From Dictatorship to Democracy: Cold War Struggles and Post-Cold War Realities in Latin America
The End of Military Dictatorship and the Dirty War in Argentina
Transition from Isabel Perón to Military Rule: * The "Dirty War" repression began during the presidency of Isabel Perón (the second wife of Juan Perón), who took office in 1974. * Repression escalated significantly when the military seized power in a 1976 coup. * The military used "black Ford Falcons" as the signature vehicles for secret police and military personnel to abduct people in the middle of the night.
The Disappeared and Psychological Warfare: * An estimated people died or were "disappeared" during this period. * The regime fostered a general climate of fear and denial. Addressing the disappearances risked psychological distress and personal physical danger. * The military waged a psychological war against its own citizenry through self-imposed censorship and silence.
International Context and Shift in US Policy: * During the Jimmy Carter administration, the US Congress held hearings and acknowledged the atrocities. * Policy shifted significantly when Ronald Reagan became president; the US became supportive of the military junta as part of the anti-Soviet Western bloc.
The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (Las Madres de Plaza de Mayo): * This movement of mothers and grandmothers emerged in the early 1980s and played a fundamental role in undermining the military junta. * The women originally visited government and police offices to report missing children, only to be told the government "knew nothing" or that their children had run off with revolutionaries (guerrillas). * They began organizing silently in the Plaza de Mayo, the central plaza in Buenos Aires located in front of the Presidential Pink House. * Symbols and Tactics: They wore white shawls as a sign of unity and loss, holding up signs and photos of their missing children. They protested quietly without chanting. * Response of the Military: The military attempted to delegitimize them by calling them "Las Locas" (the crazy women). * Gender Norms as Protection: The military was hesitant to disappear elderly women in a public plaza because it would violate social norms regarding motherhood and femininity, providing the women a layer of insulation from repression.
The Falklands/Malvinas War and the Fall of the Junta
Economic and Diplomatic Context (1981–1982): * By 1981, the Argentine economy was failing, and the junta faced mounting international condemnation and pressure from the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. * In 1982, the military leaders decided to wage war against Britain to seize the Falkland Islands (which Argentina claimed as the Malvinas). * The junta hoped a successful war would trigger a nationalist fervor and rally the population behind the flag.
The British and American Response: * The war occurred during Margaret Thatcher's premiership. At the time, she faced low popularity due to labor protests (garbage worker strikes in London) and austerity measures. * The Argentine military incorrectly calculated that the US would remain neutral or support them due to Reagan’s anti-communist alliance. Instead, Reagan supported Thatcher.
Outcome and Redemocratization: * The Argentine military, while effective at internal repression, was unprepared for conventional warfare against the British Army. * The defeat was a disaster for the junta but a political victory for Margaret Thatcher, saving her premiership. * By 1983, the military stepped aside. Raúl Alfonsín of the Radical Party won the election, beginning the slow process of redemocratizing Argentina and studying the history of the "disappeared."
Central America as a Cold War Battleground
Regional Overview: * Central America remained a "hot war zone" into the 1990s, characterized by extreme racial and economic inequality. * Societies were dominated by small landed oligarchies (elites) closely tied to the military and foreign capital (especially American capital). * Elites viewed any social reform as "communism" and presented themselves as staunch anti-communists to secure US support.
Liberation Theology: * Historically, the Catholic Church was a conservative institution that advised the poor to focus on the afterlife rather than current injustices. * Inspired by the Cuban Revolution and the pervasive social injustice, some priests developed "Liberation Theology." * Core Principle: The "preferential option for the poor," arguing that the church should align with the marginalized rather than the rich. * This theology fueled revolutionary challenges, with some priests even joining guerrilla movements.
The Stability of Costa Rica: * Costa Rica was the only stable democracy in the region during this period. * Following a civil war in the late 1940s, Costa Rica eliminated its army and invested in education, healthcare, and social services. * Despite pressure from the Reagan administration to recreate its military during the Cold War, Costa Rica refused.
The Civil War in Guatemala
Background: * Following the US-backed overthrow of Jacobo Árbenz in 1954, democratic openings vanished, and land reform was reversed. Land taken by Mayan peasants was returned to elites and the United Fruit Company. * A military takeover occurred by 1960, and leftist guerrilla groups emerged in the early 1960s.
The Scorched Earth Campaign and Genocide: * The civil war lasted from 1960 to 1996. The state deployed right-wing paramilitary death squads. * The height of repression was the late 1970s and early 1980s. The military engaged in a "scorched earth" campaign against the Mayan peasantry. * Approximately people, mostly Maya, were killed. The UN has classified this as a genocide.
