How Dictatorships Work: Power, Personalization, and Collapse
DICTATORSHIPS IN THE AMERICAS
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Transcript of DICTATORSHIPS IN THE AMERICAS
BY:
TOM ALLENANDJOANA BETTOCCHI-BARROW
DICTATORSHIPS IN THE AMERICAS
ARCHIBISHOP OSCAR ROMERO, EL SALVADOR 1980.
“WHEN ALL PEACEFUL MEANS
HAVE BEEN EXHAUSTED, THE
CHURCH CONSIDERS INSURRECTION
MORAL AND JUSTIFIED”
SECTION 1: CENTRAL AMERICA: US
POLICY AND ITS EFFECTS
SECTION 2: CHILE: ALLENDE AND
PINOCHET
SECTION 3: PERU
OUTLINE
RULED BY 14 FAMILIES
1960: 12 % OF THE PEASANTRY LANDLESS
MID 1970S: 80% OF THE PEASANTRY LANDLESS
1980: CIVIL WAR COMMENCES
EL SALVADOR
Murdered by GovernmenttSanctionedDeath Squad 1980.
OSCAR ROMERO
PEACE TREATY 1992
USA SPENT 1 BILLION DOLLARS (TAX PAYER’S MONEY) PROPPING UP THE REPRESSIVE SALVADOREAN GOVERNMENT
75,000 PEOPLE KILLED IN EL SALVADOR OVER 12 YEARS OF CIVIL WAR.
CURRENTLY: COALITION GOVERNMENT, SOIL EXHAUSTION, 80% OF THE LAND IS STILL OWNED BY 14 FAMILIES, AND POVERTY/HARDSHIP/MISERY IS RAMPANT.
EL SALVADOR
1954: USA’S FIRST CIA-INITIATED COUP D’ETAT
ARBENZ GOVERNMENT TOPPLED BY CASTILLO ARMAS JUNTA GOVT WITH US MILITARY AID
SERIES OF REPRESSIVE MILITARY REGIMES
1982-83: GENOCIDAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST MAYAN PEOPLE INITIATED BY PRESIDENT JUAN EFRAIN RIOS MONTT (CALLED THE AUGUSTO PINOCHET OF GUATEMALA)
GUATEMALA
ON TRIAL FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY AND GENOCIDERIOS MONTT: COUP ON ANOTHER MILITARY REGIME IN 1982 BECAME THE DEFACTO PRESIDENTBORN AGAIN CHRISTIANRIOS
MONTT
DOCUMENTS GENOCIDAL POLICIES AGAINST INDIGNEOUS PEOPLE.WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. CONTROVER-SIAL FIGURE TO THIS DAY RIGOBERTA MENCHU
35 YEARS OF CIVIL WAR
100 000 DIED (MOSTLY MAYANS), 1 000 000 REFUGEES
PEACE TREATY SIGNED IN 1990
CURRENTLY: VAST INEQUALITY, SPORADIC INDIGENOUS UPRISINGS
CURRENT PRESIDENT: OTTO PEREZ MOLINA - WAS A FORMER MILITARY OFFICER WHO REPORTED TO RIOS MONTT.
GUATEMALA
SOMOSA DYNASTY LASTED 40 YEARS: FATHER, SON, GRANDSON
FDR: “HE’S A SON OF A BITCH, BUT HE’S OUR SON OF A BITCH”
1973 EARTHQUAKE: RELIEF MONEY STOLEN BY THE SOMOSAS. BLOOD DONATIONS WERE SOLD.
SANDINISTAS OUST SOMOSA #3 IN 1979
SOMOZA FLEES TO PARAGUAY WITH 1.6 BILLION DOLLARS OF NICARAGUA’S NATIONAL TREASURY
NICARAGUA
LED A REBELLION AGAINST THE FIRST OF THE SOMOSAS
MURDERED BY SOMOSA # 1 IN 1934
AUGUSTO SANDINO
SANDINISTA PROGRAM: LAND REFORM, MINIMUM WAGES, REGULATED WORKING HOURS, SAFETY PRACTICES, MATERNITY LEAVE, CHILD CARE, PENSIONS.
US GOVT ACCUSES THE SANDINISTAS OF UNFAIRLY LIMITING THE FREEDOM OF CORPORATE AND BUSINESS INTERESTS: COMMUNISTS!
REAGAN GOVT FINANCES MERCENARY CONTRA ARMY THE IRAN CONTRA SCANDAL
SANDINISTAS REPEATEDLY RE-ELECTED UNTIL 1990; DANIEL ORTEGA IS THE CURRENT PRESIDENT AGAIN
NICARAGUA
Leader of Sandinista Forces
DANIEL ORTEGA
LA VIOLENCIA: 30 YEARS OF GUERRILLA WARFARE 1948+
BRUTAL MILITARY REPRESSION
USA ANTI-DRUG CAMPAIGN
INNOCCENT CIVILIANS CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE
CURRENTLY: LARGEST RECEIPIENT OF USA MILITARY ASSISTANT.
