Strengthening autonomy or strengthening the state? The differential recognition of the self-defence guards in the peace agreement and their cooperation in the territory in the framework of the post-agreement

A crucial aspect of territorial peace is the implementation of a broad and democratic process of state-building from the local sphere; that is, from where most of the actions linked to the armed conflict have emerged. One of the paths that have been suggested is to strengthen the links between informal institutions and the state apparatus. A number of questions come to mind: Which institutions become strengthened in the post-conflict? What are the challenges that arise in the tension between the state purpose to consolidate the monopoly of the forces and the political projects that claim autonomy? What is the situation of the peasant guards, recently merged and supported by the ethnic guards, but without legal recognition?

The Final Agreement signed in 2016 guarantees the consolidation of “security systems of the ethnic communities”, such as the Indigenous and Maroon Guards, born as protection strategies against the presence of armed actors in the territories. The project analyses the challenges faced by the Indigenous, Maroon, and Peasant Guards in the Cauca department, in the current context of post-conflict, characterised by tensions between community autonomy building projects, state apparatus strengthening programmes, and new forms of armed conflict that emerge in the region.