The armed forces have always played a central role in the states. The militaries over the years, until the 1960s, were different depending on the countries. The militaries were very powerful with populist tactics and views. Their government had a leader similar to Fidel Castro. There were also other types of government where they were all different from one another. One major similarity was that the governments did not think of themselves as permanent leaders, but rather they had a constrained role in government. They came to power when society collapsed, or removed a corrupt government, and would govern for a short period of time until they set up a date for elections. They would sometimes outlaw a particular political party.
Inconsistency was how politics looked in the beginning of the 1900s in Latin America. The Cold War helped grow communist and communist sympathy organizations in Latin America. They were active in politics. Pressure was intensified from the United States and within against the communist organizations, which was an extension of the Cold War. They wanted to eliminate the incompetent. As early as 1954, the United States indirectly intervened in Guatemala to ensure that a Left-leaning government movement did not take over. In 1959, Fidel Castro gained control in Cuba (December). By 1961, Cuba aligned with the Soviet Union, which brought about the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Cuba is 70 miles off the coast of the United States.
In 1948, Latin America signed the Rio Treaty, which agreed on a defense of outside threats. The United States started to train the people of Latin America to find out who the military leaders were, which began the development of the militaries. Many leaders went to the United States (West Point) and Germany for training against external and internal threats. The military began to draw their officers from the middle SES classes. The officers are generally older and wiser. By around 1965, the militaries were transformed. They were better supplied, more confident, supported, and better trained to play a significant political role. Universities became headquarters for training and meetings for the military; classes stopped.
It was a very unstable time, which suffered economy weakening. There were very high rates of inflation, unemployment, and poverty. Governments across the nation were weakened and on the edge of demise. Because of this, the militaries started to take over the government. Now, they had a different function than previously. They viewed themselves as transformers, backed by the United States to sustain order. It was not about liberty or equality, but rather order was the main goal. Order was placed above everything else. Brazil was the first government to take over. Peru was next in 1968. Uruguay, then Chile in 1973 for 17 years, and Argentina in 1976 and governed for a short period of time, until 1981-1982. Although it was very short, it is ranked as one of the most abusive. They seized the press and closed universities. They remained aloof from society. They showed very little interest in the needs of the society. Many people took sanctuary with the Catholic church. There were not many organizations that could offer comfort for the people. They viewed government as a form of science. They drew sometimes from American universities, using the best people in specific fields. They were highly modern regimes. They were sophisticated for their time. They were very abusive regimes. They fought communism from within, arresting those who were planning to overthrow the government. They captured people were tortured and killed. The targets started to become anyone who showed the slightest sympathy with communists, not just communists anymore. Any act of opposition caused people to become arrested; they became the disappeared ones, where they were never seen again.
The Dirty War was also happening in other countries. Brazil’s government did not commit as bad abuse as the other countries. Although there were many human rights issues, it did not reach the bar that Argentina was setting. Some countries broke out in full-fledged civil wars. The United States intervened in Grenada in 1983. In the 1980s, the countries started to lose a lot of its aid from the Soviet Union. The United States also withdrew its aid. The Latin American countries rapidly started democratic governments. Argentina’s government stepped down from power in 1983, with its first democratic election since years before. The Brazilians started a revolutionary approach. Not until the 1990s did the military get withdrawn; it was a very slow process. The president of Argentina declared amnesty for all of those who committed abuse in the Dirty Wars.
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