This research reconstructs the historical process of the formation of local political power and the state in the department of Chocó, Colombia. Throughout the text, the idea of the state as a homogeneous and aseptic entity is challenged, and it is rather understood in terms of its ambiguous and contradictory features in its practices, which even become "illegitimate". The first chapter seeks to understand the process of state formation and local power in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The configuration of local power in those years represented a tense interaction between the minority 'white' political power in the territory and the majority black and indigenous population, but with limited access to the state apparatus and its institutions. In the midst of this, a relationship with Bogotá was established that positioned the territory as peripheral and abandoned throughout the twentieth century. This chapter examines the role of roads and rivers as instruments of power over the territory, since they were and are spaces through which the daily lives of the Chocoan people passed and through which the state made its way in the process of configuration. This was the perception of the local and regional powers, who had a desire to control them and to establish a particular domination over the territory. However, this attempt at domination did not go smoothly and the fires, as an apparent response of resistance to white power, show the level of confrontation and dispute that took place in the territory. Despite these disputes, at the beginning of the 20th century these conflictive relations began to change as the local political power, in its claim for autonomy from the tutelage of Bogotá, began to recognise the black population as fundamental to the development of local political life and a "better" relationship with the Andean power. In addition, the extractive processes, which involved confrontations between large mining companies, black people (artisanal miners) and local powers, highlighted the use of state instruments by the population to defend the forests and acquire mining titles. These conflicts were part of the beginning of the rapprochement between local traders, who were part of the local power, and the black mining population, as both groups were building the extractive and commercial economy from which they also benefited. Although the two sectors had different relationships with the state, this interaction is in itself evidence of the inhomogeneous and contradictory character that characterised the state-building process of those years. The second chapter shows the process of reconfiguration of political power in the territory between 1920 and 1950. These were the years of the rise of black power in the territory. The process of state 231 formation in those years was linked to the type of governance that emerged in Chocó as a result of the processes linked to the mining circuit and the department's position as the border of the recently separated Panamanian territory. This allowed for a certain capacity to negotiate with the power in Bogotá. The local power demanded autonomy, and although they obtained some, it was limited and under the watchful eye of Bogotá. This showed the capacity of the state to be present in the territory and linked the local powers to the national project. The participation of black people in mining gradually opened the way for them within the state and political power, and made concrete their intention to be part of the institutional game of the state, and the channel used was the political parties. These were central to local government. The presence of the parties led to a significant politicisation of the territory, as evidenced by the frequent electoral disputes. Thus, while the parties played a central role in access to the state and the national project, blacks who had made their fortunes in mining, trade and agriculture gradually entered popularly elected and appointed bureaucratic positions. The presence of black people and the role of commerce were central to the constitution of the territory as a liberal majority. Because access to the state was mediated through the role of political parties, the territory, like the rest of the nation, was caught up in the dynamics of partisan violence. This violence was also a manifestation of Chocó's connection to national dynamics. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church sided with the conservatives in an attempt to whip up sentiment against the liberals. However, the church's limited roots in a predominantly black area meant that its impact was limited. The rise of black power also transformed the church in the area. These changes and manifestations showed a shift in power relations within the territory. The emergence of workerism and the promotion of public education led to the definitive rise of black power in the political scenarios of the territory, coinciding with the revaluation of the black and the Chocoano, in contrast to the stereotypes coming from outside the territory. However, the rise of this new power was not without contradictions. Ethnic tensions intersected with class tensions. The rise of the blacks did not mean a break with white demands for traditional political power; on the contrary, many of them were taken up. Despite the denunciations of the state's dysfunctionality, its legitimacy does not seem to have been lost, but rather continually sought. The arrival of blacks in positions of power coincided with the rise of socialist discourse, which generated a discussion of the black question in local power circles. Moreover, this rise was indicative of a transformation that was taking place in the territory, leading to the departmentalisation of the territory. 232 The third chapter discusses the role of local power in Chocó during La Violencia and the Rojas Pinilla dictatorship between 1948 and 1957, and how different forms of social mobilisation emerged in response to political repression. Half a century of violence had a moderate impact compared to the dynamics of the Andean world. The characteristics of Chocó's liberals and conservatives showed an "affinity" to statehood in the years of the recently won departmentalisation, which in part would have distanced the possibility of confrontation with the state, although the discourse of La Violencia was used as a channel of communication with the national. Likewise, the socio-economic structure of the Chocó, with the absence of a hacienda model and the dominance of the Liberal Party, whose local militancy had no one to confront. However, the expansion of the conflict from the borders with Antioquia showed how the territory was linked to national dynamics. The violence served as a channel for the emergence of new forms of governance, in which the state of siege provoked the retreat of the Liberal Party, which capitulated to Bogotá and submitted to the temporary power of the military. Meanwhile, the conservatives were unable to capitalise on their electoral power, despite their dominance of the local state administration, because the absence of elections limited their ability to build a bureaucracy that