Identity Crisis: The Military in Changing Times
Manaut, Raúl Benítez
Latin America was overly optimistic as the curtain fell on the 1980s. In almost every country, military and civilian leaders arrived at a gentlemen's agreement: the military would go back to...
...The 1982 Pact of Apaneca, signed by political and economic elites and members of the military, and backed by the United States, made this possible...
...Intelligence networks have changed their objectives...
...The U.N...
...The army is currently divided in the face of this reform...
...During the civil-war years from 1980 to 1992, civilian governments changed hands in the elections of 1984 and 1989...
...The new military nationalism can be observed in other countries as well...
...This governing pact is-with few exceptions-honored throughout Latin America...
...It was also agreed that the high command would begin a process of retirement, which would culminate in June, 1993 with the complete retirement of the dominant faction of the army, the "Tandona," the Military School's class of 1966...
...Since the 1970s, the Salvadoran army had maintained two parallel structures: its regu- lar detachments and the secret paramilitary "death squads...
...With the signing of the peace accords, the army has rapidly redefined its national security doctrine and internal organization in order to adjust to the post-war period...
...The question, however, is open: will it remain apolitical if an opposition party obtains power...
...With its disappearance, the military has had to rethink its mission...
...What will happen if political stability becomes uncertain...
...The para- meters of acceptable behavior have also narrowed...
...In El Salvador, the FMLN has become a force to be reckoned with, and could gain political power at the parliamentary and municipal level...
...The return of the military to politics reflects the limitations of democracy, the questioning of neoliberal economic policy, and the possibility that faced with a crisis of governability, a populist military leadership can emerge...
...Impunity-which places the military or other state security forces above the law-takes two forms: political and operative...
...A new militarism emerged: "Cardenismo" in Mexico, "tenentismo" in Brazil, "Peronismo" in Argentina, and "Somocismo" in Nicaragua...
...In the absence of Cold NACIA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS 16REPORT ON DEMOCRACY War power games, the United States lost interest in propping up authoritarian regimes...
...The fight against drug trafficking became a war in the course of the 1980s, when the U.S...
...The problem, of course, is that the national interests of many Latin American countries have been subordinated to the interests of the United States...
...Many on the Left abandoned the idea of revolution, and took up the call for moderate social change...
...In Nicaragua, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) was the seed of the Popular Sandinista Army (EPS...
...Democracy didn't matter...
...Now, special units are created to fight the war against drugs...
...However, the police and security forces-which are principally responsible for systematic violations of human rights-have a high level of impunity...
...He is the author of La teoria militar y la guerra civil en El Salvador (Universidad Centroamericana, San Salvador, 1989...
...Military autonomy is not limited to dictatorships, but can exist under civilian-even democratic-regimes...
...Between 1934 and 1946, the caudillos made way for the civilian politicians...
...One can't speak in the same breath of the Mexican military and the Chilean...
...combatting the political and economic threat to the hemisphere posed by international drug trafficking...
...The new doctrine is based more on economic factors: containing social unrest sparked by the great economic crisis of the 1980s which forced millions into poverty...
...The only requirement was the government's capacity to exercise political control and maintain a stable political climate-by vote, or by military boot...
...Within the Venezuelan army, a nationalist and populist sector emerged, wanting to implement policies that benefit the masses...
...An open conflict exists between the military and the security forces...
...The other objective for the United States was fostering the spread across the hemisphere of allied regimes against the Communist enemy...
...This put an official end to the national security doctrine, as the FMLN would cease to be military threat...
...raison d'etre of its strategies...
...fear of Cuban-Soviet expansionism peaked...
...Yet it is dangerous to generalize about Latin American militaries...
...Democracy has not been consolidated...
...Today, as a general rule, the military doesn't become involved in politics if a civilian government is able to maintain stability...
...there are no definitive answers...
...human rights abuse...
...The military professionalized itself and accepted the new political elites...
...At the same time, this new-born democracy is shallow...
...government decided to bring Latin American armed forces into the battle, owing to the incapacity of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and police and security forces...
...In Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Uruguay and Bolivia, military governments relinquished power to avert greater social upheaval in their respective countries...
...To put an end to the civil war, the Salvadoran government and the FMLN signed the Accords of Chapultepec in January of 1992, which set the stage for the most profound military reform in El Salvador's history...
