Ariel Ávila

Ariel Ávila is the coordinator of Corporation Nuevo Arco Iris’ Armed Conflict Observatory, a consultant to various organizations and a past professor at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Ávila is a distinguished researcher on topics of internal armed conflict, low-intensity conflicts, citizen security and political and electoral culture. His research experiences have allowed him to publish close to thirty academic texts which have focused on three themes: comparative studies about the dynamics of the Colombian armed conflict, citizen security with regards to organized crime and its impact on institutions and, lastly, the turnover and recruitment of regional and local elites. Within the past year and a half, Ávila has participated in a comparative research project, with the collaboration of other contributors, focusing on the dynamics of armed conflict, organized crime and transnational crime on the bi-national borders of Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and Ecuador. He graduated with a degree in political science from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia where he is currently working towards a Master’s degree in Sociology. He has edited and coordinated La Frontera Caliente entre Colombia y Venezuela (2012) and co-authored both Democracias en Venta (2012) and Mercados de Criminalidad en Bogotá (2011).