VERY LITTLE MONEY FOR SOCIAL SERVICES,FEW JOB OPPORTUNITIES, , MASSIVE BRAIN-DRAIN.
COLOMBIA
CURRENTLY: LARGEST RECIPIENT OF USA MILITARY ASSISTANCE
VERY LITTLE MONEY FOR SOCIAL SERVICES
FEW JOB OPPORTUNITIES
MASSIVE BRAIN-DRAIN
COLOMBIA
MANUEL NORIEGA WAS CONSIDERED A “GOOD” GUY
BY THE CIA
“SO LONG AS NORIEGA WAS SUPPORTING THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION WAR AGAINST THE SANDINISTAS,
HIS DRUG DEALING ACTIVITIES WERE OVERLOOKED” (pg.300, MEADE)
PANAMA
CHILE
ALLENDE : SOCIALIST PRESIDENT
ATTEMPTED MANY SOCIAL & ECONOMIC REFORMS
POLICY OF HIGHER WAGES AND FIXED PRICES NAÏVE
NATIONALIZATION PROGRAMS ANGERED US COMPANIES
SYSTEMATIC ECONOMIC SABOTAGE BY CHILEAN ELITE,
NIXON GOVERNMENT AND CIA
SALVADOR ALLENDE
AUGUSTO PINOCHET
EARLY MILITARY CAREER UNREMARKABLE
VERY MUCH A FENCE-SITTER ON MAJOR POLICIES
AFTER 1973 COUP: SUDDEN TRANSFORMATION FROM ANONYMOUS BACKBENCHER TO AUTROCRAT
SHORTLY AFTER THE COUP, ALL OTHER MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY JUNTA DEPOSED, RETIRED, DISAPEARED, OR DIED OF MYSTERIOUS ILLNESES
PINOCHET
PINOCHET WROTE A BOOK CALLED “EL DIA DECISIVO”,
RE-WRITING HIS OWN PERSONAL HISTORY IN WHICH HE PORTRAYED HIMSELF AS MORE OF A HARDLINER AND ANTI-COMMUNIST THAN HE HAD BEEN
PINOCHET: “GOD PUT ME THERE. PROVIDENCE, OR DESTINY, OR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT PUT ME THERE” (pg.65/66)
PINOCHET
SENDERO LUMINOSO (SHINING PATH): MAOIST-INSPIRED TERRORIST GROUP THAT EMERGED IN THE 1980s.
TORTURED AND KILLED INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN THE ANDES.
TARATA BOMBING.
ABIMAEL GUZMAN WAS CAPTURED IN 1992.
ALBERTO FUJIMORI AND THE MILITARY.
PERU
Professor and Lead of the Shining Path.
ABIMAEL GUZMAN
COMISION DE LA VERDAD Y RECONCILIACION (TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION)
SENDERO STILL HAS A PRESENCE IN PERU, THOUGH NOT POLITICALLY. THEY CONTROL PARTS OF THE AMAZON AND SURVIVE FROM THE NARCO TRADE WITH COLOMBIA.
SENDERO PRESENTS ITSELF AS A CHARITY/ADVOCACY GROUP IN NORDIC COUNTRIES TO THIS DAY TO END “THE OPPRESSION OF THE PEOPLE”
PERU
WAS THE USSR A REAL THREAT
IN LATIN AMERICA?
WHAT DID US TAXPAYERS THINK ABOUT THE BILLIONS OF
DOLLARS OF PUBLIC MONEY BEING SPENT TO PROP UP
VIOLENT MILITARY REGIMES IN LATIN AMERICA? DID THEY KNOW? DID THEY CARE?
DID THE DICTATORS REALLY BELIEVE THEY
WERE FIGHTING COMMUNISM, OR WAS THIS A CONVENIENT POLITICAL POSTURE, ENABLING THEM TO
RECEIVE US MILITARY AID BY LABELLING ALL THEIR OPPONENTS AS
COMMUNISTS?
HOW DO YOU ACCOUNT FOR
PINOCHET’S SUDDEN TRANSFORMATION FROM ANONYMOUS BACKBENCHER TO
RUTHLESS, AUTOCRATIC
MURDERER AND TORTURER?
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF
ARCHBISHOP ROMERO’S
STATEMENT:WHEN ALL
PEACEFUL MEANS HAVE BEEN
EXHAUSTED, THE CHURCH
CONSIDERS INSURRECTION
MORAL AND JUSTIFIED.”
NEARLY HALF OF ALL CHURCHGOING
GUATEMALANS HAVE TURNED AWAY FROM
CATHOLICISM IN FAVOR OF OTHER
RELIGIONS. WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IS
SO?
DO YOU HOLD OUT HOPE FOR:
GUATEMALA – CURRENT PRESIDENT WAS A FORMER MILITARY OFFICER DURING THE WORST YEARS OF GENOCIDE
EL SALVADOR – 80% OF THE LAND STILL CONTROLLED BY 14 FAMILIES
NICARAGUA – INFRASTRUCTURE DESTROYED BY EARTHQUAKE, CONTRA WAR AND HURRICANE MITCH