A “Triangle” of Conflict between Duque’s Government of Colombia and the Ejército de Liberación Nacional – 2018-2020

Abstract: This thesis is conducted as a descriptive qualitative single case study to establish empirical knowledge of the ongoing internal armed conflict between the government of Colombia and the guerrilla Ejército de Liberación Nacional. The ontological foundation orienting from social constructivism and Galtung’s theoretical concepts of attitude, behaviour, and contradiction along with the three aspects of violence: direct, cultural, and structural. Based on the application of the textual discourse analysis method, 96 different discourses were analysed. The result of the analysis shows that the perception the actors have towards each other strongly is negative. The government and the guerrilla accuse each other of contributing to the social injustice in Colombia, where perception towards the ‘other’, ideology and police violence against social protests are three main subjects found contributing to the conflict. The result indicates an interrelation in Galtung’s theory between the conflict triangle (T1) and the violence triangle (T2). The concept of contradiction from the conflict triangle, in this analysis, could only be distinguished within the three approaches of violence (T2). This study confirms several claims and arguments from previous research within the academic fields of peace and conflict in Colombia. Subsequently, I aim to contribute to a deeper understanding of the ongoing conflict