| Bandits,
Peasants, and Politics : The Case of "La Violencia" in Colombia
(Translations from Latin America Series (Hardcover), by Gonzalo Sánchez, Donny Meertens,
Sá (Authors), Gonzalo nchez Alan Hynds (Translator). University of Texas Press; 1st University
of Texas Press Ed edition (March 2001).
The years 1945-1965 saw heavy partisan
conflict in the rural areas of Colombia, with at least 200,000 people killed. This virtual
civil war began as a sectarian conflict between the Liberal and Conservative parties, with
rural workers (campesinos) constituting the majority of combatants and casualties. Yet La
Violencia resists classification as a social uprising, since calls for social reform were
largely absent during this phase of the struggle. In fact, once the elite leadership
settled on a power-sharing agreement in 1958, the conflict appeared to subside. This book
focuses on the second phase (1958-1965) of the struggle, in which the social dimensions of
the conflict emerged in a uniquely Colombian form: the campesinos, shaped by the earlier
violence, became social and political bandits, no longer acting exclusively for powerful
men above them but more in defense of the peasantry. In comparing them with other regional
expressions of bandolerismo, the authors weigh the limited prospects for the evolution of
Colombian banditry into full-scale social revolution. Published originally in 1983 as
Bandoleros, gamonales y campesinos and now updated with a new epilogue, this book makes a
timely contribution to the discourse on social banditry and the Colombian violencia. Its
importance rests in the insights it provides not only on the period in question but also
on Colombia's present situation. Information
Crossroads of Intervention: Insurgency and
Counterinsurgency Lessons from Central America (Terrorism, Counterinsurgency, and
Irregular Warfare) (Hardcover), by Todd Greentree. Praeger Security International General
Interest-Cloth (March 30, 2008).
The challenges that vex the United States
today in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere are not altogether as new and unique as they
seem. U.S. involvement in Central America during the 1980s clearly demonstrated the costs,
risks, and limits to intervention and the use of force in internal conflicts. Much can be
learned today about the nature of irregular warfare from the experiences of the United
States and the other protagonists in Central America during the final phase of the Cold
War. The U.S. perceived a threat to national security in these wars from determined
insurgents with a compelling revolutionary ideology and powerful allies that linked them
to other conflicts around the world. This strategy and policy analysis makes a new
contribution to irregular warfare theory through an examination of the origins, strategic
dynamics, and termination of the Sandinista insurrection in Nicaragua, the decade long
counterinsurgency of the Salvadoran government against the FMLN guerrillas, and the
concurrent Contra insurgency against the Sandinistas. Many of the lessons about the
fundamental and recurring nature of irregular warfare are being rediscovered in the
current challenges of radical Islam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, despite the great
differences in circumstance, culture, and geography. In the Central American case, three
successive Presidents encountered serious domestic controversy over U.S. policies and
refrained from sending U.S. combat troops to intervene directly. Most importantly, they
prudently heeded warnings that internal wars of all types are rarely subject to military
solutions, because their natures are equally and fundamentally political. Greentree
presents his argument as a strategy and policy case study of the civil wars in Nicaragua
and El Salvador during the final decade of the Cold War. The book comprises an examination
of the origins, strategic dynamics, and termination of these wars from the points of view
of the main participants--Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba, the Soviet Union, and the United
States. It also develops a general conceptual framework for understanding the nature of
insurgency, counterinsurgency, revolution, and intervention that builds on classic
strategic theory and contemporary thought on irregular warfare. From the perspective of
global superpower conflict, the wars in Central America were peripheral "small
wars" or "low intensity conflicts". However, for the internal protagonists
these were total and bloody wars for survival. Involvement in such wars has been cyclical
in the U.S. experience, and it is misfortunate, if not tragic, that the greatly similar
problems encountered across widely varying circumstances are quickly forgotten. Information
Exploring Revolution: Essays on Latin American
Insurgency and Revolutionary Theory (Hardcover), by Timothy P. Wickham-Crowley. M E
Sharpe Inc (March 1991). Information
Guerrillas and Revolution in Latin America (Paperback), by Timothy P. Wickham-Crowley. Princeton
University Press (January 25, 1993).
This bookrepresents the first real
attempt to bring together Latin American case studies and sociological theories of
revolution. It provides a useful framework for students seeking to compare the Latin
American guerrilla experiences. Wickham-Crowley has produced a persuasive corrective to
the views of those who have underestimated the importance of peasant support for
guerrillas and overestimated the value of international support--either for the guerrillas
or for their opponents. Information
Insurgency, Authoritarianism, and Drug Trafficking in Mexico's
Democratization (Latin American Studies: Social Sciences & Law) (Hardcover), by
Jose Luis Velasco. Routledge; 1 edition (December 30, 2004).
Mexico's "democratic transition" has
created a competitive electoral system and a formally plural state. But authoritarian
practices have shown their capacity to thrive in this competitive context. Besides, a
peculiar wave of insurgency, started in 1994, has challenged the alleged moderating effect
of democratic transition. At the same time, the illegal drug business became larger and
probably increased its political influence, undermining the rule of law and democratic
accountability. This book argues that socioeconomic inequality is the main factor behind
this combination of democratic and undemocratic trends. Inequality has corrupting effects
upon democratization; conversely, the apparently democratic system tends to legitimate
economic inequality and thereby contributes to reproducing it. Thus, a far-reaching
redistribution of socioeconomic power is indispensable for breaking the vicious circle
created by inequality and authoritarianism. Information
Latin America in
the Era of the Cuban Revolution: Revised Edition (Paperback), by Thomas C. Wright. Praeger
Paperback; Revised edition (October 30, 2000).
