State Violence and Genocide in Latin America: The Cold War Years / Edition 1

by Marcia Esparza, Henry R. Huttenbach, Daniel Feierstein

Overview

This edited volume explores political violence and genocide in Latin America during the Cold War, examining this in light of the United States’ hegemonic position on the continent.

Using case studies based on the regimes of Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Peru and Uruguay, this book shows how U.S foreign policy – far from promoting long term political stability and democratic institutions – has actually undermined them. The first part of the book is an inquiry into the larger historical context in which the development of an unequal power relationship between the United States and Latin American and Caribbean nations evolved after the proliferation of the Monroe Doctrine. The region came to be seen as a contested terrain in the East-West conflict of the Cold War, and a new US-inspired ideology, the ‘National Security Doctrine’, was used to justify military operations and the hunting down of individuals and groups labelled as ‘communists’. Following on from this historical context, the book then provides an analysis of the mechanisms of state and genocidal violence is offered, demonstrating how in order to get to know the internal enemy, national armies relied on US intelligence training and economic aid to carry out their surveillance campaigns.

This book will be of interest to students of Latin American politics, US foreign policy, human rights and terrorism and political violence in general.

Marcia Esparza is an Assistant Professor in Criminal Justice Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Henry R. Huttenbach is the Founder and Chairman of the International Academy for Genocide Prevention and Professor Emeritus of City College of the City University of New York. Daniel Feierstein is the Director of the Center for Genocide Studies at the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, Argentina, and is a Professor in the Faculty of Genocide at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415496377
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/09/2009
Series:	Routledge Critical Terrorism Studies
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Marcia Esparza is an Assistant Professor in Criminal Justice Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. Henry R. Huttenbach is the Founder and Chairman of the International Academy for Genocide Prevention and Professor Emeritus of City College of the City University of New York. Daniel Feierstein is the Director of the Center for Genocide Studies at the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, Argentina, and is a Professor in the Faculty of Genocide at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Globalizing Latin American Studies of State Violence and Genocide Marcia Esparza Part 1: The Roots and Theoretical Underpinnings 1. U.S. Hemispheric Hegemony and the Descent into Genocidal Practices in Latin America Luis Roniger 2. Political Violence in Argentina and its Genocidal Characteristics Daniel Feierstein 3. Genocide in Chile: An Assessment Maureen S. Hiebert and Pablo Policzer 4. Understanding the 1982 Guatemalan Genocide Marc Drouin Part 2: The Mechanisms of Violence 5. "Industrial Repression" and Operation Condor in Latin America J. Patrice McSherry 6. The United States and Torture: Lessons from Latin America Jennifer K. Harbury 7. State Violence and Repression in Rosario during the Argentine Dictatorship, 1976-1983 Gabriela Aguila 8. U.S.-Colombian Relations in the 1980s: Political Violence and the Onset of the UP Genocide Andrei Gomez-Suarez Part 3: The Aftermath of State Violence and Genocide 9. Political Violence, Justice and Reconciliation in Latin America Ernesto Verdeja 10. Vicious Legacies? State Violence(s) in Argentina Guillermina S. Seri 11. Courageous Soldiers (Valientes Soldados): Politics of Concealment in the Aftermath of State Violence in Chile Marcia Esparza 12. Bringing Justice to Guatemala: The Need to Confront Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity Raúl Molina Mejía