2020/07/15 by José Antonio Gutiérrez D., José A. Gutiérrez, Frances Thomson
Social Sciences · #Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance #History and Politics in Latin America
paper · doi:10.1080/1057610x.2020.1793456
openalex publication_date 2020/07/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
According to the ‘rebels-turned-narcos’ premise, increasing involvement in the illicit drug industry causes insurgent groups to lose sight of their political aims, as they shift their focus to profit-making. The (former) Colombian rebel group, the FARC-EP, became a paragon for this idea. Drawing on primary research, we argue that the FARC-EP’s involvement in the illicit drug economy was itself political. Their involvement included governance activities, which are by their very nature political. Furthermore, these activities formed part of the FARC-EP’s political project, aimed at ensuring the reproduction of the peasant smallholder economy. Our argument challenges the rebels-turned-narcos premise more broadly by showing why involvement in the illicit drug economy, on its own, is insufficient evidence to posit the depoliticization of an insurgent group.