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"This volume offers a comparative analysis of the role of the military in Latin America in domestic politics and governance after 2000. Divided into four parts covering the entirety of Latin America, the book argues that the Latin American military as semi-autonomous political actors have not faded away since 2000 and may even have been making a comeback in various countries. Each part outlines scenarios which effectively frame the various pathways taken to post-military democratic society. Part 1 critically examines textbook cases of political demilitarization in the Southern Cone, Peru, and Costa Rica. Part 2 contrasts the role of the military in the post-2000 politics of two regional powers: Brazil and Mexico. Part 3 examines the political role of the military facing 'violent pluralism' in Colombia and the Northern triangle of Central America. Finally, Part 4 identifies country cases in which the military have been instrumental in the rise, sustenance, and occasional demise of left wing revolutionary projects within Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. Latin American Military and Politics in the 21st Century will be of interest to scholars, students and professionals in the fields of Latin American History, International Relations, Military Studies and studies concerning democracy, political violence and revolution in Latin America elsewhere"--

Introduction: the duality of Latin American cityscapes -- Fractured cities, second-class citizenship and urban violence -- Rio de Janeiro -- Mexico City -- Medellin -- Managua -- Caracas -- Lima Metropolitana -- Living in fear : how the urban poor perceive violence, fear and insecurity -- Epilogue : Latin America's urban duality revisited.

Armed actors, organized violence and state failure in Latin America: a survey of issues and arguments / Kees Koonings and Dirk Kruijt -- The military and their shadowy brothers-in-arms / Dirk Kruijt and Kees Koonings -- Policing extensions in Latin America / Piet van Reenen -- Civil defence forces: Peru's Comités de Autodefensa Civil and Guatemala's Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil in comparative perspective / Mario Fumerton and Simone Remijnse -- Violence as market strategy in drug trafficking: the Andean experience / Menno Vellinga -- Armed actors in the Colombian conflict / Francisco Leal Buitrago -- Venezuela: the re-militarization of politics / Harold A. Trinkunas -- A failed state facing new criminal problems: the case of Argentina / Marcelo Sain -- Urban violence and drug warfare in Brazil / Alba Zaluar -- Youth gangs, social exclusion and the transformation of violence in El Salvador / Wim Savenije and Chris van der Borgh -- Violence and fear in Colombia: fragmentation of space, contraction of time and forms of evasion / Luis Alberto Restrepo -- Epilogue: violence and the quest for order in contemporary Latin America / Patricio Silva.

1. Urban Fragility and Resilience in Latin America: Conceptual Approaches and Contemporary Patterns -- Kees Koonings and Dirk Kruijt; 2. Exclusion, Violence and Resilience in Five Latin American Megacities: A Comparison of Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo -- Dirk Kruijt and Kees Koonings; 3. Caracas: From Heaven's Branch to Urban Hell -- Roberto Briceño-León; 4. Bogotá: Countering Violence with Urban Government -- Alan Gilbert; 5. San Salvador: Violence and Resilience in Gangland -- Wim Savenije and Chris van der Borgh; 6. San José: Urban Expansion, Violence and Resilience -- Abelardo Morales Gamboa; 7. Kingston: Violence and Resilience -- Rivke Jaffe; 8. Santo Domingo: Criminogenic Violence and Resilience -- Lilian Bobea.

Llama la atención que durante todo el siglo XX, las Fuerzas Armadas latinoamericanas raramente hayan tenido que enfrentarse con ejércitos externos en guerras regulares. Casi sin excepción, los enfrentamientos militares en el continente se han reducido a conflictos limitados, choques fronterizos o campañas de poca magnitud. Al comienzo del siglo XXI, se hace prácticamente inimaginable el inicio de guerras de larga escala entre Brasil y Paraguay, Argentina y Chile, o entre México y Guatemala, por nombrar sólo algunos ejemplos. Por el contrario, las batallas de los soldados profesionales en América Latina se han desarrollado casi exclusivamente en el terreno de "guerras internas" o "conflictos irregulares" en contra de adversarios "subversivos" o "terroristas", como ha sido el caso de contingentes guerrilleros o campesinos insurgentes. Efectivamente, el verdadero significado de las Fuerzas Armadas latinoamericanas yace en su naturaleza política.