...The litmus test of success will be whether or not the army respects this new political reality, and respects the lives of the ex-guerrillas...
...This new militarism in some cases-such as Mexico, Brazil and Argentina-modernized countries, paving the way for more or less democratic systems, while in other countries-such as Nicaraguadictatorships were consolidated...
...Will the military respect the emergence of the new Left on the political scene...
...ven though anti-Communism is no longer the cohesive ideology of Latin American elites, democracy in the region is not standing on firm ground...
...Historians attribute the origins of militarism in Latin America to the Spanish colonial legacy of centralism, authoritarianism, a powerful Catholic Church, and the absence of political elites...
...and dealing with the unknown consequences of ongoing neoliberal economic reforms...
...policies which have brought about demilitarization, free-market economics, and the transnationalization of countries...
...Venezuela opened the way to democracy in the 1960s at the same time as it waged a successful counterinsurgency campaign against guerrillas...
...Another problem that the war against drugs produces is corruption...
...Or will there be a return to the era of military coups against nationalist presidents...
...Region-wide links with respect to production, transportation, sales and consumption have transnationalized the drug war and made national borders superfluous...
...The country was able to consolidate democracy because resources from the oil boom were used to allay social conflict...
...Truth Commission accused the officers of this generation of being principally responsible for the gross violations of human rights during the 1980s...
...The Mexican government allots a third of its budget to defense, and 60% of the Attorney General's budget goes to the war against drugs...
...The weakness of civil society, the economic crisis, and problems endemic to political elites have all made it difficult for the new political systems to stabilize...
...In the post-war period, the influence of the United States became a determining factor...
...The military reform will also separate the national police force from the military structure...
...Today, all Latin American presidents share the same neoliberal political ideology, and market-oriented reforms have opened countries up to the forces of the international marketplace...
...This second structure-in which the police and national security apparatus also participated-should disappear in the military reform...
...In the 1920s, a series of revolutionary armies headed by caudillos were gradually transformed into a federal armed force, just as a powerful political apparatus was being constructed to centralize power...
...The political system-without being democratic-has slowly opened up, and though it remains authoritarian in nature, it is not militaristic...
...The militaries themselves came to accept democracy as the most stable form of government...
...234" x 195," oil on canvas...
...In Haiti, the isolation of the military government, both within and without the country, opened the way for the return of President JeanBertrand Aristide to power in Haiti...
...Finally, the most important aspect of the accords was an agreement to end impunity...
...In Argentina, the decisive factor was the Malvinas War in 1982...
...Likewise, on what basis would one compare Argentina's racist and elitist army with an army with popular roots like the Nicaraguan...
...Fernando Botero, Military Junta, 1973...
...Now, they investigate bank accounts, moneylaundering operations, car dealerships, air and boat lines, and corrupt public officials...
...The Salvadoran army could not win a military war against the FMLN, yet neither was it routed...
...The collapse of these oligarchies began with the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917) and extended into the 1930s...
...They represent three totally different national realities, and thus illustrate 16MACIA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS the new challenges facing the armed forces...
...Military governments opened the floodgates to political liberalization as a survival tactic...
...In such cases, the military acts with impunity...
...If this portion increases, so too will the risk of corruption...
...Political parties from across the political spectrum also began to reappraise democracy...
...Nevertheless, because wide sectors of the population-those loyal or sympathetic to the FMLNwere excluded from the process, the Salvadoran political system was able to accommodate the coexistence of democracy, militarism and counterinsurgency...
...It is worth noting that of these five countries, only in the case of Peru was a non-democratic formula for governing able to succeed, due to popular support for Fujimori and the military in the face of the Shining Path insurgency...
...In Nicaragua, the FSLN is the most important opposition power...
...An army that is fighting in a constant civil war, such as the Colombian, can't be compared with one that has only been active in military missions in the exterior, such as the Cuban army...
...In the other countries, the military has kept to the margins, and has respected political institutions working parallel to the presidency, such as the parliament and the judiciary...
...RaDI Benitez Manaut is a researcher at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in the Humanities at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM...
...It sees itself as a professional army, uncommitted to any faction...
...Today, this sector is in the minority...
...The Mexican army-without doubt, the most subordinate to civil authority in Latin America-has thrown itself wholeheartedly into the war against drug trafficking...
