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Democracy In Dangerous Places: Colombia. Vote With Paramilitary Preferences, Fernando Estrada

Fernando Estrada

This paper discusses the problem of paramilitary violence in Colombia and its effects on democracy. The elections were part of the purpose of self defense and constituted a disguised form to retain its drug trafficking economy. The impacts on institutional technology have been negative: representative democracy, the electoral system and voting, they were not the same. With paramilitary violence changed the electoral map in areas contested by the traditional political parties. Voting with paramilitary preferences mean the biggest challenge is constitutional democracy in Colombia.