by Erik Dodge

Created on: June 11, 2010

In the introduction of Evil Hour in Colombia, Forrest Hylton says that the central claim of his book “is that to understand the Colombian civil war today, it is necessary to appreciate the multiple layers of previous conflicts and the accumulated weight of unresolved contradictions” (p. 7). Hylton summarizes Colombian history to support his claim. He notes that Colombia lacked mass violence until the end of the 19th century. Over the last 150 years a two party democratic majority has run the government, but has been unable to gain popular support and was forced to make pacts with subordinate groups. The argument presented in Evil Hour in Colombia is “that the short reach of the central government, the influence of the two parties, pronounced regionalism based on landownership, and ruling class disunity have been constants in republican history” (Hylton, p. 9). Colombian insurgents have been met with repression and populism was beaten back in the 1930s-40s and the 1970s-80s. Although Hylton is more sympathetic to the left wing guerrillas than the paramilitaries, this bias was more apparent in the story telling than the details, as he notes that both sides have been involved in their share of abuses.

            The theory the author uses to explain Colombia’s situation focuses on the underlying structures in Colombian society.   Political elites were unable to win popular support and both parties resorted to clientelism to maintain power within the democratic structure. After this situation deteriorated into a coup in the early 1950s the two parties organized a power sharing agreement called the National Front. According to Hylton, the “National Front was a semi-authoritarian parliamentary dictatorship” (Hylton, p. 54). Another example of a structural argument made by the author is in his assessment of multinational corporations. He says that by moving the productive base from manufacturing and coffee exports to extractive export enclaves created the necessary conditions for a resurgence of guerrilla and insurgency groups.

            Throughout the book Hylton makes his thoughts about the control of power in Colombian society, with his discussion of the repression of popular movements. In chapter five, “The National Front: Political Lockout”, Hylton says that the guerrillas have been able

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