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Paper short abstract

This paper unveils dynamics of inequality within the hierarchical humanitarian structure at the Colombia/Venezuela border. It analyses processes of dependence and contested narratives of aid from grassroot organizations towards international cooperation in the light of the USAID funding withdrawal.

Paper long abstract

The dismantling of USAID in January 2025, combined with the largest displacement Colombia experienced in the 21st-century caused by the armed conflict in Catatumbo, triggered the onset of a polycrisis along the Northeast Colombia–Venezuela border. Colombia, the largest USAID funding recipient in Latin America and the Caribbean, was hit by the most severe global funding crisis in the history of international cooperation, affecting more than 70% of the sector in the country. This collapse threatened the survival of humanitarian and development actors in a region already facing some of the highest unemployment rates in the country, and in a city through which circa 50% of Venezuelan migrants cross, and where more than 60 organizations had operated over the past decade. But it also exposed deep power hierarchies, inequalities, dependency structures, and forms of resistance.

Based on 6 months of ethnographic research and 35 interviews in Cúcuta and Bogotá in 2025, this PhD chapter thesis unveils dynamics of inequality within hierarchical humanitarian structures at the border. It analyses processes of dependence from grassroot organizations towards international cooperation, along with counternarratives that showed relief in the light of the funding withdrawal. This chapter shows how Colombia, upon its dependency on U.S. funding, has a robust and strong – but precarious and wasted – grassroot humanitarian structure that operated in the region for decades. It allows to reflect on how the USAID withdrawal can be critically seen as an opportunity to reshape governance from below and reimagine new futures in a post-aid era.