...The security forces are infiltrated by drug traffickers, while the military is waging 18 NACIA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS 18 NACIA REPORT ON THE AMERICASREPORT ON DEMOCRACY a war against drugs on the ground...
...in Venezuela, successive attempts to overthrow Carlos Andr6s P6rez were defeated, but his government fell through a parliamentary-legal-not military-formula...
...In Guatemala, the autogolpe failed, and in a sui generis solution, the army respected the Constitution and promoted a political outcome that safeguarded democracy...
...What will happen if the political arena moves to the left...
...In Cuba, the military is directly tied to the Communist Party, and is highly politicized...
...The crisis of military rule and the rebirth of democracy in the 1980s occurred because the exercise of political power through authoritarian means proved ultimately unviable...
...In the 1980s, the liberalization of the political process sped up...
...this has led by degrees to a process of democratization...
...The Venezuelan military-which for 30 years was subordinate to civil power-is now one of the most important expressions of so-called new military nationalism...
...Where the militaries clung to power-such as in Argentina, Chile and Paraguay-they were eventually corralled out of office...
...Yet Latin America's body politic is undefined...
...In Mexico, the military has a high level of professionalism...
...Political repression engendered radical groups in Central America that took up arms against the government...
...It is characterized by a plurality of political parties and periodic elections, but other elements necessary for an effective political process-such as an independent judiciary, strong parliaments, and military and security forces that respect the law and human rights-are notably absent...
...By the end of the 1980s, the social and economic situation had deteriorated, and a crisis of political leadership ensued...
...The decisive role that the military plays in Peru to combat Shining Path is yet another kettle of fish...
...interdiction strategy...
...The internal structure of the armed forces has been profoundly transformed since taking on this new mission...
...However, as I noted earlier, they have exhibited a high degree of professionalism...
...In Argentina, Chile, Guatemala and El Salvador, military nationalism is of the Right...
...The transition to democracy, in its original conception, was based on a controlled political process in which centrist and rightist political forces would dominate...
...In Mexico and Brazil-the largest countries in Latin America-the new Left has made headway, and in the short- or medium-term could win power...
...The parties of the Right-which were often unconditional allies of the military-also began to reappraise democracy, both because the military hadn't given them the share of power they had been promised, and also because permanent military rule had endangered sociopolitical stability...
...In almost every country, military and civilian leaders arrived at a gentlemen's agreement: the military would go back to the barracks, the governing political parties would be moderate or right-of-center, and the privileges which the military elite had grown accustomed to during their years of rule would be respected...
...since then, civilians have governed Mexico...
...Venezuela is a good example of the new military nationalism...
...The "Communist threat" had given the military cohesion and power over society, and had been the VOL XXVII, No 2 SEPV'Ocr 199315 VOL XXVII, NO 2 SEPT/OCT 1993 15REPORT ON DEMOCRACY The militaries themselves came to accept democracy as the most stable form of government...
...The link between non-military security forces and drug traffickers undercuts the military's effectiveness in the drug war...
...The Mexican military has a share of power associated with its new mission-the war against drug trafficking...
...Outside pressures were equally important in convincing the military to abandon the direct use of power...
...In this article, I will make special mention of the militaries in El Salvador, Mexico and Venezuela...
...A new professional police force is being trained under international auspices...
...Thus, little by little, both the military and the political parties began to see democracy as a goal, and not merely a tool...
...n contrast to heavily militarized El Salvador, Mexico underwent the most profound and successful process of demilitarization in Latin America...
...In the new unipolar world, coup d'6tats are no longer looked upon kindly...
...there is little difference between the island's political and military leadership...
...This sector, known as bolivariano, twice tried to seize power in 1992...
...One group supports the post-war process of demilitarization and is deeply committed to the consolidation of political democracy, including the involvement of the FMLN in the country's political process...
...In such a situation, the military may act in two ways: at the behest of civilian authorities (for instance, in the form of an autogolpe, such as in Peru in 1992 and Guatemala this year), or on their own...
...Military reform is not yet complete...
...A militarist anti-Communist national security doctrine became general policy during the 1960s and 1970s, as U.S...
...The pact implied that Salvadoran democracy was weak, and had to be backed by military force...