After Fidel Castro's guerrilla war
against dictator Fulgencio Batista triumphed on January 1, 1959, the Cuban Revolution came
to be seen as a major watershed in Latin American history. The three decades following
Castro's victory gradually marginalized Cuba from the Latin American mainstream. But, as
long-time Cuba observer Thomas C. Wright shows, the Cuban Revolution owed its vast
influence in Latin America to the fact that it embodied the aspirations and captured the
imaginations of Latin America's masses as no other political movement had ever done. After
reviewing the background to Castro's Cuban Revolution, Wright examines the radical social
and economic transformation of Cuba and Castro's efforts to actively promote insurrection
against established governments and bourgeois power throughout Latin America. He then
analyzes,in detail, the military "revolution" in Peru, the Allende government in
Chile, and the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua. Then Wright looks at the phenomena that
affected all or major parts of Latin America--the impact of fidelismo, U.S. responses to
revolution, rural guerrilla warfare, urban guerrilla warfare, and the new-style
institutional military regimes created to fight revolution. He concludes with a summary of
the rise and fall of Cuban influence in the hemisphere and offers an overview of the Latin
American political landscape in the 1990s. An engaging synthesis for students and scholars
interested in the Cuban Revolution and its impact on Latin America in the second half of
the twentieth century. Information
Shining and Other Paths: War and Society in Peru,
1980-1995 (Latin America Otherwise) (Paperback), by Steve J. Stern. Duke University
Press (December 1998).
Shining and Other Paths offers the first
systematic account of the social experiences at the heart of the war waged between Shining
Path and the Peruvian military during the 1980s and early 1990s. Confronting and
untangling the many myths and enigmas that surround the war and the wider history of
twentieth-century Peru, this book presents clear and often poignant analyses of the brutal
reshaping of life and politics during a war that cost tens of thousands of lives. The
contributors—a team of Peruvian and U.S. historians, social scientists, and human
rights activists—explore the origins, social dynamics, and long-term consequences of
the effort by Shining Path to effect an armed communist revolution. The book begins by
interpreting Shining Path’s emergence and decision for war as one logical
culmination, among several competing culminations, of trends in oppositional politics and
social movements. It then traces the experiences of peasants and refugees to demonstrate
how human struggle and resilience came together in grassroots determination to defeat
Shining Path, and explores the unsuccessful efforts of urban shantytown dwellers, as well
as rural and urban activists, to build a “third path” to social justice.
Integral to this discussion is an examination of women’s activism and consciousness
during the years of the crisis. Finally, this book analyzes the often paradoxical and
unintended legacies of this tumultuous period for social and human rights movements, and
for presidential and military leadership in Peru. Extensive field research, broad
historical vision, and strong editorial coordination enable the authors to write a
coherent and deeply humanistic account, one that draws out the inner tragedies,
ambiguities, and conflicts of the war. Information
Struggles for Social Rights in Latin America (Paperback), by Susan Eckstein. Routledge; 1
edition (November 8, 2002).
Struggles for Social Rights in Latin
America is the authoritative collection for exploring the broad span of social rights
struggles in Latin America. This pioneering book explores how, when, and why a broad range
of groups have struggled to secure a range of social rights in Latin America. Essays come
from a range of scholars in a variety of disciplines and tackle the most pressing concerns
in Latin American societies. The essays present Latin Americans' own views, deprivations
and struggles over rights. It is the first book to portray in rich and nuanced detail the
different Latin American class, ethnic, racial, gender and sexual minority perceptions of
their social rights and struggles to secure greater justice. Individual topics include the
environment, AIDS, workers' rights, women's movements, citizenship, indigenous rights,
tourism, and many more. With all original essays from top scholars in the field, this is
an invaluable resource for exploring and understanding the intricacies and diversities of
human rights struggles across Latin America. Information
The History of Latin America: Collision of
Cultures (Palgrave Essential
Histories) (Paperback), by Marshall C. Eakin. Palgrave Macmillan (June 12, 2007).
This narrative history of Latin America
surveys five centuries in less than five hundred pages. The first third of the book
moves from the Americas before Columbus to the wars for independence in the early
nineteenth century. The construction of new nations and peoples in the nineteenth
century forms the middle third, and the final section analyzes economic development,
rising political participation, and the search of identity over the last century.
The collision of peoples and cultures--Native Americans, Europeans, Africans--that defines
Latin America, and gives it both its unity and diversity, provides the central theme of
this concise, synthetic history. Information
Vanguard Revolutionaries in Latin America: Peru, Colombia,
Mexico (Paperback), by James F. Rochlin. Lynne Rienner Publishers (November 2002).
Information
What Justice? Whose
Justice?: Fighting for Fairness in Latin America (Paperback), by Timothy P.
Wickham-Crowley (Author), Susan Eva Eckstein (Editor). University of California Press; 1
edition (October 9, 2003).
The new millennium began with the triumph
of democracy and markets. But for whom is life just, how so, and why? And what is being
done to correct persisting injustices? Blending macro-level global and national analysis
with in-depth grassroots detail, the contributors highlight roots of injustices, how they
are perceived, and efforts to alleviate them. Following up on issues raised in the
groundbreaking best-seller Power and Popular Protest: Latin American Social Movements (California,
2001), these essays elucidate how conceptions of justice are socially constructed and
contested and historically contingent, shaped by people's values and institutionally
grounded in real-life experiences. The contributors, a stellar coterie of North and Latin
American scholars, offer refreshing new insights that deepen our understanding of social
justice as ideology and practice. Information
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