Understanding Roadblocks in Northern Colombia
PRIF spotlight
4/2024
BY MARTIN GUBSCH AND ELENA GARCIA CONEJERO
La Guajira in northern Colombia has seen a disproportionate number of roadblocks recently, especially connected to wind park construction sites, staged by people demanding that the state implement economic, social, and physical security improvements. This conflict is an example of local impacts of the global energy transition on historically marginalized people. In this Spotlight we argue that La Guajira is a prime case showing how the energy transition is leveraged to indirectly address the state through private companies.
La Guajira in northern Colombia has historically been an uncomfortable region, with its majority population, the Wayuu, resisting colonization since Spanish occupation. The region has always been conceptualized by Alijuna as remote, empty and rebellious. In recent years, La Guajira has become one of the major arenas for the energy transition, accompanied by promises of investment, development, and relief from the ongoing struggles with food security, infrastructure, education, and security. Despite this, there has in fact been a surge in conflicts between a variety of groups and several have increased in intensity. The region has also seen a significant increase in roadblocks, especially since the growth in wind park construction. Colfecar reported in January this year that in 2023, a total of 70 out of 579 roadblocks nationwide had been in La Guajira alone, despite it being one of Colombia's least densely populated regions, a trend that has been intensifying since 2016 when the majority of planned wind park constructions commenced. The discontent and demands are mostly focused on improving infrastructure to ensure access to water, food security, physical security against armed groups, education and schools as well as job security. The question is: Why target private enterprises and hamper potential economic opportunities rather than the state?
THE AUTHORS
Martin Gubsch is a Doctoral Researcher at PRIF’s “Glocat Junctions” research department and Elena Garcia Conejero is a Master's student of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Marburg and a former intern at PRIF's “Glocal Junctions” research department
CONTACT gubsch@prif.org
03/04/2025
New PRIF Report on conflicts and participation processes in the construction of wind parks in La Guajira, Colombia
In recent years, the construction of wind parks in La Guajira, one of the most important locations for the energy transition in Colombia, has been accompanied by more than 2,000 consultation processes and extensive aid packages to mitigate conflicts. Despite this, there have been social protests, humanitarian crises and numerous conflicts between state authorities, private companies and indigenous Wayuu communities.
In his report, Martin Gubsch reveals a complex tapestry of divergent conceptions of progress, value, and justice that underlie these conflicts. Participatory processes, he argues, which are supposed to mediate between the local population, companies and the state, fail if they ignore the everyday realities of conflict. Instead of relying on simplistic dichotomies between “local” and private companies or even indigenous people and the “rest”, the various local actors should be seriously involved.
Peace and sustainability
Available online 22 July 2026, 100049
In Press, Journal Pre-proof
Mary Eyeniyeh Ngaiwi¹, Alexander Buritica¹, Carolina Gonzalez¹, Carlo Fadda², Elena García-Conejero¹, Augusto Carlos Castro-Nunez¹
Highlights
• Community Seed Banks (CSBs) foster trust and peace in conflict-affected communities.
• Community-led seed systems act as grassroots peace infrastructures.
• Institutions, infrastructure, and household traits equally shape social cohesion.
• Integrating CSBs into climate adaptation builds resilience and social cohesion.
Abstract
Sub-Saharan Africa’s rural communities are increasingly exposed to the compound pressures of climate variability and armed conflict, which erode livelihoods, disrupt institutions, and weaken social cohesion. Community Seed Banks (CSBs), initially designed to conserve agrobiodiversity and improve seed access, are increasingly functioning as grassroots institutions with broader social roles that strengthen social resilience and support peacebuilding, although evidence linking CSB participation to measurable social outcomes remains limited. This study employed a three-stage least squares (3SLS) estimation to investigate how CSBs influence six social cohesion dimensions—trust, unity, communication flow, social interaction, conflict resolution, and perceived security—in three conflict-affected, climate-vulnerable rural communities (Ayba, Melfa, Wakaye) in northern Ethiopia. Using original survey data from 393 households, we identify significant but differentiated effects of CSB membership and related covariates. Results suggest that CSB affiliation in Ayba and Wakaye correlates with higher trust and improved communication, interpersonal interaction, and conflict resolution capacity compared with Melfa. Household head employment correlates with weaker social cohesion across five dimensions; infrastructure variables (piped water access) foster interpersonal interactions, while internet connectivity trades off improved unity and communication for weaker trust, interaction, and perceived security. Land tenure effects are selective, with leased farmland linked to higher perceived security and shared tenure associated with stronger communication flows. These findings posit that, as locally rooted institutions, CSBs contribute to community-led adaptation, peacebuilding, and social cohesion, beyond mere seed conservation. Jointly conserving agrobiodiversity, enhancing seed access, and addressing climate vulnerability can foster social cohesion, making CSBs strategic for linking ecological, agricultural, and nutrition sustainability with social stability and peacebuilding.). By bridging environmental peacebuilding frameworks with critical political ecology, scholars and practitioners can begin to conceptualize CSBs as pivotal grassroots mechanisms at the intersection of climate adaptation, agrobiodiversity governance, and peacebuilding.
Mary Eyeniyeh Ngaiwi: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Alexander Buritica: Writing – review & editing, Methodology, Formal analysis. Carolina Gonzalez: Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Project administration, Conceptualization. Carlo Fadda: Writing – review & editing. Elena García-Conejero: Writing – review & editing. Augusto Carlos Castro-Nunez: Writing – review & editing, Supervision,
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