 Transnational insurgents: Evidence from Colombia's FARC at the border with Chávez's VenezuelaJournal of Development Economics, 2017, vol. 126, issue C, 138-153 Abstract: Many insurgent groups operate across international borders, but transnational insurgent activities are seldom observable and little is known about their consequences. In this paper I show that activity by Colombian insurgent group FARC increased disproportionately in Colombian municipalities next to the border with Venezuela after Hugo Chávez became president of the latter. I argue that FARC's reliance on short-range weaponry and non-mechanized transportation limited the area in which the group could expand its operations as a result of access to a cross-border safe haven. In consequence, the finding above constitutes evidence of increased FARC presence in Venezuela during the Chávez administration. Exploiting the plausibly exogenous change of government in Venezuela, I find that Colombian municipalities more exposed to a cross-border guerrilla sanctuary experience large increases in the intensity of violence, as well as reductions in local tax revenue and educational enrolment. Keywords: Civil conflict; Foreign influence; Irregular warfare; FARC; Hugo Chávez (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:126:y:2017:i:c:p:138-153 DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.01.003 Access Statistics for this article Journal of Development Economics is currently edited by M. R. Rosenzweig More articles in Journal of Development Economics from Elsevier |
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