobile and labor is relaively fixed inplace. Her work offers insighs ino he ways ha neoliberal capialismsucks surplus value ou of poor neighborhoods by creaing a range ofnew, spaially configured labor relaions ha localize working peoplewhile simulaneously incorporaing hem ino volaile naional and

inernaional neworks of capial accumulaion ha are consanlyfragmened and recomposed. Tis process creaes vulnerabiliy andconsan uncerainy among hose who mus coninually scramble oge by.

In Barrancabermeja, he discovery of oil propelled he growh of aheerogeneous workforce and he accumulaion of laborers hroughrecurren rounds of dispossession, disorganizaion, and displacemenha generaed powerful forms of solidariy and deep divisions over he

wenieh cenury. Beginning in he 1920s, migrans from he ropical

norhern plains and he mounainous Andean highlands fled povery,


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12 INTRODUCTION

landlord violence, and propery enclosure for he prospec of jobs inhe nascen oil indusry. Barrancabermeja quickly acquired he largesconcenraion of wage laborers of any Colombian ciy, and he orga-nizaion of a powerful oil workers’ union proved decisive in decades-

long popular sruggles agains he ransnaional oil corporaion and,subsequenly, he sae-owned oil company. Ye despie heir organiza-ional power and imporance o a key indusry, he oil workers rarelyaced alone. Semiprolearianized peasans, pety merchans, and im-poverished urbanies backed heir demands for beter condiions inhe oil fields and he labor camps, and he oil workers, in urn, sup-pored sruggles for land, access o markes, social services, and na-ional sovereigny. Diverse working people forged a remarkable degree

of self-organizaion and muual suppor ha was nurured by vari-ous poliical currens—liberalism, anarchism, socialism, communism,and Chrisian humanism. Te dismanling of his ighly kni class cul-ure did no happen all a once. I was an uneven, disconinuous pro-cess ha eruped during he mid-wenieh-cenury period of naionalbloodleting known simply as “La Violencia” and hen spiraled ino adeadly vorex a he end of he cenury, when an emergen far- righalliance of drug raffickers, catle ranchers, poliicians, and neoliberalenrepreneurs unleashed a diry war in he counryside and he ciy

ha remapped power and swep in neoliberalism on a river of blood.Te hisory of Barrancabermeja demonsraes ha he sruggles of

oil workers—he classic prolearia of Marxis heory—had a broadbase ha exended beyond he oil fields and he refinery, and for hebeter par of he wenieh cenury, diverse working people forgedconnecions ha spanned he counry and he ciy and claimed iden-iies wihin a simmering sew of diverse labor relaions. Barrancaber-meja’s complex labor hisory furher demonsraes ha neiher he

fragmenaion and dispossession affecing he lives of conemporaryworking people in he ciy nor he emergence of new and remade laborrelaions and culural differences elsewhere are unprecedened. Raher,

i suggess a need o reexamine how labor and convenional labor con-flics are undersood.

A focus on class poliics highlighs he unfolding ways ha workingpeople undersand heir experiences, organize livelihood sraegies oge by, and concepualize and creae relaionships as hey engage wiheach oher and conend wih more powerful groups. We can grasp how,

a imes, hey may build relaionships ha connec people across racial,


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INTRODUCTION 13

ehnic, naional, and gender divisions o press claims on he powerful.We can also undersand how dispossession, social rupures, and fearsever social ies, expose working people o new kinds of discipline, andaggravae old and creae new forms of inequaliy (e.g., Carbonella 2014;

Kasmir 2014; Narozky and Smih 2006). Class as an analyic caegorycapures he conflics, accommodaions, and alliances ha shape andreshape power-laden relaionships. Tis book seeks o undersand howa cenury of capialis developmen and popular mobilizaion coninu-ally remade class relaions hrough he periodic dispossession, dis-placemen, and disorganizaion of working people and heir insiu-ions. Cenral o his process were inense poliical sruggles over hespaces of labor exploiaion, capial accumulaion, and power.

Geographies of Power

By 1930, he growh of he oil expor enclave had ransformed hesleepy river setlemen of Barrancabermeja ino a hriving oupos ofworking-class culure and sociey. Afer oil workers received heir payon wha became known as “big Saurdays,” an exodus from he rudi-menary encampmens in “El Cenro,” where he oil fields were locaed,o he busling river por began. Gonzalo Buenahora, a physician who

worked in Barrancabermeja for fory years, recalled ha “Barrancaonly had 16,000 inhabians, and he workers who arrived [from heoil fields] were like hree housand.” Tey came on a rain owned byhe oil company, “dressed impeccably in whie from he fee o hebow ie and wih pockes full of money. . . . And hey all came, no-body remained [behind]” (qd. in Archila 1978: 98). Te men spen heir

money in bars, resaurans, and bordellos, where regional accens fromhe norh coas and he Anioquian valleys mixed wih he foreign-

accened Spanish of merchans from as far afield as Lebanon, conraclaborers from he Briish Wes Indies, supervisors and engineers fromNorh America, and prosiues from across Colombia and abroad.