...The question, however, is open: will it remain apolitical if an opposition party obtains power...
...When the military acts autonomously-without consultation with political elites-we have militarism...
...Others, however, are heirs to the anti-Communist military tradition of Tandona, who don't believe in democracy...
...In Panama until 1989, and in Nicaragua and Venezuela today, it is of the Left...
...In Mexico, as in the majority of countries, a growing share of economic resources and personnel are being funneled into this new war...
...In many rural zones of Mexico, the army is the sole authority...
...The Mexican war against drugs is a component of a hemisphere-wide U.S...
...in Chile, it was pressure from the whole society...
...Twenty-five percent of the army's resources are devoted to the drug war...
...Translated from the Spanish by Kent Klineman...
...Between 1960 and 1990, many armies created elite battalions to fight the war against Communism...
...in Peru, President Alberto Fujimori seized dictatorial powers in an autogolpe...
...Grounded in a pragmatism devoid of ethical values, the United States indiscriminately gave economic and political support to civilian presidents and military dictators alike...
...In the late 1800s, a new form of government emerged: the "personal dictatorship," in which power was concentrated in the hands of a few families that controlled the national wealth...
...In the last two years, a number of significant political crises and democratic retreats have occurred: in Haiti, a coup d'6tat ousted a popularly elected president...
...Generally, the military's sphere of activity has been hammered out through negotiations with controlling elites...
...The questions are open-ended...
...In Mexico, the armed forces have a nationalist doctrine because of their origin, and are loyal to the PRI...
...This group distrusts the FMLN, and is ready to revert to the old repressive practices...
...Leftist parties decided that it was better to accept part of the political pie under a democratic system, then continue to struggle on the margins...
...The military-the decisive political player in the 1970s and 1980s-is now in the midst of an identity crisis...
...A new national security doctrine-created in the face of the fall of Communism-provides a more ambiguous role for the military...
...This new military ideology of nationalismpopulism is a reaction to the U.S...
...Yet, the economic prospects for the poor majority are far from rosy, and eventual shifts in political loyalties are likely to occur...
...Since the Sandinistas' defeat in national elections, the army has had problems separating itself from the political functions it performed during the 1980s...
...Troops engaged in the drug war are highly specialized army battalions...
...The government agreed to reduce the size of the army from 62,000 to 34,000 members...
...This force-the National Civil Police-is supposed to gradually replace the current militarized police...
...This war has supplanted the anti-Communist national security doctrine...
...Yet, the transition to democracy is incomplete...
...The new doctrine of national security recognizes that the only form of government that can guarantee long-term stability and governability is political democracy...
...and most recently, in Guatemala, President Jorge Serrano's autogolpe failed...
...Political impunity consists of autonomous decision-making, while operative impunity consists of autonomous actions with respect to civil society...
...Mexico's ruling party-the PRI-is the child of the militias which fought in the Mexican Revolution...
...Before, they investigated unions, political parties, and organizations of civil society...
...Until the international outcry over the murder of the six Jesuits in 1989 brought the officer who allegedly ordered the assassination to trial, no officer or soldier of the Salvadoran military had ever been tried for VOL XXVII, No 2 SEpIOcr 199317 VOL XXVII, NO 2 SEPT/OCT 1993 17REPORT ON DEMOCRACY The Mexican military sees itself as a professional army, uncommitted to any faction...
...and in Paraguay, a coup from within the military itself...
...In El Salvador, the military had always been above the law...
...As a result, the military has little choice but to respect elected governments...
...Yet the military is inclined to intervene when police and security forces cannot quell protests in civil society...
...The military has stayed on the margins of the political struggle...
...in Brazil, a corruption scandal led to a president's removal without military intervention...
...In Latin America, the impunity of the military and the state security apparatus is one of the factors that has weakened the process of democratization...
...In the nineteenth century, the military coup was the traditional way for governments to change hands...
...Its first test will come when the FMLN finishes disarming and openly competes as a political party...
...The FMLN also agreed to disarm and disband its military units...
...Depending on the country, it may be rightist or leftist, and usually has links to important sectors of the economic and political elite...
...Military governments relinquished power to avert greater social upheaval...
...n El Salvador, democracy-in its most restricted form-was combined with militarism and the anti-Communist national security doctrine...
Vol. 27 • September 1993 • No. 2
