From conventional insurgency to binational criminal syndicate? ELN’s state capture in the Colombia-Venezuela Borderland

Jorge Mantilla and Andreas E. Feldmann

Small Wars and Insurgencies, 2025, vol. 36, issue 4, 756-782

Abstract: This article investigates the Colombian National Liberation Army (ELN) intervention in an economic broker by coopting local and comunal power. Colombian-Venezuelan borderland, underlining how it embarked on a state capture project. The ELN’s footprint on both sides of the border varies; however, while in Colombia, the group has captured the state, in Venezuela, it created a parallel state. Critically describing the group’s modus operandi, we identify how the organization became an economic broker between coopting local and communal power. This process informs how the group competes and/or cooperates with adversaries, enemies, and state officials in a bargaining scheme that takes the form of criminal governance arrangements.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2024.2428039

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