[Colombia / Armed Groups] - The Fragmented State Abandons Civilians to Cocaine-Funded Phantoms of Power

Event Baseline: Powerful cocaine-funded militias are attacking civilians in Colombia. The violence reflects state inaction eight years after a peace accord removed a major rebel group.

The peace accord was signed by fragmented minds, but the underlying condition of violence remained. The state and the gangs are two sides of the same coin: both operate on the logic of domination and identity. The state could not enforce its own nominal authority because it is itself a collection of competing self-interests. The vacuum is filled by armed phantoms funded by the consumer's hunger for cocaine. The civilian is caught between two mechanical forces. Until the society confronts its own addiction to economic and psychological violence, the gangs will rule. The peace was an illusion because the mind was not at peace.