Alhough i is emping o view he coninual accumulaion of di-verse workers in Barrancabermeja—from he early migraions hagave birh o he enclave o he recen displacemens of he dirywar—as a “local” phenomenon, he empaion should be resised. Teenclave, and subsequenly he ciy and he region, ook shape amidviolen sruggles over he righs of labor and he righs of ciizenship

in he places where people worked and lived. While working people


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14 INTRODUCTION

sough o produce and conrol space hrough he exension of heir in-siuions and alliances, he oil company drew on is ies o he UniedSaes and mobilized he insiuional sae, he police, and he mili-ary o creae and regulae space in he ineres of global capialism.

Te dispossession, localizaion, and isolaion of diverse people moldedhe iniial formaion of he enclave, while disruping and dislocaingmore or less setled social and poliical arrangemens was key o sub-sequen projecs of rule in Barrancabermeja and he Middle Magda-lena. Tese processes underscored he ways ha class and sae for-maion were consiuive of each oher. How differen, power- ladengeographies emerged from conflicing poliical and economic agendasand how working people organized wihin and agains hem o advance

heir concerns are imporan quesions.Tis book addresses hem by examining he ense dialecic hashaped class formaion and he producion of fragmened and differ-enly organized forms of erriorial conrol in which, a differen imes,

a ransnaional oil company, guerrilla insurgencies, and righ-wingparamiliaries regulaed social life in he areas under heir conrol andalongside, wihin, and agains he insiuional sae in diverse ways. Iargues ha he “sae” always aced hrough over and cover allianceswih oher acors who wielded varying degrees of power and who a-

emped o consolidae, exend, and nauralize wha were, in fac, self-ineresed and paricular claims abou he organizaion of social life inhe name of he common good. Ye hese poliical configuraions havealways been unsable, and hey are a cenral feaure of he perpeualcrisis of hegemony in he Middle Magdalena. Te book considers hreedisinc periods in which shifing regimes of capial accumulaion, hecoercive capaciies of differen acors, and he organizaion and claimsmaking of working people gave rise o changing geographies of power.

Firs, i explores he developmen of Barrancabermeja as a foreign-conrolled expor enclave from he 1920s o 1960, when he ropicalOil Company ()—a subsidiary of he Sandard Oil Company ofNew Jersey—acquired he subsoil righs o a vas exension of ropicalfores. Te recruied legions of impoverished migrans o cuaccess roads, consruc buildings, and evenually drill for oil. Te pro-cess of sinking wells in he ropical soil and creaing an infrasrucureo suppor hem required ha he company physically conrol erriory

and manage a labor force ha was sill unschooled in he pracices of

indusrial work discipline. Te creaion of he enclave brough ogeher


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INTRODUCTION 15

he managers of a global corporaion, sae officials, and diverse work-ing people in far-flung relaionships of dominaion and exploiaionha were srenghened by he hrea of U.S. miliary inervenion; inaddiion, i placed he in compeiion wih he exas Peroleum

Company and Royal Duch Shell, which also won permission o drillfor oil in concessions along he river. Te developmen of he oil in-dusry in he Middle Magdalena mirrored coness beween expand-ing global corporaions and nascen working classes in he MexicanHuaseca and Venezuela’s Maracaibo Basin, where Royal Duch Shell,Briish Peroleum, and he Sandard Oil Company operaed, as well asin he emergen banana zones of he circum-Caribbean and Ecuador(Saniago 2006; Sriffler 2002; Sriffler and Moberg 2003; inker Salas

2009; Vega 2002).Hisorian Paul Kramer suggess ha expor enclaves consiue“sraegic hamles” of empire ha concenrae exraordinary powerhrough he conrol of space and power; hey are, he argues, “spaial ex-

cepions” (2011: 1356) in which corporaions produce commodiies andaccumulae capial by enclosing and isolaing populaions, severing er-

riory from local jurisdicion, and arrogaing he righ o conrol sociallife wihin he enclaves. Ye because corporaions in early wenieh-cenury Lain America conrolled capial more easily han workers,

heir bid for sovereign power ran up agains he conradicions hahad produced expor enclaves from heir incepion: he generaion ofeconomic differeniaion and culural differences simulaneously andhe ensuing ensions ha arose from hem. Te sharp culural and eco-nomic divisions ha separaed foreign managers from Colombian,Ecuadoran, Venezuelan, and Mexican workers soked naionalis re-senmen, fueled ani-imperialism, and magnified poliical repression.Colombian oil workers fough for a more democraic, sovereign sae,

one ha would regulae conflics wih he , beter conrol accesso naural resources, and exend he guaranees and proecions of lib-eral ciizenship, such as he righ o unionize, freedom of assemblyand speech, and collecive bargaining. As hisorian Charles Bergquis(1986) noes, working classes in expor enclaves formed he bedrockof radical labor movemens in early wenieh-cenury Lain America,and heir influence was fel well beyond geographically isolaed zonesof commodiy producion. Tey periodically mobilized naional sen-imen in heir suppor, and hey someimes even shook he founda-

ions of liberal capialism, obliging corporaions o deal wih more far-


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16 INTRODUCTION

reaching demands han wha he firms encounered from workers inhe Unied Saes.

