Hamza Asshidi, PhD student at CERAG laboratory, Anne Bartel-RadicProfessor of Management Sciences at Sciences Po Grenoble and at the CERAG laboratory, and Mathilde Dessaigne, Student at Sciences Po Grenoble.
Colombia, located in the far north of the with a population of 49 million, is Latin America's fourth-largest economy. economy in Latin America. For several decades, the country has been armed conflict between the Colombian state and armed militias.
The two most infamous militias are the FARC (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) and the ELN (National Liberation Army). A few years ago, however, a peace process peace process has been underway. In this unstable context, French companies French companies, with a strong presence in the country, play a significant role as facilitators role as facilitators, notably through their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility. they wish to assume.
A multi-decade violent conflict, a recent and fragile peace process fragile peace process
The communist-influenced FARC was founded in 1966 against a backdrop of major agricultural problems. A few years later, following an international revolutionary Guévarist trend, the ELN was born to defend oil workers, while the Maoist-influenced Popular Liberation Army (EPL) was created in 1967 as the armed wing of the Communist Party. These actions won the approval of the popular masses in the countryside and spread to urban areas under the name "Movimiento 19 de Abril", nicknamed "M-19" (CNMH, 2013).
These different guerrilla movements developed particularly in the 1980s, with the introduction of armed combat strategy of armed combat, political action and radicalization of their movements to gain power over the elites. To protect themselves, governments governments, elites and drug traffickers create paramilitary groups. paramilitary groups. The state finds itself overwhelmed by the scale of these oppositions and the and the emergence of the Medellin and Cali drug cartels, which weakened weakening and militarizing it (CNMH, 2013). The escalation of violence continued throughout the 1990s. Multinational companies companies were caught up in the almost inevitable spiral of violence in their activities in Colombia. Pressure from drug traffickers on the one hand on the one hand, and guerrillas of all kinds on the other, sometimes forced them to respond to the injunctions of violent factions in the country (Barnett, 1991).
President Juan Manuel Santos, elected in 2010, began peace negotiations with the idea of an amnesty, a right to forget and forgiveness for the combatants of the various armed forces. forgiveness for combatants from the various armed forces. These violence cost the lives of more than 220,000 people, 80% of them civilians (eleven people a day for eleven people a day for 50 years) and left serious physical, emotional, psychological physical, emotional, psychological, social and political damage.
On November 24, 2016, the peace agreement signed with FARC covers five main points: agrarian reform guaranteeing the fundamental rights the fundamental rights of rural communities and greater access to land land (promoting the return and resettlement of those displaced by the conflict); political participation of the FARC; the fight against drugs and illicit trafficking justice and reparation for victims; an end to the conflict and demobilization and the demobilization and reintegration of the 7,000 FARC combatants still active combatants (UN, 2010). In theory, companies can take action on points points 1, 4 and 5, through economic development and the integration of and ex-guerrillas into civil society through employment.
Since 2018, Colombia's new president, Ivan Duque, has been widely criticized for his agreements signed with the guerrillas and the ongoing peace process. process. In particular, he is threatening Transitional Justice for Peace, which is supposed to to promote the reintegration of all those who have repented. Faced with these decisions some of the guerrillas have taken up arms again, alas putting paid to any hope of a speedy resolution to the conflict.
French companies in Colombia: CSR actions in the service of peace
French multinationals have a strong presence in Colombia: France is the 14th largest foreign investor in the country, with 240 subsidiaries of French groups, including 33 of the CAC40, in a multitude of sectors (Direction Générale du Trésor, 2018). France is even the leading foreign employer, generating 120,000 direct jobs and over 200,000 indirect ones. The economy can make a real contribution to the Colombian peace process, which is being scrutinized by all players, private and public alike. The reintegration of former guerrilla fighters (members of armed groups) is a key issue, and one to which companies can contribute. More generally, companies can help generate a more serene climate of trust and reconciliation. Employment is a vehicle for integration, and fosters trust between individuals.
The twenty or so cases of French multinationals that we studied as part of our management research highlighted a whole range of CSR actions promoting national reconciliation. Among the most widespread are the social aid programs run by major groups for their Colombian subsidiaries, aimed at supporting the country's poorest populations (financial aid, hospital financing, educational initiatives through support for schools). Other actions have an even greater impact. French companies encourage their own employees in Colombia to get involved in CSR-related actions, rewarding them with prizes, and sometimes sponsoring Colombians involved in wage-related issues within the company.
Support for associations and NGOs by French companies is another measure that indirectly helps victims of the conflict or the reintegration of repentant guerrillas. Associations often have local knowledge and experience of the issues involved in the peace process, enabling them to take the best possible action on behalf of the local population. Companies can go so far as to set up their own foundations to work towards peace in Colombia, multiplying their projects. This is usually done in close collaboration with major Colombian institutional players, such as the Colombian Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN), which works to reintegrate armed individuals and groups, and to achieve global reconciliation.
In the end, it's all these which, taken together, can have a real impact on the peace process. peace process. For the most part, French companies are effective in their CSR investments. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Colombia, as elsewhere, the excesses of certain multinationals remain real.
The other side of the when companies enrich themselves at the expense of local local populations
The eight experts from Colombian civil society whom we interviewed as part of our research agree on a rather critical view of foreign multinationals in Colombia. foreign multinationals in Colombia. In their view, as in many in many countries, the actions of companies in favor of society allow the latter to benefit from tax exemptions, or even to be subsidized by the state. This market motivation does not, however, preclude the positive impact of these actions on the population.
Far more reprehensible are the few foreign multinational companies, often linked to natural resources, in the mining industries (gold, coal...) and located in areas of Colombia where violence is still rife. In fact, some companies have been led to negotiate with armed groups (FARC or ELN) to keep their operations in Colombia, even if this means indirectly financing violent paramilitary factions. Some foreign multinationals have also exerted pressure on environmental activists and trade union leaders, notably through paramilitaries opposed to working conditions or land confiscation by certain multinational groups (Amnesty, 2006). American companies have been accused by name (Maurer, 2009). This highly reprehensible behavior, which is in the minority but well-documented, stands in stark contrast to the CSR practices of French multinationals described above.
References
Amnesty (2006), These multinationals qui profitent du crime, Amnesty - Section suisse d'Amnesty International, 46, https://www.amnesty.ch/fr/sur-amnesty/publications/magazine-amnesty/2006-3/ces-multinationales-qui-profitent-du-crime
CNMH, edited by Sánchez, Gómez, G., 2013, ¡Bastaya! Colombia: memorias de guerra y dignidad, Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica, Bogotá, Colombia
Maurer, V. G. (2009), Corporate Social Responsibility and the "Divided Corporate Self": The Case of Chiquita in Colombia, Journal of Business Ethics, 88, pp. 595-603.
ONU, PRI., (2010), Guidance on Responsible Business in Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas: A Resource for Companies and Investors. for Companies and Investors, United Nation Global Compact and PRI, New York, USA