The National Security Device and the Tanatopolitical Practices in Bucaramanga, Santander (1980-1989)

Abstract

In the 1980s, violence, conspiracies, and polarization marked the security policies implemented in different countries of Latin America and the entire world. In Colombia, the tension produced by the armed conflict and the drug trafficking enabled the use of order and social control strategies by the institutions against the population. The objective of this article is to reflect on the tanatopolitical practices of the 1980s in the city of Bucaramanga (Santander, Colombia). It is a qualitative research of a documentary review of newspapers and weekly newspapers, of national and local importance, that circulated in the established period. The reflective exercise allowed to conclude that, as a result of the security devices, Bucaramanga followed a pattern of national and departmental violence (including social cleansing) which ended up being socially accepted.