In October, a popular referendum narrowly rejected the peace accords that could have signaled an end to guerrilla fighting in Colombia, where left-wing insurgencies have struggled with state forces and paramilitaries for fifty years — the world’s longest armed conflict.

The peace accord would have provided amnesty for former combatants and allowed demobilized guerrillas a limited voice in government. But the Colombian right mobilized a forceful movement against the agreement, eventually succeeding in blocking its progress and delivering a severe setback to the peace process. Meanwhile, neo-paramilitaries continue to terrorize working people and their allies with impunity.

A stunning new book by anthropologist Lesley Gill helps make sense of Colombia’s dire circumstances. A Century of Violence in a Red City: Popular Struggle, Counterinsurgency, and Human Rights in Colombia describes the history of capitalist development and class struggle in one embattled enclave — the port city of Barrancabermeja, in Colombia’s oil-producing Middle Magdalena region.