Peer Reviewer 1:
The notebook accurately reflects the state of corruption and participation of illegal armed groups on the political and social arenas of Colombia. By showing how these situations have been handled and what the results were, the report allows the reader to get a broad picture of the problem.
However, there should be more reference to the presidential re-election process, since it sets a tone for the way the government makes its decisions and how this gets reflected on the political scene of the whole country.
The first two paragraphs seem too convoluted; it is hard to follow the idea that the author is trying to convey about the different characters and the roles they play on the political scene.
The final sentence of the report seems to say that illegal groups are not part of the political arena anymore, and that the legitimacy of the new political class is corruption-free. This is, however, not the case. The last elections were still full of contested participants clearly linked to illegal armed forces, such as the AUC, which shows that there is still campaign work from these groups.
Peer Reviewer 2:
The report correctly emphasizes the relationship between corruption and violence in Colombia. The anecdotic evidence that is presented sheds light on the deeply entrenched connection between paramilitary groups and politics. However, the underlying motive --drug money-- and the use of violence as a threat for enforcing corrupt deals could have been mentioned. Together with the GI indicators, the report is very valuable. If read separately, however, it will not make readers aware of other types of corruption occurring in Colombia, such as low-level corruption by police and administration, and corruption in the fiscal decentralized system (in particular the health sector).
Peer Reviewer 3:
The Reporter's Notebook is factually accurate and fair. In order to get a more comprehensive understanding of the situation, the readers would also benefit from knowing about the pervasive extent of bid-rigging, false claiming, money laundering, fixing the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) tools, and rampant overcharging in infrastructure projects and contracts.
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