The political economy of Amazon deforestation. Sub-national development and territorial scope of the Colombian State

The demobilization of the FARC-EP generated important changes in the regions that were under its influence, which in turn made it easier for new issues to be discussed in public debate and in academia. Deforestation in the Amazon, which shot up considerably after the demobilization, is one of them. The increase in deforestation was accompanied by renewed interest from the state and civil society in devising and implementing concrete strategies capable of containing the problem. Thus, the catalog of public policies in the region has been expanded. At present, for example, there is an effort to impose law and order, to encourage environmental conservation through economic incentives, to include environmental principles in production practices, and to raise people's awareness. As a result of desperation, they have even gone so far as to bombard seeds from helicopters and to spread water over the fire that usually follows the forest grave. How effective have all these measures been? At present it is impossible to answer this question fully, since these policies are being implemented with a great lack of knowledge of local realities. Simplistic, place-filled diagnoses are the order of the day. To understand the meaning of the Start-up Fund project, I present the central conclusions resulting from my doctoral research on the political economy of Amazon deforestation in Colombia, which provides elements of judgment to understand why so much deforestation is taking place and why this phenomenon is so difficult to contain (Revelo Rebolledo, 2019).