Territory, economy, and competitive control: An analysis of the “Jorge Suárez Briceño” GAO-r, drawing on Thünen, Krugman, Stiglitz, and Kilcullen
Keywords:
Economic geography, competitive control, illicit economies, peripheral territories, market failures, legitimacyAbstract
This article analyzes the strategic dynamics of the Residual Organized Armed Group (GAO-r) “Jorge Suárez Briceño” following the signing of the 2016 Final Peace Agreement, as an expression of the persistence, adaptation, and transformation of the Colombian armed conflict. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this study integrates contributions from spatial economics and David Kilcullen’s theory of Competitive Control to explain the group’s evolution from an insurgent structure toward a hybrid criminal system oriented toward social, territorial, and economic control. Drawing on Johann Von Thünen’s agricultural location model, the spatial organization of illicit crops is examined according to criteria of logistical efficiency and security. Complementarily, Paul Krugman’s New Economic Geography helps to understand the concentration of illicit activities and the formation of economic enclaves in peripheral territories, while Joseph Stiglitz’s approaches contextualize these dynamics based on market failures and institutional weakness. Finally, the theory of Competitive Control allows for the articulation of the previous approaches by showing that the GAO-r’s power is based on a combination of coercion, legitimacy, and the provision of goods, creating a permanent competition with the state for the loyalty and behavior of the population. The study concludes that the organization has evolved from a scenario of state abandonment to one of competitive control, establishing a form of criminal governance that is adaptive and resilient over time.
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