could guarantee their permanence in local political power. Despite the low level of violence in Chocó, its existence affected the territory's relationship with the central government. The liberals were temporarily excluded from local power and the autonomy mechanisms achieved through departmentalisation were not implemented, while the imposition of military mayors was a sign of state control based on violence. Local political power was able to make traditional demands for infrastructure and state presence in the early years of the Rojas dictatorship. The figure of the governor and the Comité de Acción Chocoana were the intermediaries for these demands. Beyond the dictatorship, local power was able to consolidate its hold on the territory. The military also consolidated local political and state power in the area by attempting to dismember the department. The lack of services and infrastructure provoked a constant demand from the state, and local power, through the parties, continued to become the intermediary of this demand. In this way, Chocó was more than just a marginal territory; it had an important articulation with the process of state formation during this period. The fourth chapter focuses on the local impact of the National Front and the decentralising reforms of the Colombian state and the emergence of the violence of the armed conflict. During this period, 233 the territories were put on an equal footing in terms of their articulation with the political system. It shows that local administrations were put on an equal footing in terms of local governance and the implementation of the new regime. These changes were preceded by the death of one of the most important political leaders in Chocó and the departure of the traditional white families and the former Syrian-Lebanese traders due to the fire in Quibdó. One of the effects of the new regime was to equalise the bureaucracy, despite the fact that Chocó was a predominantly liberal area. The state thus homogenised the territories without taking into account local electoral dynamics, and the population and political power do not seem to have rebelled against such a situation. The new regime brought with it the expansion of the state and the arrival of new resources in the territory. The aim was to rehabilitate areas affected by violence and to accelerate the growth of areas lagging behind in order to prevent the outbreak of new violence. As a result of this expansion, the central, departmental and municipal governments grew, along with a decentralised parastatal bloc and the expansion of the legislative and judicial branches. This expansion brought with it the creation of new offices and bureaucracies for the territory and meant a local struggle for its control during the National Front and later years. As a result, ideological labels and party affiliations were lost in the search for access to the bureaucracy. Politics in the Chocó was reduced to the administration of elections, and it became increasingly clear that the parties were preventing social change, with the result that the support of the Chocoanos for elections, which had always been the mechanism for legitimising the political and party system and one of the main channels for linking the population to the institutions of the state, was declining. As in the rest of the country, the Chocó saw an increase in social protests, mainly demanding the extension or implementation of public services. Despite these popular demonstrations and denunciations of the absence of the state and of corruption, the leftist parties did not achieve major electoral successes, but the demands did provoke a response from the state that led to the search for a broadening of the political system. 234 The reaction of the traditional parties to the possibility of a democratic opening triggered the intensification of violence, which began to escalate in the 1980s. The "opening", however, did not mean any significant changes for the parties, for the local authorities or for the improvement of the administration of the state at the local level. Despite the denunciations of bad administration, political power continued to be shared amidst the traditional disputes within the party, which did not undergo any unfavourable changes in the eighties in terms of the electoral aspect. The point of arrival is the emergence of the violent reaction of local power and the state to the attempt to open up the state itself. It is part of the beginning of the violence of the armed conflict in Chocó.
Esta investigación reconstruye el proceso histórico de formación del poder político local y del Estado en el departamento del Chocó, Colombia. A lo largo del texto, se cuestiona la idea del Estado como una entidad homogénea y aséptica, y se entiende más bien en términos de sus características ambiguas y contradictorias en sus prácticas, que incluso pueden llegar a ser "ilegítimas".
El primer capítulo busca comprender el proceso de formación del Estado y del poder local a finales del siglo XIX y principios del siglo XX. La configuración del poder local en esos años representó una interacción tensa entre el poder político minoritario "blanco" en el territorio y la población mayoritariamente negra e indígena, con un acceso limitado al aparato estatal y sus instituciones. En este contexto, se estableció una relación con Bogotá que posicionó al territorio como periférico y abandonado a lo largo del siglo XX. Este capítulo examina el papel de las carreteras y los ríos como instrumentos de poder sobre el territorio, ya que fueron y siguen siendo espacios a través de los cuales transcurre la vida cotidiana de los chocoanos y por los cuales el Estado se abrió camino en su proceso de configuración. Esta percepción fue compartida por los poderes locales y regionales, que aspiraban a controlarlos y establecer un dominio particular sobre el territorio. Sin embargo, este intento de dominación no fue pacífico, y los incendios, como una aparente respuesta de resistencia al poder blanco, evidencian el nivel de confrontación y disputa en el territorio. A pesar de estos conflictos, a principios del siglo XX estas relaciones conflictivas comenzaron a transformarse cuando el poder político local, en su reivindicación de autonomía frente a la tutela de Bogotá, empezó a reconocer a la población negra como un elemento fundamental para el desarrollo de la vida política local y una mejor relación con el poder andino. Además, los procesos extractivos, que involucraron enfrentamientos entre grandes compañías mineras, mineros artesanales negros y los poderes locales, pusieron en evidencia el uso de instrumentos estatales por parte de la población para defender los bosques y adquirir títulos mineros. Estos conflictos marcaron el inicio de un acercamiento entre los comerciantes locales, que formaban parte del poder local, y la población minera negra, ya que ambos sectores estaban construyendo la economía extractiva y comercial de la cual también se beneficiaban. Aunque estos sectores tenían diferentes relaciones con el Estado, esta interacción evidencia el carácter no homogéneo y contradictorio que caracterizó el proceso de construcción estatal en esos años.
