Understanding the Colombian Civil War

Dobovšek Bojan (Ph.D. Vice Dean and Associate Professor of Criminal Investigation at the Faculty of Criminal Justice of the University of Maribor), Bojan.Dobovsek@fvv.uni-mb.si
Odar MA. Vlado

The purpose of this article is to review the profile and causes of the Colombian conflict, to shed light on the context in which the current events on the Colombian battlefields are occurring and therefore, to bring attention to the fact that the conflict cannot be resolved merely with brute military force what has, with the successes of Uribe government’s anti-guerrilla campaigns, become a general opinion. It is also an objective of this article to set a foundation upon which some further critical approach analysis of the Colombian armed conflict can be built.

Keywords: Colombia, paramilitary forces, guerilla warfare, criminal organizations, drug