SJS8 - “Central America’s Violent Legacy”

SJS8 - “Central America’s Violent Legacy”

Source

Lehoucq, Fabrice. “Central America’s Violent Legacy.” Current History, vol. 113, no. 760, Feb 2014, pp. 82-84.

Author Credentials

The author is a professor in political sciences at the University of North Carolina and has recently written a book on the politics behind Central America’s history. He is qualified because he is well versed in politics especially those of the Americas and that is what this passage covers.

Summary

Central America has had a long history of violence in rebellion against the many dictators. Though despite this the world has not given this continent much attention. Only in late 20th century did the rule by autocracy change to democracy. The rulers defended the big businesses that gave them their comfortable lifestyles and had no problem using violence to defend that wealth. Because of this the only way to change the politics was through rebellion. The rebels would ally themselves with civilians and students, but the acting government would then crush them and in the rare case that they survived the US might turn against them to fight “communism”. Because the policies did not change the economy suffered reducing the GDP. With the mass poverty this produces it also produces refugees and the top few end up receiving over half the income. Countries like Costa Rica and El Salvador have become democratic and in doing so they also reduced their army size and created uncorrupt police forces. Though in other countries like Nicaragua and Guatemala democracy has dissolved back into an incomplete state because of clashes between branches of government and previous dictators illegally trying to run for presidency. Either way it is obvious that because of previous oligarchs not wishing to relinquish power, rebellion was necessary.

Analysis

The author made a very strong argument for how violence has been a legacy for Latin America and that it was necessary to change the government. The author uses substantial evidence like the idea that the privileged few would do anything to hold their positions. The authors states how the rebellions attempted to align with the civilians. The author only slightly touches upon the influence of foreign countries other than to say that they failed to get involved. The piece is relatively unbiased. The author is a reliable source to interpret the political situation in Central America because of his degree in political science. He also has another book on Central America’s politics.