Hybrid governance and Violent Non-State Actors: examining the case of Brazil and Colombia.

The article discusses the characteristics of local organized crime governance linked to illicit markets in different areas of Brazil and Colombia. To this end, it explores how violent armed actors linked mainly to drug trafficking and gold mining in different zones of the Amazon borders have established systems of governance that translate into different forms of violence. This can be called hybrid governance. Accordingly, this research proposes that such governance is not only expressed in recent patterns of coexistence and/or competition agreements among illegal groups but is additionally associated with the role played by the state both as the actor who has the power of law enforcement and on the other hand, as the actor who offers protection rackets to organized crime.