THE PLAN COLOMBIA AND THE PACIFICATION OF THE BODIES-TERRITORIES OF WOMEN IN PUTUMAYO AND NARIÑO

Abstract

The Plan Colombia was a policy agreed upon between Colombia and the United States to secure financing and operational support in combating drug trafficking and ensuring the strengthening of the Colombian State. However, the militarization of actions and the escalation of fumigation of coca leaf plantations contributed to an increase in violence and conflicts in the country. In this context, women, particularly coca growers, peasants, and Afro-Colombian women, were targets of violations by different actors. The aim of the article was to analyze the gendered violence against women in the departments of Putumayo and Nariño during the implementation of the Plan Colombia. Through a gender and Decolonial lens, and by means of the concept of pacification, the interests and actions of implementing the Plan were investigated, as well as reports of violence against women. It was found that gendered violence practices were instrumental in pacifying the body-territories in those departments, by generating a scenario of fear and terror that contributed to forced displacements and the control of territories by transnational actors and groups. In this sense, such practices can be understood as instruments to guarantee a (neo)liberal, colonial, and patriarchal order.