Te coness beween labor and capial ha gave birh o he en-clave in he 1920s conribued o is demise in he middle decades of

he wenieh cenury, he second period in which labor relaions andcapial accumulaion were remapped in Barrancabermeja (1960–90).By he lae 1950s, he foreign-owned enclave was in decline almoseverywhere, including Barrancabermeja, where growing naionalism,inensified union aciviy, and a governmen search for more exporrevenue persuaded he o allow is concession o expire and osubsequenly relinquish conrol of he oil indusry o he Colombiansae. Te midcenury creaion of he sae-owned inaugu-

raed an era of direc sae conrol of he Colombian oil indusry hacoincided wih he modernizaion of he economy. A more inervenionis cenral sae embarked on an agenda of capi-

alis modernizaion. I assumed a greaer role in he sewardship ofeconomic developmen, promoing impor-subsiuion policies andspurring agro-indusrial developmen hough he exension of subsi-dized credi and machinery o large landowners (Safford and Palacios2002). I also oversaw he expansion of he public secor beween 1950and 1980, which ransformed oil workers ino employees of he sae

and generaed an increase in he number of oher public secor employ-ees, including eachers, civil servans, and healh care and elecommu-nicaions workers, who joined unions and expanded he labor move-men in Barrancabermeja. Ye even hough barranqueños no longersuffered under he arbirary power of he , hey were no in-corporaed ino he modernizing sae as fully eniled ciizens. Terelaionship beween working people and he insiuional sae ranaground over he provision of public services, labor righs, and he re-

pressive hand of sae securiy forces. A new wave of uprooed peasanswas washing over he ciy, pushed ou of he counryside by landlordviolence and he expansion of large-scale commercial agriculure, buunlike in he pas, he newcomers did no find jobs in he oil indus-ry; hey ereced shanyowns on he edge of own and became parof a floaing populaion of wageless or wage-insecure workers. Popu-lar demands for public services, backed by he oil workers’ union, werecriminalized and repressed, as rising cold war ensions and he exclu-sive naure of he Naional Fron (1958–74) narrowed he parameers

of poliical paricipaion.


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INTRODUCTION 17

Alhough Colombia became he showcase for he Kennedy admin-israion’s Alliance for Progress, an economic and miliary assisanceprogram launched in 1961 ha sough o save off demands for radi-cal social changes, he sae- led process of capialis modernizaion

sidesepped he deep inequaliies and poliical exclusions ha charac-erized Colombian sociey, especially he lopsided landholding sruc-ure. Successive Naional Fron governmens, in which he Liberal andConservaive Paries alernaed in power, marginalized reformis ini-iaives and repressed revoluionary demands for more far- reachingpoliical, economic, and social ransformaions. Poliical exclusion, anunresponsive sae bureaucracy, and he equaion of proes wih com-munis subversion spurred he organizaion of guerrilla insurgencies

ha pu down deep roos in he Middle Magdalena. Te insurgenciesadvocaed he overhrow and ransformaion of he sae, and, as heFuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revoluionary ArmedForces of Colombia, ) and he Ejércio Nacional de Liberación (Na-ional Liberaion Army, )—Colombia’s larges and mos enduringguerrilla organizaions—grew more powerful and laid claim o erri-ory in he Middle Magdalena, hey creaed a poliical crisis for hesae ha aggravaed he fragmenaion of sovereigny.

As Barrancabermeja shed is ideniy as an oil enclave and ook on

he appearance of a hriving urban cener in he 1960s and 1970s, he juxaposiion of a profiable oil indusry wih is well-paid workforce

and desiue immigran neighborhoods, formed by uprooed peasans

expelled from he counryside by he expansion of commercial agricul-ure, laid bare he ways ha capialism produced spaces of povery andwealh concurrenly. I also undergirded he role of he sae in hisprocess. Diverse working people found common cause in he demandha he cenral governmen live up o is promises of developmen and

modernizaion. Te oil workers’ union, neighborhood organizaions,unions, lef poliical paries and movemens, and civic organizaionsclaimed a “righ o he ciy” (Harvey 2010), ha is, a righ o he re-invesmen of he surpluses some of hem had creaed ino public ser-vices. A series of civic srikes rocked Barrancabermeja in he 1960s and1970s and zeroed in on he dearh of public services, especially waer.

