MAHG5063

MAHG

5063

GENOCIDE AND STATE VIOLENCE IN LATIN AMERICA

Latin American society was profoundly impacted by the contentious conditions established as a result of the bipolar Cold War era. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost as a result of civil conflict, government repression and even genocide as the United States, the Soviet Union and Cuba conducted a series of proxy was vying for political influence and territorial control. Latin America, almost in its entirety, was upended by violence while mass atrocity and human rights violations emerged as commonplace occurrences for decades. Although externa; intervention was not the sole culprit for the devastation that wrought havoc throughout the Western Hemisphere, foreign interference exasperated an already precarious situation for vulnerable nations. Despite the cessation of Cold War hostilities, government repression in Latin America prevails, in particular, in Mexico and Central America where the violent death rates have reached and even exceeded Cold War levels. Although the current discourse places the onus on economic despair, criminal gangs and the much publicized “Drug War” pervasive state violence has been unjustifiably excluded from the conversation and necessitates further analysis.