Forced abandonment and dispossession of lands in southern Colombia: The case of Neiva-Huila. 2002-2017

Abstract

With the failure of the peace process between the government of Andrés Pastrana and the guerrilla of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) at the beginning of 2002, the national policy of the Democratic Security of the government of Álvaro Uribe Vélez was established, which increased the military and intelligence presence of the armed forces in various regions of the country. Neiva, capital of the department of Huila, became a zone of escalation of the war that until a few years ago suffered the constant inclemency of the attacks of actors of the armed conflict. The article analyzes the impacts of the armed conflict in the “opita” society, emphasizing the dynamics of dispossession and forced abandonment of land between 2002 and 2017. It also highlights the guerrilla incursions in the city of Neiva, and the abuse that the guerrillas of the FARC recognized to have perpetrated against the civilian population in the framework of the escalation of armed actions and war. The main means of communication and their constant denunciation of the increase in violence and coercion against the civilian population were used as sources, as well as reports from the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, among other entities of the State. There was also a general description of the specialized historiography of the period of negotiations between the government of Andres Pastrana and the FARC, which served as a basis for interpreting the logics of forced abandonment and dispossession of land in the south of the country.