Political Exile in Latin America

In: Latin American perspectives, Band 34, Heft 1, S. 7-30

Abstract

Political exile is a major constitutive feature of Latin American politics. It has contributed to the establishment of the rules of the political game on a transnational basis, both before and after the consolidation of the states. It is linked to the tension between the hierarchical structure of these societies and the political models that predicated participation, the process of fragmentation and conflictive territorial boundaries, the evolution of factions into modern politics, spurring civil wars, political violence, and polarization. This article analyzes exile as a selective mechanism, its transformation into a mass phenomenon, and the creation fo communities of Latin American exiles and expatriates, influential in the framework of transnational politics. References. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright 2007.]