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United States Anti-Drug Policy in Colombia: Consolidation of the La Macarena Region as a Lesson derived from Plan Colombia?
Koutenská, Kristýna ; Raška, Francis (advisor) ; Kozák, Kryštof (referee)
The United States officially declared war on drugs in the early 1970s with the aim to stop the flow of illegal narcotics coming into the country. Not only did Washington enhance the domestic anti-drug policy, but it also strengthened the foreign anti-drug policy and launched an extensive campaign in Latin America, one of the major producers of drugs in the world. Chemical eradication and interdiction of drug-trafficking routes in Mexico, Peru and Bolivia led to a relocation of the cultivation of illegal crops to Colombia, closer to the laboratories. Thus, Bogota became the centre of attention for Washington. This bachelor thesis describes U.S. anti-drug strategies and highlights its limits, which influence the success rate of specific plans, in this case Plan Colombia and La Macarena Integral Consolidation Plan (PCIM). In 2000 Washington approved an ambitious Plan Colombia. One of its main objects was to reduce the production of cocaine in Colombia within six years. However, massive aerial eradication only led to a displacement of a large number of people and in the end the production of coca and cocaine even increased. The Colombia's National Territorial Consolidation Plan, more precisely the PCIM was supposed to put this situation right. The aim was to regain control over the municipalities that...
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The hero and the image of nationalism in Colombia. The sculptures at Centennial Park and at the Park of Independence, (1883-1910).
Ramirez Bolivar, Juan Gabriel ; Křížová, Markéta (advisor) ; Opatrný, Josef (referee) ; Damasceno, Cláudia (referee)
The hero and the image of nationalism in Colombia, The sculptures at "Parque del Centenario" (1883-1958). The main objective of this master thesis is to analyze and determine the relationship between the construction of the pantheon of heroes1 in Colombia and the attempt to consolidate a national identity in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. This problem is analyzed through a case study that focuses on a specific public space in Bogotá: "El Parque del Centenario". This space was built in 1883 for commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Simon Bolivar's birthdate. The research was conducted as an analysis that puts on dialogue different kinds of historical sources. Therefore, the use of images representing the monuments; maps and plans of the park and the city were; but above all, the main sources of analysis are newspapers and magazines which circulated between 1880 and 1958. The analysis of this case study is presented as a historical narrative that aims to provide relevant information about the construction and development of this public space. This text is divided into three chapters that chronologically follow the progress of the park. The first chapter covers the period between 1883 and 1910. This section focuses on the celebration of the centenary of Bolívar's birth. There will...
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The political and social obstacles in the implementation of the Colombian peace agreement
Assemat, Jade Catherine Beatrice ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Hynek, Nikola (referee)
Previous research in the academic literature established the existence of a culture of violence in Colombia. This article focuses on the perpetuation of this culture of violence according to the framework of Waldmann (2007) after the signature of the Colombian Peace Agreement in 2016, and the influence of this phenomena on the persecution of human rights defenders. Colombia remains one of the most dangerous places for human rights defenders, as they are facing multifaceted risks due to the socially anchored culture of enmity and the stigmatisation of political contestation. Given the multifaceted challenges and actors related to violence in this country, the multilevel framework of Steenkamp (2005) will allow to understand the impact of state and nonstate actors. This research will be conducted according to a process-tracing study of Colombian media and policies relating to the strategies of both types of actors. This innovative method will enable to understand the effects of a culture of violence directly from the point of view of both victims and perpetrators. The purpose of this method is to promote the understanding and knowledge of the actors involved rather than international perception of the phenomena. The aim of the research is to understand the causal mechanisms at stake in a...
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The Venezuelan Migration Wave and its Impact on Colombia
Potocká, Eliška ; Soukup, Jaromír (advisor) ; Rosendorf, Ondřej (referee)
The thesis deals with the effects of the Venezuelan migration wave on Colombia. The aim of the thesis was to find out what impact the Venezuelan migration crisis has had on the situation in Colombia and what is the position of the Colombian government in relation to it. In order to answer these research questions, a qualitative content analysis was applied, which examined data provided by international organizations, political institutions or Colombian government authorities describing the current situation in the country. The main theoretical concept that this thesis uses as its basis is the push-pull theory of migration, which explains migration based on the mechanism of "push" and "pull" factors that motivate the population to move. As a result of the analysis of the examined data, the hypothesis was confirmed, which assumed that the migration crisis has had a negative impact on the Colombian national situation, specifically in the institutional, economic and social spheres. The results of the content analysis revealed significant negative impacts in all three mentioned spheres and subsequently the possible future development was outlined. Furthermore, the results of the analysis reveal Colombia's historical and current approach to Venezuelan migrants and confirm the hypothesis that the...
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Gender-Responsive DDR: Social, Economic and Political Reincorporation of Women Ex-Combatants in Colombia
Ramljak, Antonela ; Aslan, Emil (advisor) ; Kotvalová, Anna (referee)
CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of Political Studies Department of Security Studies Master's Thesis 2020 Antonela Ramljak CHARLES UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of Political Studies Department of Security Studies Gender - Responsive DDR: Social, Economic and Political Reincorporation of Women Ex-combatants in Colombia Master's Thesis Author: Antonela Ramljak Study program: Master in International Security Studies (MISS) Supervisor: doc. Dr. Emil Aslan, Ph.D. Year of project submission: 2020 Declaration 1. I hereby declare that I have compiled this thesis using the listed literature and resources only. 2. I hereby declare that my thesis has not been used to gain any other academic title. 3. I fully agree to my work being used for study and scientific purposes. In Prague on Antonela Ramljak References RAMLJAK, Antonela. Gender - Responsive DDR: Social, Economic and Political Reincorporation of Women Ex-combatants in Colombia. Praha, 2020. 81 pages. Master's thesis (Mgr.). Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Political Studies. Department of Security Studies. Supervisor doc. PhDr. Emil Aslan, Ph.D. Length of the thesis: 104.637 characters Abstract Discussions on women in wars have oftentimes been limited to their stories as survivors of conflict...
