De-securitization of coca plantation in Colombia in a ‘war on drugs’ context- A possibility opened by peace negotiations with a former enemy

Sammanfattning: This thesis intends to explain the change of strategies to address coca plantation in Colombia before and after the 2016 Peace agreement. To do so, I build a theoretical model that draws on securitization/de-securitization theory and ripeness/readiness theories. The former theory is used to explain what kind of change was there between the different strategies. In this sense, I claim that policies to address coca plantation before 2016 Peace agreement, securitized coca and framed it as a vital threat, something that ought to be eliminated. On the other hand, the Substitution program of the Peace agreement is, I claim, an attempt to de-securitize -move back to the realm of politics- the issue of coca plantation. The latter theory is used to explain this change and address the characteristics of the ready/ripe moment that made possible the peace negotiations and the change of strategies regarding coca plantation. More specifically, the analysis centers on the changing of disputants’ aspirations to end the conflict and the changing perceptions of each other. I claim that this change of perception of ‘the Other’ is fundamental to de-securitize an issue in a conflict. As a result, the attempt to de-securitize coca in a context of conflict like the Colombian is done through reconsidering the perception of ‘the Other’, the former enemy.