Urban Insecurity, Contested Governance, and Civic Resistance at the Colombia-Venezuela Border

Abstract

Drawing on the case of the Cúcuta Metropolitan Area, this article explores how illicit cross-border flows and territorial conflicts shape urban space and security at the Colombia-Venezuela border. Conceptually, it approaches the border as infrastructure (Dijstelbloem 2021) and brings Idler’s ‘border effect’ (2019) into a dialogue with Sassen’s ‘urban capabilities’ (2012). The article builds on original empirical data gathered in interviews and focus groups. It shows, first, that the illicit flows of goods, people, and services facilitated by a porous border have contributed to a situation of territorial contestation between the state and violent non-state actors (VNSAs) in Cúcuta. The article discusses four interrelated dynamics that have affected the city’s security: the urbanisation of territorial contestation; violent struggles over authority and trafficking routes trickling into urban neighbourhoods; the exploitation of vulnerable city dwellers by VNSAs; and the militarisation of public space. Second, the article analyses the role of illicit flows in the making of unequal patterns of space-making both from below – as in the case of gasoline smugglers building informal settlements – and from above, with well-off corrupt city dwellers defending their affluent neighbourhoods financed by laundered money. Finally, the article goes beyond perspectives of vulnerability and violence by demonstrating that the border also represents a civic opportunity that can stimulate urban renewal and resistance.