Rigoberta Menchú: * A survivor of the massacres who documented the military's atrocities (including the killing of children and babies) in her testimonial "I, Rigoberta Menchú." * She eventually won the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992)
Social Inequality and the "14 Families": * Land and wealth were concentrated in a small oligarchy known as "Los Catorce" (the 14 families). * Since the 1930s (following a massacre of to peasants), the country was ruled by an alliance between the coffee elite and the military.
Failed Reform and the Rise of the FMLN: * In 1972, José Napoleón Duarte of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) won the presidential election on a reformist platform. The military arrested and exiled him rather than seating him. * This failure of electoral reform led to the rise of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition of leftist guerrilla and political groups.
Archbishop Oscar Romero: * Initially a traditional figure, Romero became a leading voice for social reform and peace through liberation theology. * He was assassinated by a paramilitary death squad while giving mass in 1981.
US Involvement and Conflict Resolution: * During the early 1980s, people were being killed per week. Death squads were responsible for to of the deaths. * The US continued to fund the Salvadoran military, even after death squads killed American nuns. * A peace deal was finally negotiated in 1992 following the fall of the Soviet Union. The FMLN became a legitimate political party and eventually won the presidency in later years.
The Nicaraguan Revolution and the Sandinistas
The Somoza Dynasty (1933–1979): * The country was ruled as a private "fiefdom" by the Somoza family, starting with Anastasio Somoza and ending with his son, Anastasio Somoza Jr. (a West Point graduate). * The family controlled the National Guard, which had been created by the US during its military occupation in the late 1920s.
Augusto Sandino: * The FSLN (Sandinistas) named themselves after Augusto Sandino, who fought against US military occupation in the 1920s and 30s and was assassinated by Somoza.
Radicalization in the 1970s: * The 1972 Nicaragua earthquake was a turning point. The Somoza regime embezzled international relief aid, causing widespread domestic and international scandal. * Baseball legend Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash while attempting to deliver aid to Nicaragua. * The assassination of conservative newspaper editor Pedro Joaquín Chamorro in 1976 further alienated the elite and middle class from Somoza.
Victory and Governance (1979–1990): * The FSLN seized power in 1979. They practiced "revolutionary pragmatism," maintaining a mixed economy (state-owned industries alongside a private sector) and "political pluralism." * They allowed an opposition press to exist (except during the height of the war) and held relatively free elections in 1984. * They implemented massive literacy campaigns and healthcare improvements modeled after Cuba.
The Contra War and the Iran-Contra Scandal
The Contras: * A counter-revolutionary force composed of remnants of the National Guard and backed by the Reagan administration. * Reagan referred to them as "freedom fighters" and the "moral equivalent of the founding fathers."
US Illegal Tactics: * The US trained the Contras in Honduras and illegally mined Nicaraguan harbors. * The Contras aimed to destabilize the country by destroying crops and killing health/education workers rather than winning territory. * By 1985, the war had killed people.
Iran-Contra Scandal (1986): * When the US Congress blocked military aid to the Contras, the Reagan administration covertly and illegally funded them by selling arms to Iran.
The End of the War: * Costa Rican President Oscar Arias brokered a regional peace deal in 1987 (winning the Nobel Peace Prize). * In 1990, the Sandinistas lost the election to Violeta Chamorro (widow of Pedro Joaquín Chamorro). Surprisingly, the Sandinistas peacefully transferred power.
Post-Cold War Latin America and Modern Challenges
Neoliberalism in the 1990s: * Governments embraced the "Washington Consensus," involving privatization of state industries, austerity (cutting taxes and social services), and free trade (e.g., NAFTA). * While these policies grew the middle class, they also enriched elites like Carlos Slim and left many poor people behind.
The "Pink Tide" (Early 2000s): * A backlash against neoliberalism led to the election of center-left presidents, such as Lula da Silva in Brazil, Evo Morales (an indigenous leader) in Bolivia, and the Chavismo movement in Venezuela.
Current Political Landscape: * The region is seeing a swing back toward conservative or "Trumpian" figures, such as Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil (who praised the military dictatorship) and the current "chainsaw-wielding" libertarian president of Argentina, Javier Milei. * In Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega has returned to power but has transformed into a dictator similar to the Somozas.
Social and Environmental Progress: * Gender: Many countries have elected female presidents (e.g., in Chile, Nicaragua, Argentina, Mexico, and Costa Rica). * Religion: There is a significant move away from the Catholic Church toward Pentecostalism, evangelical Christianity, and the open practice of Afro-Brazilian/Afro-Cuban religions. * Environment: The region faces challenges in balancing growth with conservation, such as the deforestation in Mexico threatening the monarch butterfly and the exploitation of the Amazon. * Migration and Violence: Current issues are often rooted in gang violence and drug trafficking rather than the state-led political violence of the Cold War.