State Strength and Guerrilla Power: The Equilibrium Between the ColombianGovernment and the Guerrilla Groups

摘要

This study addresses the question of whether there is an equilibrium between theColombian government and the guerrilla groups. This subject is addressed for the purpose of gaining an understanding and finding answers to Colombia's violent political conflict. The study argues that there is an equilibrium between the government and the guerrilla groups. The author uses three variables: (1) military balance, (2) peasant support for the guerrillas, and (3) the weakness of the state, to discuss the equilibrium and its effect in this conflict. In conclusion, the author maintains that the equilibrium between the actors in the conflict is not structural, but is a circumstance of the effects of both the narcotics trafficking and the failure of the judicial system. If this balance is to change, action must be taken on two fronts, narcotics trafficking and the judicial system.