Democratic governments of the Southern Cone of Latin America have dealt with the human rights abuses committed under military rule by protecting those involved form prosecution with amnesty laws, acknowledging the crimes committed on victims of torture by establishing truth commissions, compensating families of victims, and in some instance eventually repealing the amnesty laws to bring about justice. The Brazilian and Argentinian government have taken different approaches in confronting their authoritarian past. As of present the Argentinian government has been able to prosecute hundreds of military and security officers charged with torture and murder as a result of the role of human agency and state consolidation of the Military of Argentina. In Brazil such justice has been improbable due to the threat of military intervention and resistance as it holds a greater autonomy from the state. Instead, truth commissions were established earlier this year, but even that has proven to be a protracted process with great military resistance and has yet to establish commissioners. Argentina’s direct control of the military and swift action of its democratic leaders have made prosecution of its military elite probable compared to Brazil which still holds concern about the military’s role in domestic politics.
History of military dictatorship in Brazil and Argentina
A campaign of political repression and terror referred to as Operation Condor was implemented by right winged dictatorships in the Southern Cone of Latin America in 1975 to eradicate communist ideas and suppress opposition movements against the current government. The United States provided technical support and military aid during this time as they shared the idea that communi...
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...ut in recent years the Brazilian state has been weaning off the military of its power and clearing of military leaders attached to atrocities of authoritarian past. As the state consolidates its power over the military and takes small steps towards acknowledging the human rights violations that occurred during military rule, it can eventually prosecute those involved in crimes without the threat of a return to military rule or military retaliation. Although the National Truth Commission has been at a virtual standstill today, local governments such as São Paulo have assembled their own independent Truth Commissions. Truth commission are crucial for knowing the truth of a dark past, national reconciliation, potentially leading to revising laws to better protect human rights and could be the first step towards pursuing justice. Brazil is heading towards the just path.
When focusing on Nicaragua one will need to pay close attention to the rebel group called the Sandinistas who took over Nicaragua’s previous dictator, Anastasio Somoza in 1979, in which the United States Congress decided it would be best to provide them with aid that lasted till 1981.1 Nicaragua’s geographic location made it a big concern for President Reagan based on his philosophy that surrounded the Reagan Doctrine. At that point, President Reagan ended the aid deal and adamantly advised that support be sent to those who were trying to over throw the new socialized, Sandinista leadership.2 Furthermore, the Nicaraguan’s were dealing with some of the worst warfare ever, by the mass killings that took place, which were at the mercy of death squads.3 This gruesome realization allowed President Reaga...
...and the quest to control and acquire fairway land while Iran, Guatemala, South Vietnamese and Chile was the use of the CIA and the ideology to stop communism.
While U.S. government hostility to the Allende regime is not doubted, the U.S. role in the coup itself remains a controversial matter. Documents show that the CIA had wanted the overthrow of Allende in 1970, immediately after he took office. The CIA was notified by contacts of the impending Chilean coup lead by General Augusto Pinochet two days in advance. Immediately after the Allende government came into office, the U.S. sought to place economic pressure on Chile. U.S. National Security Council documents stated that pressure should be placed on the Allende government to prevent its success and limit its ability to create policies against the U.
Larry Rohter was a journalist in Brazil for 14 years and from his experiences he offers in this book some unique insights into Brazilian history, politics, culture and more. In 10 topical chapters Rohter’s easy-to-read book provides a look at Brazilian history and the extraordinary changes the country has undergone -- and is still undergoing. Rother covers many significant issues, but several stand out more than others. Namely: the country’s history, culture, politics, and finally its economy/natural wealth.
Rabe Stephen. The Killing Zone The United States Wages Cold War in Latin America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
The “Panama Deception,” directed by Barbara Trent of the Empowerment Project and narrated by actress Elizabeth Montgomery, observes a distinct failure to implement 20th-century democracy in Latin America in the late '80s and early '90s. More specifically, the film documents the U.S. invasion of Panama under "Operation Just Cause” during this period, showing how the cause was anything but just. Rather, the film shows how the Operation intended to impose a biased renegotiation of the aforementioned treaties.
Following the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and the Castro regime’s subsequent alliance with the Soviet Union, Cuba emerged to play a substantial global role in Cold War politics. Most famously, Cuba featured as the staging ground for the super power confrontation of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Moreover, throughout the Cold War, Cuba provided near constant support for revolutionary movements across the Latin American region. Finally, Cuba provided crucial and direct military support for Marxist regimes in Africa through the mid 1970s until the early 1990s.
