Post-Transitional Justice in Chile and El Salvador: A Comparison

Imagine for a moment what it would be like if the entire population of Sonoma County, California was killed, and twenty years later not many people knew a great deal about it. When over 500,000 people, primarily Tutsis, were killed in the Rwandan genocide in 1994, it was a great tragedy. However, no one rushed to the country’s aid. Now it is vital that the horrors of the instance that violated the human rights of so many, is not forgotten. Human rights are the universal actions and objects that all people are entitled to because they are human. Human rights have been violated in numerous ways over time, typically as a result of a person in power having their own best interests in mind rather than the peoples´. Various groups, such as Amnesty

2."Chile." Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity. Ed. Dinah L. Shelton. Gale Cengage, 2005. eNotes.com. 2006. 24 Oct, 20093.CBC News. "Augusto Pinochet: Timeline." 11 Dec. 2006. Web. 25 Oct. 2009. .

Americas Watch. 1991. El Salvador’s Decade of Terror: Human Rights since the Assassination of Archbishop Romero. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

In addition, Cristiani’s exploitation of his people through critical code switching laid a foundation of resentment between the citizens of El Salvador and their government. The citizens witnessed the political crime continuing past what they thought was a peace agreement and Cristiani simply deflected their concerns by attributing it as random, non-critical crime. Therefore, the divide between the government and its people was widening and impeding their goal of democratization. A specific example of the civilian’s resentment was when El Salvador’s legislature passed an amnesty law that granted freedom of persecution to all war criminals. This occurred in 1993 after a UN supervised, Truth Commission investigated human right abuses committed during El Salvador’s civil war (McPhaul 2013). By failing to bring the war criminals to justice and downplaying the atrocities they committed and were continuing to commit post-war, Cristiani and the government had injected a sense of resentment into the people that sought retribution. As governing leader, Cristiani had to deal with the

For twelve years (1980-1992), El Salvador suffered this brutal civil war and saw some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin American history. The government refused to attend peace talks by the FMLN and the FMLN refused to participate in elections knowing it results would be rigged. The military tried to kill all suspected rebels and the FMLN damaged anything that supported the government’s economy. Throughout the war there was so much human rights violations such as subjecting civilians to torture, forced disappearance, extrajudicial killing, mutilation, mass rape, massacres, summary executions, landmines and indiscriminate bombing. As the result, by the end of the civil war about 75,000 people were killed, sadly most of which were civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time. The intensity of military repression and constant fear provoked massive northern migration to the United States. By the mid-1980s almost one-fifth of the Salvadoran population was living in the United

Death squads and disappearances caused mental anguish to so many citizens of countries plagued with war all over Latin America, just like Lupe and her family. Gabriel Garcia Marquez poses the question, “why could social justice not be a goal for Latin America?” Countries in Latin America like Nicaragua, Guatemala, EL Salvador, Argentina, and Chile were striving for social justice. Some even had democratic elections and were on the right path but the fear of communism that plagued the United States since the beginning of the Cold War halted any of the progress Latin American countries could have even made. Any sort of progress, whether it was farmers and peasants like José forming unions and organizations fighting for human rights, or democratically elected presidents like Arbenz or Allende that fought for agrarian reform and nationalization of resources was completely shut down either directly or indirectly by the United States. Social justice was definitely a goal for Latin America. The region is not filled with savages that can’t grasp democracy; even Marquez “rejected the idea that ‘violence and pain’ was the natural condition of the region.” The United States halted and set aside any progress for social justice in Latin America because it feared losing its powerful influence in the

El Salvador is a country known for its beautiful beaches, mountainous landscape, and coffee export. Unfortunately, this perfect picture is only a wall that hides the true violence that occurs in the country. El Salvador’s violence is an ongoing cycle, so how does today’s violence differ and compare from the violence in the 1980’s? The differences and similarities of violence in El Salvador from now and then involve root cause, political involvement, and economic issues.