As hey had in he pas, working people me in he srees o demandha he sae ake care of is ciizens. Guerrilla insurgencies, especiallyhe , buil on his disconenmen and consruced long-erm re-

laionships wih secors of he urban working class. Ye unlike in oher


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18 INTRODUCTION

ciies, such as Vienna in he 1920s (Gruber 1991) or El Alo, Bolivia,oday (Hylon and Tomson 2007; Lazar 2008), where working-classself-organizaion and municipal conrol defined he conours of urbanlife, Barrancabermeja’s working people never conrolled sae and mu-

nicipal offices. Teir power resided in unions, Chrisian base commu-niies, suden organizaions, neighborhood associaions, lef poliicalparies, and ies o he insurgencies. Te srengh of heir reformisand revoluionary challenges prefigured he inensiy of he error di-reced agains working people beween 1980 and he early weny-firscenury. Te rise of he illegal cocaine economy and an inensifying,counerinsurgen diry war reerriorialized power, reshaped labor re-laions, and ransformed he ways ha people advanced claims on he

sae from a focus on naional sovereigny, labor proecions, and pub-lic services o human righs.Te emergence of violen paramiliary mafias, he counerinsurgen

war, and he adven of neoliberalism fired a violen new phase of er-riorial sruggle, working-class decomposiion, and sae formaionfrom he 1980s o he presen, he primary focus of his book. Poliicalviolence inensified in Colombia even as he conclusion of he cold warled o he cessaion of hosiliies in Cenral America, where he signingof peace accords in he 1990s brough an end o decades of civil war.

Insurgencies ha were miliarily srong bu poliically weak conrolledhuge swahs of he counry’s riches land. In addiion, he decline ofhe radiional coffee economy and he increasing imporance of oherlegal and illegal expor commodiies—oil, gold, African palm, bananas,

emeralds, and especially cocaine—bolsered he configuraion of re-gionally based, reacionary power blocs. Tese new configuraions ofregional power drew heir srengh from powerful paramiliary armiesand formed alliances wih sae officials and securiy forces o push he

insurgencies ou of resource-rich areas of he counry and desroy anyorganizaion deemed sympaheic o hem (Hylon 2014). Alhoughhe counerinsurgen war was supposed o exend he power of hecenral sae, i deepened he fragmenaion of power by abeting heformaion of regional sovereignies, or parasaes, ha ruled wihin,alongside, and someimes agains he official sae and ha adopedexreme forms of labor repression (Richani 2007). Tis process wasfaciliaed by poliical and economic sae decenralizaion, which en-abled violen mercenaries and heir supporers o capure municipal,

provincial, and naional eleced office and o reconfigure sae erriory


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INTRODUCTION 19

on deeply undemocraic erms (López 2010; see also Ballvé 2012). Tecounerinsurgen war was financed by he growing forunes of majordrug lords who made sophisicaed weaponry, vehicles, airplanes, andcommunicaion equipmen available, firs, o hi men and emergen

deah squads o proec heir exensive operaions from he guerril-las and, hen, o sanding armies ha conquered and conrolled er-riory. I was also suppored by U.S. inervenion in he form of PlanColombia, a mulibillion-dollar counerinsurgency program iniiaedby Presiden Bill Clinon in 2000 ha provided helicopers, raining,and inelligence equipmen o he police and miliary, who were keyallies of he paramiliaries, and hrough a program, financed bya mulibillion-dollar black budge auhorized by Presiden George W.

Bush and coninued by Presiden Barack Obama, ha provided inelli-gence and “smar bombs” o decimae insurgen forces.In Barrancabermeja, righ-wing paramiliaries ied o sae securiy

forces and regional elies crushed working-class power, expelled heguerrillas, and ook over he ciy and mos of he Middle Magdalena re-

gion by 2003. Te mayhem was fueled by impuniy, an aspec of powerha allowed perperaors o ge away wih murder again and again,and ha made i nearly impossible for working people o do anyhingabou wha was happening. Te crisis reconfigured urban space and

creaed a sense of pervasive fear and insecuriy, which paved he wayfor he incorporaion of working people ino more auhoriarian formsof labor discipline, ren exracion, and poliical subjugaion. Tesenew and remade relaionships provided he grounding for a paricu-larly pernicious form of armed neoliberalism. Te “peace” ha reignedin Barrancabermeja afer 2003 was a chimera; i resed on a deep reser-voir of fear, coerced collaboraion, insecuriy, and grudging accepanceha regulaed he lives of residens and made i difficul o repair rup-

ured social relaionships and sich ogeher fragmened memoriesso ha urban residens could explain and undersand, in shared ways,wha happened and coninued o happen o hem.

