Corruption in Colombia: Neoliberalism, Depolitization and Reactivation of Antagonisms

Abstract

Neoliberalism in Colombia has led to a crisis as a result of its denial of what is public, by defending a liberal vision of development, promoting the elimination of the social role of the State and returning to nineteenth-century liberal principles that promote, among other things, depoliticization through corruption. Even so, in countries like Colombia, corruption has given rise to a new movement of populism that reactivates the antagonisms and the fight undertaken against the main consequences of the neoliberal system. In this vein, the article addresses the hermeneutical discussion of the theoretical foundations of neoliberalism, corruption and populism through the development of: 1- Corruption in neoliberalism: a practice that leads to depoliticization; 2- Corruption in Colombia: a practice that produces depoliticization and reactivation of political struggles and antagonisms; and 3- Corruption as a practice that reactivates antagonisms through a new expression of populism. The article concludes that the new populist movement emerges in antidemocratic and corrupt systems such as the Colombian one.