| Résumé: |
The relationship between the exploitation of oil and armed conflicts is the result of the interaction of political, economic and social variables that shape the beginning and duration of conflicts, as indicated by a large part of the academic literature on the Political Economy of Armed Conflicts. This relationship has been studied under different methodologies comparing the situation of a large number of countries as well as local contexts that allow to understand in more detail this relationship.
This paper analyses this relationship in the municipality of Tibu, located in the northwest of Colombia on the border with Venezuela. In this municipality, one of the first oil exploitation projects in the country was developed, and it has also had a historic presence of three large armed groups.
The central aim of this work is to understand how the oil industry in this region had an influence on the beginning and escalation of the conflict. This is why this work is divided into two large sections: the first one explores how oil exploration was a factor that increased the risk of armed conflict and reasons for the arrival of armed groups to Tibu. The second section focuses on the analysis of the mechanisms used by the armed groups that have allowed the escalation of the armed conflict in this Colombian municipality to this day.
The beginning as well as the duration of the conflict in Tibu has been directly influenced by the exploitation of this resource, not only because the oil sector has allowed financing the armed groups that are present in the region, but also because attacks on the sector have served as a tool to put pressure on the Colombian state and strengthen the social basis of the armed groups in Tibu. |