I can talk a little bit about this! English is my second language, so forgive any errors. I can mainly speak for the socio-cultural part.

In Roger Worth's 'On the South-Americas', and in 'Walking Ghosts' by Steven Dudley, the issue of violence in Colombia (from last centuries '40s up until the date of writing the respective books) stands central.

The bottomline he arrives at, is that first and foremost is geography, which may sound overly simplistic and far-fatched. But historically speaking, Colombia’s vast, difficult geography has made it extremely challenging for the central government in Bogota to extend control over its territory. This meant that well into the 20th century, the nation was more like a string of loosely associated villages than an integrated community with a strong sense of national identity. Regional and family loyalties trounced all. This means that loyalty to a nation, as we in the West would know it, is not as normal or as expected as it would be here. Great distrust exists against the government which is only worsened by the image of government officials being corrupted, or needing some sort of monetary compensation to fulfill otherwise 'normal' duties.

The second reason why violence remains a fundamental part of Colombian life is the legacy of the “La Violencia.” 200,000 people died in a totally pointless conflict between the Liberals and the Conservatives (one is reminded of the scene in “One Hundred Years of Solitude” in which Colonel Aureliano Buendia observes the main difference between the two parties is that the Liberals go the mass at five o´clock and the Conservatives at eight). “La Violencia” is a historical trauma that the country still has not properly dealt with. Thousands were displaced and migrated to cities, where hopelessness and lack of opportunity created a vicious cycle of gangs and crime. Campesinos also migrated to other rural areas even further away from state control. The power vacuum left after “La Violencia” allowed groups like the FARC and the ELN to rise to power. Ever since the 1940s you would be hard-pressed to find a Colombian who doesn’t have a family member who was killed, injured or traumatized. There is no doubt that the effects of “La Violencia” have created the social and political reality that Colombians live in today, even though thanks to the “politics of anesthesia,” such a historical trauma is barely present in the public consciousness.

The third reason for Colombia’s violence-ridden nature is that informal behavioral norms in Colombia encourage corruption and crime. There is a huge gap between what Colombia’s constitution and lawmakers pronounce, and the way that laws are actually enforced in practice. For the young men who make up the military and police force, this distinction between what is legal and what is culturally acceptable creates situations wherein it is more rewarding to break the law than follow it. In part, you could say that the reason why in Colombia there is such ambivalence towards following legal norms is because for a long time, legal norms were imposed from above by a small group of social and political elites, without much care in enforcing them and without much input from the marginalized majority. Why then should the majority of the population respect the laws formally endorsed by the state? This still echoes throughout society today, combined with a close feeling of 'community' over 'state', that very much paved the way for the issues Colombia still faces today.

Hello everyone,

This thread is trending high right now and getting a lot of attention, but it is unfortunately not attracting many good answers yet. If you're frustrated by this, please remember that upvotes represent interest in the question itself, and it can often take time for a good answer to be written.

The mission of /r/AskHistorians is to provide users with in-depth and comprehensive responses, and our rules are intended to facilitate that purpose. We remove comments which don't follow them for reasons including unfounded speculation, shallowness, and of course, inaccuracy. Making comments asking about the removed comments simply compounds this issue. So please, before you try your hand at posting, check out the rules, as we don't want to have to warn you further.

Also, we've already removed several comments that were essentially wildly speculative and/or racist/bigoted towards Colombians. We will ban you for incivility, racism and/or bigotry.

Finally, while we always appreciate feedback, it is unfair to the OP to further derail this thread with META conversation, so if anyone has further questions or concerns, I would ask that they be directed to modmail, or a META thread. Thank you!