ABSTRACT The complex entanglements of organised crime, drug trafficking, paramilitary groups and clientelism continue to shape the political terrain of Colombia’s Atlantic Coast. This article examines how local elite assessments of how to ‘do corruption right’ were mobilised in the late 1990s by paramilitary commanders to legitimate their state building efforts, and were equally important to their project of territorial control. Here, I examine three registers of corruption talk. I first address anti-corruption claims public declarations made by paramilitary commanders decrying the corruption practices of the traditional political class. These same paramilitary leaders engaged in armed clientelism: using threat of violence, in addition to the delivery of state-funded projects, to gain both electoral loyalty and control of state agencies. The second register of corruption talk I consider are elite assessments of paramilitary. I argue that by approving of paramilitary governance as a means of reigning in excessive corruption, elites in the Monteria region of Colombia’s Atlantic Coast not only justified their own support for paramilitarism, but also exonerated themselves for their own ongoing corrupt practices. Finally, I consider how paramilitary links to drug trafficking have been erased in public discourse, in part through media portrayals of paramilitaries in telenovelas, nightly serialised television dramas.

中文翻译：

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哥伦比亚的准军事政治和腐败谈话

摘要 有组织犯罪、贩毒、准军事团体和庇护主义的复杂纠缠继续塑造哥伦比亚大西洋沿岸的政治格局。本文考察了 1990 年代后期准军事指挥官如何动员地方精英对如何“行腐败”的评估，以使其国家建设努力合法化，并且对他们的领土控制项目同样重要。在这里，我检查了腐败谈话的三个登记册。我首先处理准军事指挥官公开声明的反腐败主张，谴责传统政治阶层的腐败行为。这些准军事领导人从事武装附庸：除了交付国家资助的项目外，还使用暴力威胁来获得选民的忠诚度和对国家机构的控制。我认为的第二个腐败谈话记录是对准军事人员的精英评估。我认为，通过批准准军事治理作为治理过度腐败的一种手段，哥伦比亚大西洋沿岸蒙特里亚地区的精英不仅证明了他们对准军事主义的支持是合理的，而且还为自己持续的腐败行为辩护。最后，我考虑了如何在公共话语中消除与贩毒的准军事联系，部分是通过电视连续剧和夜间连续剧中对准军事的媒体描绘。哥伦比亚大西洋沿岸蒙特里亚地区的精英们不仅证明了他们对准军事主义的支持是合理的，而且还为自己持续的腐败行为开脱。最后，我考虑了如何在公共话语中消除与贩毒的准军事联系，部分是通过电视连续剧和夜间连续剧中对准军事的媒体描绘。哥伦比亚大西洋沿岸蒙特里亚地区的精英们不仅证明了他们对准军事主义的支持是合理的，而且还为自己持续的腐败行为开脱。最后，我考虑了如何在公共话语中消除与贩毒的准军事联系，部分是通过电视连续剧和夜间连续剧中对准军事的媒体描绘。