Te configuraion and reconfiguraion of Barrancabermeja as a cen-er of capial accumulaion and popular sruggle raises quesions abou

how power operaes hrough uneven connecions o imperial sruc-ures and disan naional insiuions, and how hese connecionsransform socieies and condense power in key poins on a broaderglobal apesry. I promps us o ask how disincions beween foreign/

domesic and sae/nonsae are consruced and how righs are de-


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20 INTRODUCTION

fined and disribued o differen kinds of people. How, oo, do working

people envision he sae and formulae claims agains i? Such ques-ions open he concepual possibiliy of exploring how he kinds of so-cial relaions, undersandings, and forms of poliical paricipaion ha

become insiuionalized as “he sae” are hemselves he oucome ofconending projecs of rule, which operae in differen scalar dimen-sions (e.g., Nugen 1997). Indeed, as Chrisopher Krupa and DavidNugen (2015) argue, naional-erriorial models of he sae mask how

conflicing claims o legiimae rule are embedded in he fabric of social

life. Tese models and he formal ficion of naion-sae sovereignyand naional conrol ha hey preserve shroud he ofen considerablepower of subnaional groups o command and conrol erriory and

regulae social life wihin i. Tey also mask he imperial power of heUnied Saes by mainaining is invisibiliy, even as is corporaions,securiy forces, diplomas, and aid programs inrude ino he abiliy ofclien saes o conrol economic aciviy, regulae social life, and com-mand erriory (Kramer 2011; ae 2015). Oudaed concepual modelshave promped analyss o address new quesions abou wha he saeis, where i is locaed, and how poliical life should be organized (Krupaand Nugen 2015).

A number of scholars noe ha he capaciy of saes o claim effec-

ive conrol over a erriory in he name of he naion and is ciizenshas always been limied because subnaional populaions play an im-poran par in how sae insiuions, ideologies, and pracices be-come esablished in any given localiy. Power may be wielded by dif-feren “illegal armed groups” (Ávila 2010), warlords (Duncan 2006),and paramiliaries or self-defense forces (Romero 2003) and organizedamong various kinds of fragmened “informal sovereignies” (Hansenand Seppua 2006), “sae proxies” (Krupa 2010), “proo-saes” (Be-

jarano and Pizarro 2004), “shadow powers” (Gledhill 1999; Nordsrom2000), “parasaes” (Gill 2009), and forms of “subnaional auhoriari-anism” (Bonilla 2007) ha enjoy varying degrees of legiimacy. More-over, fronier regions, such as Colombia’s Puumayo province, hahave long been perceived as lawless, violen, and “uncivilized” disruphe erriorial uniformiy ofen ascribed o he sae (Ramírez 2011).

Wha emerged in Barrancabermeja and oher Colombian regionsa he dawn of he weny-firs cenury was less he hegemony of aparicular group han he dominaion of regionally based alliances of

righ-wing poliicians, landlords, drug raffickers, and secors of he


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INTRODUCTION 21

securiy forces organized ino various narco-paramiliary blocs (Ávila2010). Based in provincial ciies and small owns, hese powerful coali-ions dominaed municipal and provincial offices, conrolled muchof he legal and illegal economy, and pushed he fulcrum of poliical

power o he righ (Hylon 2014; Richani 2007). Tey were more suc-cessful han he insurgencies in wha Philip Abrams idenified as hecenral aciviy of sae formaion: “legiimaing of he illegiimae”(1988: 76). Trough he creaion and financial backing of new poliicalmovemens ha refleced he concerns of heir mos violen elemens,hey gained naional power hrough he elecion of candidaes o highpoliical office, as hey sough o legalize ill-goten lands and wealh,avoid prosecuion, and gain poliical legiimacy. A Century of Violence

in a Red City demonsraes how processes of sae formaion generaedvarious erriorially based forms of power in he Middle Magdalenaregion ha generaed conflicing claims o rule. Tese shifing geogra-phies of power regulaed social life o differen degrees and operaedin complex relaionship o governmen officials and insiuions. Teywere deeply inerwined wih he making and unmaking of class andhe changing scale of working-class power.

Political Violence and Class Politics As is apparen by now, violence has been consiuive of sae forma-

ion, he organizaion and command of space, and labor processes inhe Middle Magdalena. Colombia has long been regarded as one ofLain America’s mos violen counries, and he Middle Magdalena re-gion is one of he mos violen places in Colombia. Ye governmen offi-

cials like o insis ha heir counry is Lain America’s oldes democ-racy. Wih he excepion of a brief period in he 1950s, Colombia has no

experienced he brual miliary dicaorships ha ruled over mos ofmid-wenieh-cenury Lain America, and i has held regular elecionsfor decades. Bu he numbers of murdered and disappeared people inColombia are among he larges in wenieh-cenury Lain Americanhisory. According o he Grupo de Memoria Hisórica (2013), an offi-cial body charged wih clarifying more han fify years of armed con-flic, a leas 220,000 people died beween 1958 and 2012 as a resul ofhe war. Beween he 1980s and he early weny-firs cenury, morerade unioniss have died han in any oher counry in he world (Soli-

dariy Cener 2006), and he forcible displacemen of more han seven


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22 INTRODUCTION

million people has generaed he larges inernally displaced popula-ion in he world, afer Sudan.

