NCJ Number
56217
Date Published
1979
Length
22 pages
Annotation
AGITATIONAL AND ENFORCEMENT TYPES OF TERRORISM IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE INCIDENCE OF TERRORIST ACTIVITIES IN ARGENTINA, URUGUAY, AND BRAZIL ARE ANALYZED.
Abstract
REALITIES OF LATIN AMERICAN SOCIETIES ENCOURAGE TERRORISM. AUTHORITARIAN POLITICAL SYSTEMS LACK LEGITIMACY, AND PATERNALISTIC LEADERS HAVE NOT ACCEPTED THE CONCEPT OF LOYAL OPPOSITION. AGITATIONAL TERRORISM IS THE TERM USED TO DESCRIBE TERRORIST ACTS BY PERSONS ASPIRING TO POWER. THERE ARE TWO BROAD STREAMS OF REVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT, ONE URGING THAT A REVOLUTION BE INITIATED IN THE COUNTRY AND THE OTHER ARGUING THAT A REVOLUTION BE INITIATED IN CITIES. BOTH RURAL AND URBAN GUERRILLAS AGREE THAT MAJOR ENEMIES OF REVOLUTION ARE U.S. IMPERIALISM, LANDOWNERS, AND THE WEALTHY BOURGEOISIE. BOTH GROUPS ALSO AGREE THAT FUNDAMENTAL SOCIAL CHANGE CAN BE BROUGHT ABOUT ONLY BY ARMED REVOLUTION. MARIGHELA, WHO HELPED TO POPULARIZE THE NOTION OF URBAN TERRORISM THROUGHOUT LATIN AMERICA, STATE THAT THE GOAL OF TERRORISM IS TO UNLEASH A VOLUME OF REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY WHICH WILL OBLIGE THE ENEMY TO TRANSFORM A COUNTRY'S POLITICAL SITUATION INTO A MILITARY ONE. ENFORCEMENT TERRORISM IS THE TERM USED TO DESCRIBE TERRORIST ACTS LAUNCHED BY PERSONS IN POWER. MUCH ATTENTION CONCERNING ENFORCEMENT TERROR IS CENTERED ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND SUCH RIGHTWING COUNTRIES AS ARGENTINA, BRAZIL, CHILE, AND URUGUAY. GIVEN THE AUTHORITARIAN POLITICAL CULTURE IN LATIN AMERICA, ALMOST ALL REGIMES ENGAGE IN ACTS OF ENFORCEMENT TERROR. SINCE THE OVERTHROW OF ISABEL PERON IN ARGENTINA IN 1976, RIGHTWING TERRORISM HAS BEEN CONDEMNED BY THE GOVERNMENT. IT IS CLAIMED THAT LEFTWING TERRORISM CAN BE EFFECTIVELY COUNTERED ONLY BY A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF CENTRALIZED VIOLENCE INTIATED BY THE STATE. INTERACTION BETWEEN AGITATIONAL AND ENFORCEMENT TERRORISM HAS HAD AN ADVERSE IMPACT ON THE COUNTRY. IN URUGUAY, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT 1 IN EVERY 50 PERSONS HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO INTERROGATION, ARREST, IMPRISONMENT, OR TORTURE SINCE 1972. THE COUNTRY HAS 6000 POLITICAL PRISONERS AND, AS OF 1976, URUGUAY APPEARED TO BE MORE REPRESSIVE THAN EVER BEFORE IN ITS HISTORY BUT NO CLOSER TO A SOCIALIST REVOLUTION. LEVEL OF AGITATION TERRORISM IN BRAZIL DURING THE 1960'S AND 1970'S HAS BEEN ACCOMPANIED BY A RISE IN ENFORCEMENT TERRORISM. THIS IS TRUE BECAUSE THE POSITION OF THE MILITARY'S HARD-LINE FACTION AGAINST MODERATES WAS STRENGTHENED. THE GOVERNMENT WAS GIVEN POWER IN 1968 TO RECESS LEGISLATIVE BODIES, INTERVENE IN STATES WITHOUT LIMITATION, CANCEL ELECTIVE MANDATES, SUSPEND POLITICAL RIGHTS, SUSPEND CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES REGARDING CIVIL SERVICE TENURE AND HABEAS CORPUS, AND SUSPEND JUDICIAL REVIEW OF CERTAIN ACTIONS. THE LACK OF SOCIAL JUSTICE IN LATIN AMERICA IS DISCUSSED. NOTES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)