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Mining industry and regional development of the most important mining regions of Colombia
Soukupová, Karolína ; Burdych, Tomáš (advisor) ; Vágner, Jiří (referee)
The work focuses on the analysis of impacts and benefits of mining activities on a regional development of the main mining regions of Colombia. The socio-economic benefits of mining and its positive and negative impacts on individual actors, especially on the population, will be explored on a sample of selected mining regions. The work is based mainly upon the research of Academic Articles, Internet and Local Media News reports. The theoretical framing of the work is based mainly upon the hypothesis of the natural resources curse and the theory of Dutch disease. The analysis is based on available statistical data related to individual mining regions. key words: Colombia, Natural Resource Curse, Mining, Natural Resources, Regional Development
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Concept of hearts and minds: analysis of factors influencing its success
Janoš, Ondřej ; Doboš, Bohumil (advisor) ; Kučera, Tomáš (referee)
Heart and Minds concept is one of the most overlooked approaches of the counterinsurgency. This is surprising especially because the classic coercive strategies are struggling with producing sufficient outcomes. In fact it is quite the opposite in practice and they fail to supress the insurgency ultimately. Hearts and Minds strategy is based on assumption that if the government is able to gain public support the insurgents will lose vital resource for their fight and they will collapse eventually. In this thesis I am going to explore the potential the Hearts and Minds strategy has and demonstrate its strengths and weaknesses. There are five cases of insurgency to be examined in which the Hearts and Minds has been used successfully or unsuccessfully. The first case is the Emergency in British Malaya. Gerard Templer is considered as an author of the Hearts and Minds phrase, therefore his administration of Malaya should be examined I believe. Second case is the FARC insurgency in Colombia. Third case is the Zapatistas movement in Mexico. Fourth case is the US invasion into Iraq in 2003. Last case is the 2012 Tuaregs uprising in Mali and subsequent development. It is clear from the findings that Hearts and minds has its place among the COIN approaches. Even though it is not best suited for all...
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Narcoterrorism: Searching for the crossroads of drug trade and political violence
Kolínský, Prokop ; Makariusová, Radana (advisor) ; Záhora, Jakub (referee)
The main objective of thesis ''Narcoterrorism: Crossroads between drug trade and political violence'' is to describe and analyze the phenomenon of narcoterrorism, a concept that combines in its core the politically-motivated violence, the illicit drug trade, and the use of terrorist methods. The goal will be to establish a comprehensive theoretical framework for the various types of narcoterrorism and the different supportive types that may occur between the politically-motivated or ideological groups, and the drug-trafficking criminal groups. This framework will be later primarily tested on the case of Colombia, where various warring ideological and criminal groups will be observed and analyzed. Other cases that will be secondarily used to further prove the established assumptions, will be focusing on other countries which seen in recent history a surge of political or criminal violence, and are either manufacturing or trafficking illegal drugs. These will include Peru, Mexico, and Afghanistan. In the final section of the thesis, the theoretical framework will be assigned to real historical cases, and a question of the prerequisites of narcoterrorist emergence will be discussed.
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American foreign policy and Colombian peace process
Svoboda, Ondřej ; Raška, Francis (advisor) ; Kozák, Kryštof (referee)
This study analyzes American foreign policy with respect to Colombia since the beginning of the new millennium. The main pillar of this policy is a strategy called Plan Colombia. While the original reasoning behind Plan Colombia was to enforce better antinarcotic strategy to avoid cocaine distribution to the United States, by the time it morphed into a state-building effort. My main interest in this study is to answer the question whether Plan Colombia was successful and if so then whether it was a prerequisite for launching peace negotiations with the FARC and achieving durable peace. This study has several parts. At first, I shed a light into a situation in Colombia at the beginning of the new millennium and explain the motivation behind Plan Colombia. Next, I summarize the historical perspective and describe the most important events leading to the breakthrough which was the signing of the peace treaty with FARC. In the following section, I look more deeply into data about money transfers and I also analyze important socio-political indicators. In the conclusion, I explain why Plan Colombia was in my view a successful policy. I also discuss upon what was the success dependent.
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Security Situation in Columbia in a Context of the Drug Trafficking and its Impact on the Region
Kačírek, Lukáš ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Krausz Hladká, Malvína (referee)
The thesis is concerned with the drug trade in Colombia, country with the largest drug production in the world. It is aimed especially at the age of drug cartels that used to have an eminent impact on the country's security situation. Firstly, it explains the main causes of the Colombian conflict. Afterwards, cartels from Medellín and Cali are introduced. After their downfall, they were shortly replaced by the Norte del Valle cartel. This cartel was however less successful in the drug field. After the downfall of the two important cartels, the drug field splintered. The thesis is briefly focused on the present situation as well. Guerilla groups also play a significant role in the conflict, thus one of the chapters is dedicated to them. Specific chapter is concerned with the reflection of the USA in the conflict - it introduces their role during the first half of the twentieth century as well as Plan Colombia. The last chapter discusses Colombia's relations with regional states in the crucial era from the view of drug trade. These states are specifically Peru, Bolivia and Mexico. The end of the thesis evaluates what kind of a state Colombia was in the second half of the twentieth century according to the Robert Rotberg's state theory.
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