In lieu of the unclassified documents it is apparent that Kissinger had formed a liking to Augusto Pinochet. Recent memorandums show that Kissinger told Pinochet that he was a casualty of “Communist propaganda” and reinforced Pinochet, while hundreds of Chilean citizens were being jailed without cause, that the United States would not punish him for human rights violations. In September 1976 Kissinger sent out a warning to some South American nations about the rumor of an “Operation Condor” but intentionally excluded warning Chile in fear of how Pinochet would react (Duke 2005, page D01). Reveled in the transcripts are “Kissinger’s expression of ‘friendship,’ ‘sympathetic’ understanding and wishes for success to Pinochet at the height of his repression…” After receiving an overwhelming amount of pressure from congress to deal with Chile’s human rights issues Kissinger “gave a speech at an OAS conference in Santiago.” However,
Observing the political path of Manuel Noriega from being a paid CIA operative and ally of the American government, to military governor of Panama, to ousted dictator, to convicted American prisoner, exposes a series of political interactions that culminated in Operation Just Cause on December 20, 1989. Coming in the shadow of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and preceding Operation Desert Storm, this brief military action is often overshadowed by the other world conflicts of the time. How does a county the size of America justify invasion of the tiny Panamanian isthmus? How does a dictator such as Manuel Noriega justify declaring war on the United States. Given the great disparity between these two nations, understanding these questions can help interpret their nature. In order to answer these questions, the events leading up to the violent confrontation help establish each nations’ political position and offer insight into their own justifications to engage in military action. The realist and Marxist political perspective theories can be used by analyzing and different levels the justification of armed action involving these two nations.
In 1961, in response to the success of the Cuba’s Communist Revolution, President John F. Kennedy initiated the Alliance for Progress to discourage Marxist revolutions and to promote economic and social cooperation through democracy between the United States and Latin America . All throughout Latin America during the 1960’s Marxism had become the central philosophy and the future of democracy in the region appeared to be greatly threatened. Chile was viewed by the US as the ideal model for the Alliance for Progress program due its long history of constitutional democracy dating back to the nineteenth century. The Cold War fears of the Communist threat infiltrated the Chilean military when the United States funded a training school called the School of the Americas that specialized in teaching counterinsurgency techniques to Latin American militaries in order to combat guerilla warfare . Throughout these Cold War years the United States’ fear of Communism seemed dominate over rationality causing the US to act against their claimed beliefs in freedom, democracy, and basic human rights. That hypocrisy is most greatly evidenced by the United States foreign policy toward Chile during the 1960’s-the 1990’s.
While the findings suggested the challenges and limits relying on an authoritarian government, American dollars steadily increased their presence in El Salvador, increasing 18 million in investment in 1950 to 31 million in 1959, without much attention to the regime’s governmental style. (___) In El Salvador, the American task was easy, the United States, to encourage stability, defined as limiting insurrections, simply had to support those in power, the military, the landed oligarchy and hence dictators. Nixon, while serving as vice president during the 1955, himself claiming that the question in the Latin American region was, “how far is dictatorship necessary” declared, “we must deal with [Latin American] governments as they are and work over a period of time towards more democracy.” (Ambrose)
Argentina and Chile experienced similar periods of extreme human rights violations. The response of the international human rights regime to the crimes against humanity, and the pressure placed on these count...
Between the years of 1976 to 1983, the period known as the ‘Dirty War’ was in full force in Argentina. During this period, thousands of people mysteriously went missing, and are referred to now as the ‘Disappeared’. It is believed that many of the disappeared were taken by agents of the Argentine government, and perhaps tortured and killed before their bodies were disposed of in unmarked graves or rural areas. Whenever the female captives were pregnant, their children were stolen away right after giving birth, while they themselves remained detained. It is estimated that 500 young children and infants were given to families with close ties to the military to be raised. Within this essay I would like to touch on the brief history of the Dirty war and why the military felt it was necessary to take and kill thousands of Argentina’s, and also the devastating affects the disappeared, and stolen children are having on living relatives of those taken or killed. It is hard to imagine something like this happening in North America relatively recently. To wakeup and have members of your family missing, with no explanation, or to one day be told your parents are not biologically related is something Argentina’s had to deal with, and are continuing to face even today.
All throughout the 20th century we can observe the marked presence of totalitarian regimes and governments in Latin America. Countries like Cuba, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic all suffered under the merciless rule of dictators and military leaders. Yet the latter country, the Dominican Republic, experienced a unique variation of these popular dictatorships, one that in the eyes of the world of those times was great, but in the eyes of the Dominicans, was nothing short of deadly.
One of the most important aspects of a country is its criminal justice system, as this system flows into almost every aspect of the country and more often than not is the defining feature of each country in the world. One country of study that I have found interest in is Colombia, which is a country that has been plagued by a 50 year old civil war conflict and increasing amounts of corruption and human rights violations. Throughout the paper it is noticeable that Colombia has shaped many of their institutions after the U.S. model such as their judicial system and even their criminal penal code, but it is in the small details that make the system flawed. In Colombia, violent conflict between the two dominant political parties, the liberal and conservative party, has steered the political agenda into defending the country from paramilitary and guerilla action and the defense from various drug groups who seek to gain influence over the government. Throughout Colombia’s criminal justice system we see various places where human rights abuses occur such as in the policing system, in corrections with the brutal treatment of prisoners, and even with basic fundamental rights such as the right to free speech and the right to association. This deprivation of liberty is important in establishing a historical profile for Colombia as these issues have only increased over the past 50 years. In this paper I will analyze the various institutions known as the police, the penal system, the court system, criminal procedure, juvenile justice, and even take a look at the political structure of Colombia. It is obvious after an examination of the current crime trends and the current political and human rights situation in Colombia that improvement is not...