Even hough violence—ha is, brue force ha aims o crush, elimi-

nae, or menally desroy an individual or group—is a recurren feaure

in he periodic dispossession and reconfiguraion of working classes,is cenraliy o capialism is frequenly overlooked in social scienceanalyses and human righs reporing. Greg Grandin (2010) noes hascholars have subsiued analyic caegories, such as exploiaion, forhumanisic ones, such as suffering, and have chosen violence as a pri-mary opic of research raher han rying o explain how i emergesas a by-produc from conflics wih deep hisorical roos. A spae ofsocial science heorizing has sough o exend he concep beyond in-

srumenalized force o beter undersand how i pervades he fabricof social life. Noions such as “srucural violence” (Farmer 1997) and“coninuum of violence” (Scheper-Hughes and Bourgois 2004) promisedeeper insighs ino he social, culural, and economic dimensions ofviolence. Ye despie he uiliy of hese formaions in cerain conexs,hey risk diluing he concep by finding i everywhere and reifying i.

Alhough violence is, indeed, an experienial realiy ha has imporan

meaningful and symbolic consequences, i canno be dissociaed frombroader analyses of power, such as “he ransformaion of economic re-

laions and he sae, and he evoluion of compeing ideologies vyingfor common-sense saus” (Grandin 2010: 7).

Te enanglemens of violence and capialis processes are also lefunexplored in much human righs reporing on he Middle Magda-lena region. Repors enumerae he deails of massacres, disappear-ances, and exrajudicial execuions, illuminae he operaions of clan-desine securiy forces, and documen incidens of orure, bu heyleave unexamined he social, poliical, and economic relaionships ha

drive vicims and perperaors ino conflic (e.g., Human Righs Wach2001, 2010). Tis kind of reporing srives for high levels of facualaccuracy and poliical neuraliy, bu he move o depoliicize humanrighs accouns and o place hem above and ouside poliics is iself“poliical.” I removes argeed groups and individuals from he his-ory of social, economic, and poliical sruggle ha generaed violencein he firs place and reas hem as passive vicims, obscuring howhey lived and ofen died. Despie he crucial imporance of documen-ing human righs violaions, he language of human righs does no

offer an adequae framework for analyzing poliical violence because


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INTRODUCTION 23

i separaes repression from complex, compeing poliical agendas anddisances iself from any associaion wih poliics (Sriffler 2015). Amore dynamic, relaional approach ha goes beyond he descripionand enumeraion of arociies is necessary, one in which violence—

massacres, exrajudicial execuions, orure, and so forh—is less heobjec of analysis han he oucome of social conflics and examinedwihin he broader social and poliical field from which i arises. Howforce and counerforce operae a he inersecion of working people’schanging relaionships o each oher and more powerful groups, on heone hand, and heir feelings abou hese ransformaions, on he oherhand, is a key quesion ha needs o be addressed.

Alhough Barrancabermeja represens an exreme case of poliical

violence and neoliberal resrucuring, i canno be disconneced fromhe upheavals, polarizaion, and ideological hardening ha butressedLain America’s cold war, which was less a batle beween superpowerproxies han a campaign by he Unied Saes, beginning in he earlywenieh cenury, o suppress insurgen challenges o various formsof social, poliical, and economic exclusion and inequaliy (Grandinand Joseph 2010). Grandin (2004) argues persuasively ha U.S.-backed

counerinsurgen violence in Lain America dismanled capaciousforms of democracy ha prevailed in he 1940s and replaced hem wih

narrower, resriced democracies defined in erms of personal freedom,raher han social securiy. Several scholars have explored how cold war

error paved he way for neoliberalism hrough he repression of de-mands for change, he dismanling of organizaions ha channeledpopular calls for jusice, and he replacemen of collecive movemensfor social change wih individual survival sraegies.

A number of analyss, for example, demonsrae how General Auguso Pinoche’s assaul on Chilean labor unions and shanyown

aciviss disariculaed resisance o his dicaorship and errorizedworking people ino passiviy, enabling he regime o enac neoliberallabor policies derimenal o worker ineress (C. Schneider 1995; Winn2004). In Guaemala, Deborah Levenson-Esrada (1994) examines howhe clash beween Coca-Cola workers, who waned o form a union, and

he inransigence of managemen and he Guaemalan sae generaedbrual miliary repression. She also documens how Guaemala’s geno-cidal war and is afermah ransformed relaively benign youh gangsino violence-obsessed groups focused on drug consumpion and kill-

ing each oher (Levenson 2013). Elsewhere in Colombia, Forres Hylon


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24 INTRODUCTION

(2010) analyzes he “refeudalizaion” of social relaions in he ciy ofMedellín as he ougrowh of economic liberalizaion and he para-miliary repression, and Aviva Chomsky (2008) describes how poliicalviolence suppressed labor proess in he Urabá banana zone and en-

abled banana growers o force former peasans, previously displacedfrom heir lands, o labor under appalling condiions on he plana-ions. Alhough he inensiy of he violence ha accompanied neolib-eral resrucuring across Lain America varied, repression was paricu-larly severe in hose places where he organized opposiion of peasans,

workers, indigenous, and sudens resised he rollback of hard-wonrighs and opposed he handover of ferile, mineral-rich lands o for-eign corporaions and domesic elies.

