MERCOSUR unveils new trove of files on South American dictatorships.
| Autor | Gaudin, Andres |
| Cargo | Mercado Comun del Sur |
Human rights violations committed by South American dictatorships during a period of four decades--from the 1954 coup d'etat that brought Gen. Alfredo Stroessner to power in Paraguay to the peaceful departure of Gen. Augusto Pinochet in Chile in 1990--are part of the complex history shared by the countries of the Southern Cone. Military regimes in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, acting on their own or in coordination with their counterparts in other countries, carried out a policy of terror. Respected historians say this policy was designed and promoted by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and had its roots in Washington (NotiSur, Sept. 18, 1998, and Oct. 5, 2001), where the National Security Doctrine was said to have been planned.
The idea was to impose neoliberal economic policies on all the countries in the region, regardless of the will of the people. The dictatorships left behind a dramatic toll that included tens of thousands of people murdered, tortured, and disappeared; some 5,000 children treated as the spoils of war and "given away," their identities erased; and around one million people in exile (NotiSur, July 7, 2000).
As Argentine analyst Javier Borelli wrote in the Buenos Aires newspaper Tiempo, these regimes also managed to strangle their countries, "leaving them in impossible debt, turning over state assets to transnational interests, eliminating social and work-related gains, banning political and union activity, and destroying industries and, along with them, jobs. But they did not manage to destroy people's culture or make them forget."
Even under the most adverse conditions, during those years of dictatorships some people and organizations took on the dangerous task of gathering information, driven by the urge to obtain justice and ensure that people did not forget, Borelli wrote. Finally, with the end of the last military regime, the democratic governments began taking over the demands--intensely in the case of in Argentina, more reluctantly in Chile.
New guide to help researchers of abuses
Now, as the justice system continues to do its work, with varying degrees of difficulty depending on the country, the Instituto de Polfticas Publicas en Derechos Humanos (IPPDH) of the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR) has launched a guide to reference materials that compile information on crimes committed by the military regimes, "so that justice can act, so that memory can move forward."...
Para continuar leyendo
Solicita tu pruebaCOPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
