State Terrorism in Latin America

Chile, Argentina, and International Human Rights

Thomas C. Wright

Set in the larger context of the evolution of international human rights, this cogent book examines the tragic development and ultimate resolution of Latin America's human rights crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. Thomas Wright focuses especially on state terrorism in Chile under General Augusto Pinochet (1973–1990) and in Argentina during the Dirty War (1976–1983). The author probes the background of these regimes, the methodology of state terrorism, and the human rights movements that emerged in urgent response to the brutality of institutionalized torture, murder, and disappearance. He also discusses the legacies of state terrorism in the post-dictatorial period, particularly the bitter battle between demands for justice and the military's claim of impunity. Central to this struggle was the politics of memory as two radically different versions of the countries' recent history clashed: had the militaries conducted legitimate wars against subversion or had they exercised terrorism based on a misguided concept of national security?

The book offers a nuanced exploration of the reciprocal relationship between state terrorism and its legacies, on one hand, and international human rights on the other. When the Chilean and Argentine militaries seized power, the international human rights lobby was too weak to prevent the massive toll of state terrorism. But the powerful worldwide response to these regimes ultimately strengthened international human rights treaties, institutions, and jurisprudence, paving the way for the Rwanda and Yugoslavia genocide tribunals and the International Criminal Court. Indeed, Chile and Argentina today routinely try and convict former repressors in their own courts.

This compelling history demonstrates that the experiences of Chile and Argentina contributed to strengthening the international human rights movement, which in turn gave it the influence to affect the outcome in these two South American countries. Ironically, the brutal regimes of Chile and Argentina played the major role in transforming a largely dormant international lobby into a powerful force that today is capable of bringing major repressors from anywhere in the world to justice. These intertwined themes make this book important reading not only for Latin Americanists but for students of human rights and of international relations as well.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 286 • Trim: 6½ x 9½

978-0-7425-3720-0 • Hardback • February 2007 • $146.00 • (£112.00)

978-0-7425-3721-7 • Paperback • December 2006 • $53.00 • (£41.00)

978-1-4616-4280-0 • eBook • December 2006 • $138.50 • (£107.00)

Series: Latin American Silhouettes

Subjects: History / Latin America / General, Political Science / World / Caribbean & Latin American, Political Science / Human Rights, Social Science / Regional Studies

State Terrorism in Latin America

Chile, Argentina, and International Human Rights

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Set in the larger context of the evolution of international human rights, this cogent book examines the tragic development and ultimate resolution of Latin America's human rights crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. Thomas Wright focuses especially on state terrorism in Chile under General Augusto Pinochet (1973–1990) and in Argentina during the Dirty War (1976–1983). The author probes the background of these regimes, the methodology of state terrorism, and the human rights movements that emerged in urgent response to the brutality of institutionalized torture, murder, and disappearance. He also discusses the legacies of state terrorism in the post-dictatorial period, particularly the bitter battle between demands for justice and the military's claim of impunity. Central to this struggle was the politics of memory as two radically different versions of the countries' recent history clashed: had the militaries conducted legitimate wars against subversion or had they exercised terrorism based on a misguided concept of national security?

The book offers a nuanced exploration of the reciprocal relationship between state terrorism and its legacies, on one hand, and international human rights on the other. When the Chilean and Argentine militaries seized power, the international human rights lobby was too weak to prevent the massive toll of state terrorism. But the powerful worldwide response to these regimes ultimately strengthened international human rights treaties, institutions, and jurisprudence, paving the way for the Rwanda and Yugoslavia genocide tribunals and the International Criminal Court. Indeed, Chile and Argentina today routinely try and convict former repressors in their own courts.

This compelling history demonstrates that the experiences of Chile and Argentina contributed to strengthening the international human rights movement, which in turn gave it the influence to affect the outcome in these two South American countries. Ironically, the brutal regimes of Chile and Argentina played the major role in transforming a largely dormant international lobby into a powerful force that today is capable of bringing major repressors from anywhere in the world to justice. These intertwined themes make this book important reading not only for Latin Americanists but for students of human rights and of international relations as well.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 286 • Trim: 6½ x 9½

978-0-7425-3720-0 • Hardback • February 2007 • $146.00 • (£112.00)

978-0-7425-3721-7 • Paperback • December 2006 • $53.00 • (£41.00)

978-1-4616-4280-0 • eBook • December 2006 • $138.50 • (£107.00)

Series: Latin American Silhouettes

Subjects: History / Latin America / General, Political Science / World / Caribbean & Latin American, Political Science / Human Rights, Social Science / Regional Studies

Author

Thomas C. Wright is professor of history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Part I: Human Rights, State Terrorism, and Latin America
Chapter 1: The Human Rights Revolution
Chapter 2: The Latin American Human Rights Crisis
Part II: The Dirty Wars
Chapter 3: Chile under State Terrorism
Chapter 4: The Dirty War in Argentina
Part III: Justice versus Impunity
Chapter 5: Argentina: The Sinuous Path of Transitional Justice
Chapter 6: Chile: Impunity, Truth, and Justice in a Protected Democracy
Conclusion: Chile, Argentina, and International Human Rights

Reviews

Thomas Wright helps us to understand the ways in which justice and impunity have clashed head on in the crisis over human rights in Latin America. . . . Tell[s] a most instructive and comprehensive story through the comparison of Chile and Argentina. . . . This book will be useful for graduate and undergraduate courses in Latin America, peace and justice studies, and democratization, as well as for those interested in better understanding why it has taken so long for justice to be obtained in Latin America.
— Susan Berger; Journal of Latin American Studies

Thomas C. Wright's State Terrorism in Latin America provides a concise and extremely readable synthesis. . . . Wright's comparative approach offers fresh insights. . . . Wright's international perspective marks a truly original contribution, and his broad synthesis brings together material that was formerly scattered in more specialized studies.
— Hispanic American Historical Review

Wright draws from extensive personal interviews as well as scholarly resources to explore the impact of state terrorism in Latin America between l970 and 1990. . . . Well written with full documentation, his book makes a valuable contribution to both Latin American and international human rights scholarship. . . . Highly recommended.
— Choice Reviews

An in-depth account of the Chilean and Argentine dictatorships. His cogent descriptions of their rise to power, their evolving structures, and their systematic abuses provide an excellent overview of this period, particularly for those new to the field. . . . Detailed, compelling, and highly useful . . . it has value for novices and experts alike.
— Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Features

Traces the evolution of international human rights from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, when these rights were essentially a statement of good intentions, to the opening of the International Criminal Court in 2003

Examines Latin America's widespread human rights tragedy of the 1970s and 1980s, explaining the background and causes of the crisis

Offers detailed case studies of the agenda and operation of state terrorism

Chronicles the development of Latin America's most powerful human rights movements

Follows the very different courses of transitional justice in the two countries to the present