David Harvey (2005) suggess ha neoliberalism is a poliicalprojec, one designed o re-creae he condiions for capial accumu-laion and o susain or resore he wealh and power of elies. Tisprojec has been a paricularly sanguinary affair in Barrancabermeja.Nowadays, here is no common memory of he pas ha can help work-

ing people beter undersand he presen and ge heir arms aroundhe fuure. A durable disorder has setled over he ciy. Treas againslabor aciviss, human righs defenders, and leaders of communiy or-ganizaions persis; sae prosecuors pursue criics of he saus quo

on rumped-up charges; and selecive assassinaions remain a chillingreminder of he consequences of quesioning he esablished order. Te

violen unraveling of Barrancabermeja’s milian working class has di-minished a vision of he sae as responsible for he welfare—social,economic, and poliical—of all working people, and he language ofclass as a form of claims making has been sifled. A limied concepionof individual “human righs” has replaced more ambiious dreams ofsocial ransformaion. More generally, poliical error has led o he

arophy of working-class consciousness and solidariy, while individualrighs and acions have become he new, narrower poliical horizon forworking people in Barrancabermeja. Tis reconcepualizaion of selfand solidariy is wha Grandin (2010) idenifies as he key vicory ofcold war, counerinsurgen error, and he basic requiremen for heneoliberal regimes ha followed in is wake.

Human righs appealed o a moral vision of a global communiy ha

was no hemmed in by any poliical sysem or repressive dicaor. Irepresened a form of inernaionalism ha replaced older inerna-

ionalis uopias, such as anicolonialism and communism, which em-


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INTRODUCTION 25

phasized collecive self-deerminaion and naional sovereigny overindividual freedom, and which underscored he imporance of hesae, raher han he supremacy of inernaional law (Moyn 2010).Te liberal concep of human righs, wih is emphasis on he indi-

vidual, was no cenral o lefis radiions in Barrancabermeja, andmany aciviss once criicized i for failing o address he main reasonsof social conflic. By he ime of my fieldwork, human righs acom-pañamieno had become the form of inernaional solidariy, one hasrove less o connec popular sruggles han o provide a modicum ofcover for aciviss argeed by he sae whom he lef could no pro-ec. Te violen desrucion of he lef, beginning in he 1980s, movedpersecued people o undersand human righs as boh an immediae

concern and a sraegy o generae inernaional suppor o force heColombian sae o respec is own ciizens. Righs-based opposiion,however, offered less a vision of a beter world han a criique of whawas wrong wih he presen, and he nongovernmenal organizaions(s) and sae-sponsored offices ha manifesed he insiuionalconfiguraion of human righs acivism could no address he economic

marginalizaion and social fragmenaion ha deepened under neo-liberalism. Because of he overwhelming pressure of he paramiliariesand he sae securiy forces, he pracice of human righs never devel-

oped beyond a defense of he righ o life o reariculae a collecivepoliical projec, which was crucial a a ime when new, far-righ coali-ions were making a bid for power.

Human righs claims represened a defensive sraegy ha emergedwhen civilian massacres happened wih greaer frequency and whenworking-class solidariy in Barrancabermeja was being snuffed ou. Al-hough he endless repeiion of massacres and he documenaion ofhem could hardly have been more disempowering of working people,

human righs acivism was he las resor for people desperae o semhe violence raining down from all sides. Human righs became hecenral concep around which some working people made demandson he official sae for jusice and accounabiliy (ae 2007) andsruggled o rebuild old and craf new forms of alliance. Human righsdiscourse emerged as he “language of conenion”—ha is, a “com-mon language or way of alking abou social relaionships ha ses ouhe cenral erms around which and in erms of which conesaion and

sruggle can occur” (Roseberry 1994: 361)—as lef poliical movemens

and organizaions were crushed in Barrancabermeja, and as he insur-


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26 INTRODUCTION

gencies’ paricipaion in kidnapping, drug rafficking, and exoriondiscredied “socialism” as a viable poliical projec. Ye whose righsmatered, and wha righs couned? Wha kind of a poliical projec didhe sruggle for human righs represen? A Century of Violence in a Red

City akes up hese quesions.Te book is organized in he following manner: chaper 1 examines

he creaion of Barrancabermeja as a foreign-dominaed, oil expor en-clave over he firs half of he wenieh cenury. I analyzes how con-ess over he command of space, he conrol of labor, and he accumu-laion of capial shaped relaionships beween a foreign oil company,he Colombian sae, and he rural migrans who sough work in he oil

fields. I asks how he creaion of a foreign-dominaed expor enclave

concenraed power in he allegedly sovereign erriory of he naion-sae and made he exreme exploiaion, dominaion, and subordina-ion of working people possible. I also asks how he accumulaion ofworking people fueled radical popular sruggles ha led o he forma-ion of he , Colombia’s mos milian rade union, and ha even-ually conribued o he demise of he enclave and he naionalizaionof he oil indusry.

