Violence as a Power Factor in Latin-American Politics
1952; University of Utah Press; Volume: 5; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1177/106591295200500307
ISSN2325-8675
Autores Tópico(s)Politics and Society in Latin America
ResumoV IOLENCE seems to be institutionalized in the organization, maintenance, and changing of governments in Latin America. The methodology of force is found in advanced and in backward countries, in Indian, mestizo, and white republics, in the large states and in the small ones, in urban and in rural areas, in agricultural and in industrial organization, in the beginning of the twentieth century, in the present period, and in the early, middle, and late nineteenth century-in a word, wherever and whenever Hispanic culture is to be found in the Western Hemisphere. The governments of the following states were changed by force in the recent past: Argentina, June, 1943; Haiti, January, 1946; Bolivia, July, 1946, and April, 1952; Nicaragua, May, 1947; Ecuador, August, 1947; Costa Rica, March, 1948; Paraguay, June, 1948; Peru, October, 1948; Venezuela, November, 1948; Panama, November, 1948; El Salvador, December, 1948; and Cuba, March, 1952. Force is a unifying factor in Latin-American political culture, yet the fact of geographical and ethnic differences and of varying rates of social and economic development leads to the logical inference that the mobilization of violence for political purposes is not likely to revolve around one simple formula. This is, however, exactly what is done when the general term revolution is employed to describe all use of force in Latin-American politics. Violence is, instead, a highly developed technique for obtaining power. Direct action procedures include machetismo, cuartelazo, golpe de estado, and revolution. The monopolization of the power factors of the state by a single political leader, a group, or a class sometimes renders unnecessary the direct employment of violence, and in such cases the methods of imposicion, candidato unico, continuismo and election (in the Anglo-American sense) may be selected. These are, of course, outwardly peaceful methods of obtaining and maintaining power, but they rest upon a foundation of force. The study of the nature of political power and the methods of achieving authority in the state constitutes a fundamental part of comparative government. In addition, such study has a direct relevancy to inter-American relations. American policy in the Western Hemisphere seems to be
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