The Government of Migration: The Criminal Political Order in the Colombian Darién, 2021-2024

Abstract

This research identifies the mechanisms of criminal governance in migratory transit through the Colombian Darién, specifically in the Urabá region of Antioquia and Chocó, between 2021 and 2024. Using a qualitative design, the process tracing method, and a single-case study, 18 interviews were conducted with local actors, operators, and officials. Theoretically, the study proposes a convergence between political new institutionalism, criminal governance, and criminal political order to analyze the causal links of the process identified when opening the "black box": explicit rules, standardized extraction, protection and services, route coordination, and functional legitimacy. The findings demonstrate the configuration of a criminal order of migration in this region through the maintenance of these five links. It is concluded that there exists a criminal government of migration as a parallel institutional framework that reproduces state functions while simultaneously legitimizing itself through alternative means.