El segundo capítulo aborda el proceso de reconfiguración del poder político en el territorio entre 1920 y 1950, años en los que se consolidó el ascenso del poder negro. El proceso de formación estatal en este período estuvo vinculado a la forma de gobierno que emergió en el Chocó como resultado de las dinámicas asociadas al circuito minero y a la posición del departamento en la frontera con el recientemente separado territorio panameño. Esta situación otorgó cierta capacidad de negociación con el poder en Bogotá. El poder local exigió autonomía y, aunque obtuvo parte de ella, fue limitada y bajo la constante vigilancia de la capital. Esto evidenció la capacidad del Estado para hacerse presente en el territorio y vincular a los poderes locales al proyecto nacional. La participación de la población negra en la minería abrió progresivamente su camino dentro del Estado y del poder político, concretando su intención de integrarse en el juego institucional del Estado a través de los partidos políticos, que fueron centrales en el gobierno local. La presencia de los partidos llevó a una politización significativa del territorio, como lo demostraron las frecuentes disputas electorales. Así, mientras los partidos desempeñaron un papel clave en el acceso al Estado y al proyecto nacional, los negros que habían prosperado en la minería, el comercio y la agricultura comenzaron a ocupar cargos burocráticos, tanto electos como designados. La presencia de la población negra y el papel del comercio fueron centrales en la constitución del territorio como un bastión liberal. Sin embargo, dado que el acceso al Estado estaba mediado por los partidos políticos, el territorio, al igual que el resto de la nación, se vio envuelto en la dinámica de la violencia partidista. Esta violencia fue también una manifestación del vínculo del Chocó con las dinámicas nacionales. Mientras tanto, la Iglesia Católica se alineó con los conservadores en un intento de avivar el sentimiento contra los liberales. Sin embargo, debido a su escasa influencia en una zona predominantemente negra, su impacto fue limitado. El ascenso del poder negro también transformó la iglesia en la región. Estos cambios reflejaron una transformación en las relaciones de poder dentro del territorio. El auge del obrerismo y la promoción de la educación pública consolidaron definitivamente el poder negro en los escenarios políticos locales, coincidiendo con una revalorización de la identidad negra y chocoana, en contraste con los estereotipos externos. No obstante, este ascenso no estuvo exento de contradicciones, pues las tensiones étnicas se cruzaron con las de clase. La llegada de los negros al poder no implicó una ruptura con las demandas tradicionales del poder político blanco; por el contrario, muchas de estas fueron adoptadas. A pesar de las denuncias sobre la disfuncionalidad estatal, su legitimidad no parece haberse perdido, sino que se buscó continuamente. La llegada de los negros a posiciones de poder coincidió con el auge del discurso socialista, lo que llevó a una discusión sobre la cuestión negra en los círculos de poder local. Asimismo, este ascenso fue indicativo de una transformación en el territorio, que condujo a su departamentalización.
El tercer capítulo analiza el papel del poder local en el Chocó durante La Violencia y la dictadura de Rojas Pinilla (1948-1957), así como el surgimiento de diversas formas de movilización social en respuesta a la represión política. Durante este período, el impacto de la violencia fue moderado en comparación con las dinámicas del mundo andino. Sin embargo, la expansión del conflicto desde las fronteras con Antioquia mostró cómo el territorio estuvo vinculado a las dinámicas nacionales. La violencia sirvió como un canal para la emergencia de nuevas formas de gobierno, en las cuales el estado de sitio provocó la retirada del Partido Liberal, que capituló ante Bogotá y se sometió al poder militar temporal. Mientras tanto, los conservadores, a pesar de su dominio de la administración local, no lograron consolidar su poder debido a la ausencia de elecciones.
El cuarto capítulo se centra en el impacto local del Frente Nacional y las reformas descentralizadoras del Estado colombiano, así como en la aparición de la violencia del conflicto armado. Durante este período, los territorios fueron equiparados en términos de su articulación con el sistema político. Se evidenció que las administraciones locales fueron igualadas en términos de gobernanza y aplicación del nuevo régimen. Este contexto estuvo precedido por la muerte de un importante líder político del Chocó y la salida de las tradicionales familias blancas y antiguos comerciantes sirio-libaneses debido a un incendio en Quibdó. A pesar de las denuncias de corrupción y ausencia del Estado, los partidos de izquierda no lograron éxitos electorales significativos, aunque sus demandas impulsaron respuestas estatales para ampliar el sistema político.
La reacción de los partidos tradicionales ante la posibilidad de una apertura democrática desencadenó una intensificación de la violencia, que comenzó a escalar en la década de 1980. Sin embargo, esta "apertura" no trajo cambios sustanciales en la administración del Estado a nivel local. A pesar de las críticas a la mala gestión, el poder político continuó siendo disputado dentro de los partidos tradicionales. El punto de llegada es la violenta reacción del poder local y del Estado ante el intento de apertura política, lo que marcó el inicio del conflicto armado en el Chocó.
