Reviews

Argentina, the United States, and the Anti-Communist Crusade in Central America, 1977-1984 by Ariel Armony, Ohio University Press, 1997, 301 pp., $26.00 (paper) In this provocative and...

...military, and National Security Archive documents, the author carefully details the development of the U.S.Argentine collaboration...
...This book by psychoanalyst Nancy Hollander addresses questions which are essential to the understanding of recent events in Latin America-the psychological dynamics of state terrorism, the impact of these dynamics on victims and their effects on survivors...
...Marjorie Woodford Bray...
...Filled with stunning photography and packed with information, this film is an excellent introduction to the war in Chiapas...
...The film's compelling portrayal of Bishop Samuel Ruiz underscores the importance of his mediation efforts, which have since been frustrated by the intransigence of the Mexican government...
...From the watchful inaction of the Carter Administration to the covert military training activities under Reagan, the author examines changes in U.S...
...It provides a useful context to understand more recent developments in the region, particularly the growing role of the Mexican army and the rise of the government-sponsored paramilitary forces...
...But it was the dramatic growth of the Argentine counterinsurgency apparatus during the dirty war and the desire of its leaders to extend their influence in the region that made these international operations possible...
...Argentina, the United States, and the Anti-Communist Crusade in Central America, 1977-1984 by Ariel Armony, Ohio University Press, 1997, 301 pp., $26.00 (paper) In this provocative and wellresearched book, Ariel Armony examines how the Argentine security forces exported both their ideology and counterinsurgency strategies to Central America in the late 1970s and early 1980s...
...The real "star" of the film, however, is the masked figure of Subcomandante Marcos...
...His enigmatic wit and charismatic leadership are evident throughout the film...
...Armony then moves into an examination of U.S...
...The work of Langer and her associates put them at considerable risk...
...He describes the history of the EZLN as the metamorphosis of a few self-styled "teachers of revolution" into "students of community...
...Exploring Langer's life allows Hollander to trace the evolution of the field of psychoanalysis in the region during a time of repressive military dictatorships...
...Her main protagonist, Marie Langer, was a leader in the development of psychoanalysis in Argentina after arriving there as a refugee from Austria...
...foreign policy to contextualize Argentina's involvement in the Central American wars...
...In the aftermath of dictatorships, Hollander discusses the importance of remembering for individuals and societies if they are to deal with the consequences of state terror...
...As she follows the lives of ten psychotherapists in the Southern Cone, Hollander presents information and theory in an insightful manner...
...She argues in a compelling way that the failure of newly elected governments to hold human rights violators accountable has thwarted memory and reconciliation at both the personal and societal levels...
...Elorriaga eloquently summarizes the historical context of the rebellion-the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the rescinding of Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution which protected communal land ownership...
...Marcos outlines the political philosophy and strategy of the Zapatistas, who sought to create a movement in which the community would penetrate the guerrilla-not viceversa-until the latter was transformed into the community's army...
...The involvement of some of their patients in guerrilla organizations forced them to confront the complex problems of conducting psychoanalysis in a situation in which a comrade could be betrayed or in which the analyst could become privy to information which could make him/her a target of repression...
...policy in Central America from 1977-1984...
...Hollander shows how Langer and her associates developed the concept of liberation psychology from their readings of Marxist and Freudian thought...
...Argentina's role in the antiCommunist crusade in Central America emerged from ideological concerns which were deeply tied to Cold War geopolitics and the doctrine of national security...
...This informative and engaging documentary chronicles the first year of the rebellion in Chiapas, Mexico, providing a useful historical political forces that have shaped this bitter and ongoing conflict...
...After 500 years of oppression, as an evangelical pastor explains in this film by Saul Landau, the Zapatista uprising of January 1, 1994 marks the rising of a "sixth sun...
...Operating on an international scale was consistent with the perception of the Argentine generals that the "Communist threat" was a global one...
...This exhaustively researched book is an important historical account of a crusade and a conspiracy which fundamentally shaped the history of Central America...
...Utilizing declassified CIA files, interviews with Argentine agents working for the U.S...
...Love in a Time of Hate: Liberation Psychology in Latin America by Nancy Caro Hollander, Rutgers University Press, 1998, 270 pp., $21.95 (paper...
...Those who remained continued offering psychological support to groups like the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo...
...The formation and growth of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) is recounted by two leaders of the movement, Javier Elorriaga ("Vicente") and Gloria Benavides ("Elisa"), who were political prisoners at the time the film was made...
...Jordan Press The Sixth Sun: Mayan Uprising in Chiapas A film by Saul Landau, The Cinema Guild, 1997, 56 minutes In Mayan mythology, the sun represents justice and a new sun emerges every 100 years...
...This approach led these analysts towards a more socially concerned practice in which they provided therapy to working-class Argentines who could otherwise not afford it...
...They explain how the movement grew from a small group of dedicated revolutionaries living in the mountains during the 1970s into a broadbased indigenous social movement for land and freedom...
...Armony offers an in-depth look at the security apparatus that waged Argentina's dirty war and provides a detailed account of the complex networks linking the Argentine military and intelligence services to their counterparts in Latin America and United States...
...Con46N.MLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS Teaching Methods: Highlights: trary to earlier interpretations, the author argues that Argentina's involvement in the anti-Communist crusade in Central America was not an attempt to play up to the United States in order to buy its neutrality in the upcoming Malvinas/ Falklands war, but was, rather, the result of the generals' perception that the Carter Adminstration had abandoned the fight against Communism...
...Eventually, Langer and several of her associates were forced to flee Argentina...

Vol. 32 • September 1998 • No. 2


 
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