Chaper 2 considers how, in he wake of he naionalizaion of he oil

indusry and amid he hardening divisions of he cold war, processes of

sae formaion and popular sruggle enered a new phase. Te insi-uional sae, raher han a foreign corporaion, became he arge ofdisconen, and new social movemens in alliance wih he oil workers’union demanded he provision of public services, as he capialis mod-

ernizaion of he counryside propelled he accumulaion of wagedand wage-insecure workers in he ciy and he emergence of shany-owns on he urban periphery. Te “civic srikes” ha rocked Barran-cabermeja in he 1970s had much in common wih earlier labor srikes

in which demands for unions, an eigh-hour workday, higher wages,and so forh, predominaed: boh forms of popular proes broughogeher diverse working people who overcame heir differences, builalliances, and ratled he chains of power. aken ogeher, chapers 1and 2 lay ou he alliances and connecions ha made and remade classrelaionships in Barrancabermeja over he early and middle decades ofhe wenieh cenury, and hey preview wha was los in subsequenyears.

Chapers 3 and 4 discuss how counerinsurgen, paramiliary er-

ror unmade Barrancabermeja’s working class by rupuring he fabric


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INTRODUCTION 27

of popular solidariy and dispossessing and displacing working peoplefrom he lae wenieh cenury o he presen. Poliical violence pro-vided boh he precondiions and he bedrock for he expansion ofneoliberalism. Chaper 3 considers how he paramiliary akeover of

he ciy creaed a crisis for working people, one ha ore hem fromheir social and insiuional moorings and exposed hem o poliicaland economic forces beyond heir conrol. I focuses on how impuniy,fear, and berayal shaped working-class disorganizaion and defea.Chaper 4 hen demonsraes, hrough he example of he Coca-Colaworkers, how poliical violence and accumulaion by dispossession un-raveled a relaively privileged and well-organized secor of Barranca-bermeja’s working class and faciliaed he growh of insecure and em-

porary employmen.Chaper 5 akes up he emergence of a violen new configuraionof power in Barrancabermeja, beween 2000 and 2006, in which para-miliaries forged a realm of de faco sovereigny ha was groundedin he violen repression of labor, he suppression of democraic pro-cesses, and he conrol of illegal aciviies, especially he cocaine raffic.

Te paramiliary vicory shutered a vision of he sae as he guard-ian of he public ineres and raised quesions abou where he saewas locaed and who had he legiimae righ o rule. Te chaper ex-

plores how barranqueños were incorporaed ino new or reconfiguredforms of exploiaive labor discipline, ren exracion, and poliicalsubjugaion ha characerized he miliarized neoliberalism ha heparamiliary akeover solidified. I also considers how ordinary peopleundersood “he sae” in a conex in which he boundaries beweenparamiliaries and he insiuional sae and beween illegaliy andlegaliy became blurred.

Chaper 6 analyzes he rise of human righs acivism wihin he con-

ex of poliical error, working-class seback, and ascendan neoliber-alism. I races he emergence of human righs advocacy from earlierforms of acivism and considers how i arose as a new way of makingclaims on he insiuional sae. I argues ha while human righsacivism opened some room for a new poliics of righs o develop in arepressive poliical environmen, i was unable o wihsand he poweraligned agains i and remained a defensive sraegy ha never movedbeyond he condemnaion of individual acs of error. Tis was, in par,because of wha he violence had already desroyed: a way of under-

sanding and acing on he world rooed in class ideniies and orga-


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28 INTRODUCTION

nizaions. Tis chaper argues ha wha go los in human righs dis-course and acivism was his sense of class consciousness and collecive

acion a a ime when a resurgen ruling class was ighening is gripon power.

Finally, chaper 7 focuses on he afermah of counerinsurgency inBarrancabermeja, an unsable momen in which he war coninues buby oher means. I considers how he diry war produced an unsablesocial “order” ha resed on a foundaion of disorder in which radi-cal uncerainy and coninuing violence undermined working people’sabiliy o esablish conrol over heir lives. Te chaper explores how,in he absence of common memories abou he pas and disagreemenabou he causes of persisen violence in he presen, working people

sruggle anew on a fragmened social errain o rebuild relaionshipso each oher. How, i asks, can men and women creae a peaceful co-exisence when hey are forced o compee wih each oher for dailysurvival, and when hey hold differen memories abou he pas? By ad-

dressing such quesions, he chaper draws atenion o he muliudeof conemporary claims and concerns ha shape he ongoing makingand unmaking of class.

A Century of Violence in a Red City by Lesley Gill

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