Del control (los castigos insurgentes) a la autonomía (las sanciones comunitarias): elementos para la transición de la Justicia Local en La Sierra de La Macarena

Abstract

The Local Legal System in La Sierra de la Macarena is facing the challenge of the political transition in the Colombian post war. Since this Legal System integrates insurgent, community, and state practices, after the abandonment of weapons that the insurgency makes, the ability of coercion that integrates the local justice shall cease. This implies that sanctions provided by the Manuals of Coexistence of the communities (fines, confiscations, and community work) should strengthen their legitimacy. Likewise, the sanctions imposed by the guerrillas to punish the violation of its regulations and/or to maintain order (forced labor, exile, executions) have to be overcome. Since such an improvement implies a territorial transformation, in order to make it, it is necessary to recognize the current social conditions. In this order of ideas, a characterization of the criminal nature of the Local Legal System is provided and the main elements of its sanctions are set out. The text is supported by a long-standing social and legal ethnography, in the zone.