The Armed Forces and Democracy in Latin America PDF Download

Author: John Samuel Fitch
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 9780801859182
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
The book tackles the subject of the military and politics in Latin America from a broad historical perspective, drawing on literature in the field and other information based on personal interviews with officers.

Author: David Pion-Berlin
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807875295
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
The armed forces may no longer rule nations throughout Latin America, but they continue to influence democratic governments across the region. In nine original, thought-provoking essays, this book offers fresh theoretical insights into the dilemmas facing Latin American politicians as they struggle to gain full control over their military institutions. Latin America has changed in profound ways since the end of the Cold War, the re-emergence of democracy, and the ascendancy of free-market economies and trade blocs. The contributors to this volume recognize the necessity of finding intellectual approaches that speak to these transformations. They utilize a wide range of contemporary models to analyze recent political and economic reform in nations throughout Latin America, presenting case studies on Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, and Venezuela. Bridging the gap between Latin American studies and political science, these essays not only explore the forces that shape civil-military relations in Latin America but also address larger questions of political development and democratization in the region. The contributors are Felipe Aguero, J. Samuel Fitch, Wendy Hunter, Ernesto Lopez, Brian Loveman, David R. Mares, Deborah L. Norden, David Pion-Berlin, and Harold A. Trinkunas. Latin American Studies/Political Science

Author: Brian Loveman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
First published in 1978 and here updated from the 1989 edition to include more information on the origins of antipolitics and its history in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to emphasize the often illusory transitions to democracy from 1965 to 1995, to explore why and how military rulers accede to elected civilian governments, and to document the military's generally successful defense against accusations of human rights abuses. The 28 essays find that the civilian governments blossoming throughout Latin America are dressing authoritarian institutions in the trappings of protected democracy in order to suppress popular movements and to privilege the market. No index. Paper edition (unseen), $23.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Author: Sebastian E. Bitar
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137539275
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 213

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Book Description
This book explores domestic opposition to formal US military bases in Latin America, and provides evidence of a growing network of informal and secretive base-like arrangements that supports US military operations in the Latin American Region.

Author: David Pion-Berlin
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137592702
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
This book demonstrates through country case studies that, contrary to received wisdom, Latin American militaries can contribute productively, but under select conditions, to non-traditional missions of internal security, disaster relief, and social programs. Latin American soldiers are rarely at war, but have been called upon to perform these missions in both lethal and non-lethal ways. Is this beneficial to their societies or should the armed forces be left in the barracks? As inherently conservative institutions, they are at their best, the author demonstrates, when tasked with missions that draw on pre-existing organizational strengths that can be utilized in appropriate and humane ways. They are at a disadvantage when forced to reinvent themselves. Ultimately, it is governments that must choose whether or not to deploy soldiers, and they should do so, based on a pragmatic assessment of the severity and urgency of the problem, the capacity of the military to effectively respond, and the availability of alternative solutions.

Author: J. Patrice McSherry
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 0742568709
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
This powerful study makes a compelling case about the key U.S. role in state terrorism in Latin America during the Cold War. Long hidden from public view, Operation Condor was a military network created in the 1970s to eliminate political opponents of Latin American regimes. Its key members were the anticommunist dictatorships of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil, later joined by Peru and Ecuador, with covert support from the U.S. government. Drawing on a wealth of testimonies, declassified files, and Latin American primary sources, J. Patrice McSherry examines Operation Condor from numerous vantage points: its secret structures, intelligence networks, covert operations against dissidents, political assassinations worldwide, commanders and operatives, links to the Pentagon and the CIA, and extension to Central America in the 1980s. The author convincingly shows how, using extralegal and terrorist methods, Operation Condor hunted down, seized, and executed political opponents across borders. McSherry argues that Condor functioned within, or parallel to, the structures of the larger inter-American military system led by the United States, and that declassified U.S. documents make clear that U.S. security officers saw Condor as a legitimate and useful 'counterterror' organization. Revealing new details of Condor operations and fresh evidence of links to the U.S. security establishment, this controversial work offers an original analysis of the use of secret, parallel armies in Western counterinsurgency strategies. It will be a clarion call to all readers to consider the long-term consequences of clandestine operations in the name of 'democracy.'

Author: Wendy Hunter
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 9780807846209
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
"Major reconsideration of civil-military relations in post-authoritarian Brazil uses case studies of labor rights, federal budgeting, and control over Amazonia to argue that logic of competitive politics allowed civilian politicians to gradually erode military influence. Well researched and documented"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.

Author: Linda Alexander Rodríguez
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780842024334
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
The power of the military in Latin America has become well known in recent decades, as coups have brought numerous military regimes into office since 1960. Yet too often it is assumed, for example, that the region's armed forces have had no legitimate defence functions, or that military professionalism is only a recent development.

Author: Thomas M. Leonard
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742537415
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
The first full-length study of World War II from the Latin American perspective, this unique volume offers an in-depth analysis of the region during wartime. Each country responded to World War II according to its own national interests, which often conflicted with those of the Allies, including the United States. The contributors systematically consider how each country dealt with commonly shared problems: the Axis threat to the national order, the extent of military cooperation with the Allies, and the war's impact on the national economy and domestic political and social structures. Drawing on both U.S. and Latin American primary sources, the book offers a rigorous comparison of the wartime experiences of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Central America, Gran Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, and Puerto Rico.

Author: W. John Green
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438456638
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
A sweeping study of political murder in Latin America. This sweeping history depicts Latin America’s pan-regional culture of political murder. Unlike typical studies of the region, which often focus on the issues or trends of individual countries, this work focuses thematically on the nature of political murder itself, comparing and contrasting its uses and practices throughout the region. W. John Green examines the entire system of political murder: the methods and justifications the perpetrators employ, the victims, and the consequences for Latin American societies. Green demonstrates that elite and state actors have been responsible for most political murders, assassinating the leaders of popular movements and other messengers of change. Latin American elites have also often targeted the potential audience for these messages through the region’s various “dirty wars.” In spite of regional differences, elites across the region have displayed considerable uniformity in justifying their use of murder, imagining themselves in a class war with democratic forces. While the United States has often been complicit in such violence, Green notes that this has not been universally true, with US support waxing and waning. A detailed appendix, exploring political murder country by country, provides an additional resource for readers.