Llama la atención que durante todo el siglo XX, las Fuerzas Armadas latinoamericanas raramente hayan tenido que enfrentarse con ejércitos externos en guerras regulares. Casi sin excepción, los enfrentamientos militares en el continente se han reducido a conflictos limitados, choques fronterizos o campañas de poca magnitud. Al comienzo del siglo XXI, se hace prácticamente inimaginable el inicio de guerras de larga escala entre Brasil y Paraguay, Argentina y Chile, o entre México y Guatemala, por nombrar sólo algunos ejemplos. Por el contrario, las batallas de los soldados profesionales en América Latina se han desarrollado casi exclusivamente en el terreno de "guerras internas" o "conflictos irregulares" en contra de adversarios "subversivos" o "terroristas", como ha sido el caso de contingentes guerrilleros o campesinos insurgentes. Efectivamente, el verdadero significado de las Fuerzas Armadas latinoamericanas yace en su naturaleza política.

This work deals with urban violence in Rio de Janeiro during the last 20 years. After a brief discussion on the emergence of the favela phenomenon, it is argued that violence in Rio de Janeiro is the accumulated result of three trends: the systemic exclusion of favelados population, specially young males; the state's absence or inability to preserve law enforcement & citizen security due to escalating violence or police corruption; & the organization of an "alternate" order & "perverse" integration mechanisms by way of drug-trafficking & gangs. These latter are part of complex hidden networks involving neighborhood organizations & local policies. The case of the favela Vila Cruzeiro illustrates the physiognomy of violence & its impact on the daily life of the city's poor dwellers.

Die Autoren begründen die These, dass der Verbund von Nachrichtendiensten und paramilitärischen Kräften trotz des demokratischen Übergangs weiterhin den Boden für gesellschaftliche und politische Gewalt in Lateinamerika bereitet. Ausgangspunkt der Analyse ist eine historische Darstellung des Selbstverständnisses und der tatsächlichen Rolle der Militärs in der Innenpolitik der lateinamerikanischen Staaten seit Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts. Dabei wird verdeutlicht, dass diese Akteure es über Dekaden hinweg verstanden haben, sich als Quasi-Partei mit einer profilierten Ideologie, einem Programm und einer Strategie zur Überwachung des Staates und der Politik zu positionieren. Dieses Erbe hat, so die Autoren, wesentlich zum Fortbestand einer autoritären politischen Kultur und von politischen Institutionen beigetragen, die bis heute mit den Grundsätzen des demokratischen Regierens in Konflikt stehen. Darüber hinaus stellen sie fest, dass sich das Militär auch heute als Schutzmacht gegenüber dem Staat versteht und weitgehend über Straffreiheit verfügt. Es werden die öffentlichen Bekenntnisse der Militärinstitutionen zu Demokratie und Rechtsstaat seit den Transitionen der 80er und 90er Jahren analysiert und es wird festgestellt, dass ein Meinungs-, sogar ein Paradigmenwandel stattgefunden hat. Abschließend argumentieren die Autoren, dass Selbstverständnis und Verhalten der militärischen Nachrichtendienste und der paramilitärischen Kräfte deutlich machen, dass hinter dem Schleier von Demokratiebekenntnissen noch immer Autoritarismus, staatlich induzierte Gewalt und Nötigung zu konstatieren sind. (ICG)

The social and economic history of North-Eastern Brazil has largely
been written as the story of slave-holding plantations. In contrast, this article
focuses on the peasant agriculture of tobacco in the state of Bahia. It shows how
the small-scale cultivation of tobacco for the European (mainly German) export
market had already started well before the end of slavery. Tobacco cultivation
gradually expanded to become the most important export product in the first
decade of the twentieth century. Apart from its economic significance, the history
of Bahian tobacco agriculture throws an interesting light on the social and
political relations in the region. Land ownership among the tobacco farmers
expanded, but most of them remained locked into ties of dependency to
commercial intermediaries and large landowners. On the other hand, the latter's
dominant position did not lead to a strong position for tobacco interests in
the regional political arena. Finally, the tobacco producers originated in the black
(ex-)slave community. This article argues that this specific ethnic make-up played
an important role in the organisation of the tobacco sector and its relative neglect
by regional and national politicians.