Human rights are essential for all people, despite their nationality, gender, ethnic origin, color, or religion. Everyone is entitled to these rights without being discriminated against. For a long time, people were being denied these basic rights as they were being abused and tortured for things that they couldn’t control. People were tired of getting caught in the cross-fire, they wanted protection, a chance and the freedom to live. Although there was a lack of human rights before World War II, human rights have significantly improved over the post-war period, and officials are putting forth efforts to ensure that human rights are protected in modern-day society.

In the past, groups advocating for civil, human and migrant rights hardly made any meaningful progress courtesy of insufficient legislation and absence of political will. However, sweeping changes coupled by the need to recognize human rights have made it crucial to defend the oppressed in society irrespective of their location. Such civil and human rights groups have constantly set high standards when it comes to reinforcing the rule of law. Such groups ultimately combine forces to expose human rights violations and prosecute perpetrators. It’s undeniable that such groups have significantly ensured the enforcement of the rule

One of the most speculative experiences of conquest and dictatorship in the history of Latin America has been the socialist and dictatorial regimes in Chile. Chile has gone through multiple times of dictatorship, lead by the military, and also had lapses of a socialist government. The film “Machuca” by Andres Wood provided an insight of the series of social events in Chile in 1973, ranging from inter personal experiences to political issues and the Chilean nation. “Two dictators, Salvador Allende and Augusto Pinochet, both brought tremendous suffering upon the Chilean people -- one through his socialist policies and nationalization of

This book illustrates several key issues and social problems that Latin American politics faced and continue to struggle with to this day. The matter of insurgent movements and the counter-insurgency methods that have been throughout the

As Charles Bergquist observes, "Crises in Colombia tend to generate cycles of violence instead of mutations in the political regime." The reason is simple: regime changes in Colombia tend to produce very little change in anything other than nominal rule. Since Colombia's independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Colombia has seen a series of civil wars and secessions (Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama the last coming rather conveniently at a time when the U.S. was prepared to pay millions for a canal through its nation preparation that later resulted in a multi-million dollar redress to Columbia). Colombia's political history, therefore, has been colored by outside influences pulling on the two dominant liberal and conservative parties, with violent exchanges, and long periods of instability being the consequences. While regime changes have occurred, they have not produced significant improvements. Rather, Colombia in the 20th century has become a nesting ground for paramilitary forces and drug traffickers, with U.S. Central Intelligence operatives contributing heavily to the violent conflict that has risen between regimes. This paper will examine the regime types that preceded the Rojas Pinilla regime in mid-20th century Colombia, analyze their similarities and differences, and discuss the extent to which Rojas Pinilla reached his goals and objectives.

El Salvador is a war-torn country. Over the decades, this country has had to deal with political and economical disequilibrium. By the 1970’s, a savage and vicious civil war started. The government started to target citizens they believed were supportive of economical and political reform. One of the most preeminent examples was Archbishop Oscar Romero who was shot to death in 1980. A war erupted between the government and the rebels who were against the government’s ideas and ways of ruling. The U.S. continually provided the government with financial and military support, and they are believed to be the only reason why the government stayed in the war. The war ended around the early 2000’s, but it left El Salvador in a broken state. Hundreds of thousands of Salvadorans fled between 1980 to 2000, and have resided in the United States ever since.

The start of El Salvador relations with the U.S. was unstable until 1981; in the “The United States Takes A Hand” by Richard A. Haggarty, he splits the motivation of their relation into two conflicting parts. In summary, the first motivation was the prevention of a leftist takeover. A powerful government during that that time in El Salvador called Junta combined with economic and military intended on governing similar to a Marxist led revolution with a conservative military regime. United States wanted to democratize the government and knew the pros and cons of this governing system from relations with the Nicaraguan government. The second motivation was human rights. The Carter administration had established the promotion of human rights as a cornerstone of its foreign

In the amnesty process in the TRC, as previously stated to reach reconciliation, the perpetrators were to confront the committee and the victims and discuss, in detail, their crimes. In a strange way, these testimonies, “humanized,” the perpetrators, “For those who watched the amnesty proceedings and for those who participated, the testimony humanized and particularized the perpetrator. As perpetrators gave testimony, they divulged their crimes, but they also revealed themselves as flawed and