Entre sueños, montañas y vallenatos. Aprendizajes sobre la expansión regional de las FARC-EP en el Caribe

Objective/Context: This article arises from a study of the history of the FARC–EP’s Bloque Caribe. It seeks to broaden current explanations of the guerilla’s territorial expansion by using elements that come from cultural analysis. We discuss some habits of thought about this expansion by examining its chronology and the political and artistic contributions of the Unión Patriótica movement’s cohort that joined the insurgent group. Methodology: We carried out a systematic review of the historical and documentary sources of the FARC–EP. We interviewed former guerrillas and local politicians between 2018 and 2020. Conclusions: The history of the FARC–EP´s territorial expansion process must incorporate the guerrilla’s II Conference decisions. Furthermore, the strong relationship between the “political center” and the “decentralized” groups of the insurgency allowed the “cohort” of UP activists who joined the organization to strengthen the guerrilla with musical and radio projects. These projects were given a national diffusion by the FARC–EP’s Secretariat that transformed them into central elements of the guerrilla’s cultural policy. Originality: We offer a new reflection on the territorial expansion of the guerrillas in Colombia, including new questions about their time frame, motivations, and practices. We also suggest an interpretation of the encounters between the guerillas and regional societies that explores sociocultural elements. We focus on the complex interdependencies between the national and regional level of the guerrilla and how the organization appropriated elements of the regional culture —like vallenato— to accumulate symbolic power, cultural legitimacy and gain national relevance