Dictatorships
In Latin America
Prof. Pablo Ben
Arts & Letters, Office 523
pben@mail.sdsu.edu
HIST 580: Section 1: Dictatorships in Latin America : Fall 2013
(GMCS) Geology Mathematics Computer Science, Room 309 every Tuesday 4:00pm-6:40pm.
Office Hours
Thursdays, 12:00 – 3:00 pm or by appointment.
Course Description
Dictatorships in Latin America existed since the 19th century, but the aim of this course is to
understand the dictatorships happening in the region in the 1960 to 1990 period. The course
will focus on a comparison of Guatemala, Cuba, Brazil, Argentina and Chile through a
transnational understanding of the Cold War era. Within this transnational perspective the
bibliography and lectures will consider how the Soviet Union influenced the region and pay
especial attention to the role of the United States.
In relation to what happened in Latin America during this period, Nobel Price writer Gabriel
García Márquez spoke like this in his famous 1982 acceptance speech:
“We have not had a moment's rest. A promethean president, entrenched in his burning palace,
died fighting an entire army, alone; and two suspicious airplane accidents, yet to be explained,
cut short the life of another great-hearted president and that of a democratic soldier who had
revived the dignity of his people. There have been five wars and seventeen military coups; there
emerged a diabolic dictator who is carrying out, in God's name, the first Latin American
ethnocide of our time. In the meantime, twenty million Latin American children died before the
age of one -- more than have been born in Europe since 1970. Those missing because of
repression number nearly one hundred and twenty thousand, which is as if no one could
account for all the inhabitants of Uppsala. Numerous women arrested while pregnant have
given birth in Argentine prisons, yet nobody knows the whereabouts and identity of their
children who were furtively adopted or sent to an orphanage by order of the military
authorities. Because they tried to change this state of things, nearly two hundred thousand men
and women have died throughout the continent, and over one hundred thousand have lost their
lives in three small and ill-fated countries of Central America: Nicaragua, El Salvador and
Guatemala. If this had happened in the United States, the corresponding figure would be that of
one million six hundred thousand violent deaths in four years.
One million people have fled Chile, a country with a tradition of hospitality -- that is, ten per
cent of its population. Uruguay, a tiny nation of two and a half million inhabitants which
considered itself the continent's most civilized country, has lost to exile one out of every five
citizens. Since 1979, the civil war in El Salvador has produced almost one refugee every twenty
minutes. The country that could be formed of all the exiles and forced emigrants of Latin
America would have a population larger than that of Norway.”
After 1990 most of Latin America transitioned to democracy again and the perpetrators of state
terrorism during the previous era in some cases were forced to face the bar of justice.
Discussions about what happened during the last dictatorships in Latin America are to this day
one of the most contended issues for public opinion in many countries. This is why this course
will not only deal with the events between 1960 and 1990 but also with the way of dealing with
the legacy of the past today.
This course will present a variety of ways to approach the topic at hand. Students will read
original documents, such as articles from the New York Times and other newspapers,
translated accounts of the victims of state terrorism, and declassified historical documents
secretly issued at the time by the CIA and the US Department of State. Understanding these
primary sources requires reading of the work of historians, political scientists, anthropologists,
literary critics and journalists. In order to explore the memory of dictatorships a number of
movies produced from 1985 to the present will be shown throughout the semester.
Learning Outcomes Statements
This course includes the following learning outcomes:
-
-
Analyze the global tensions emerging in the Cold War era and compare the impact of
such tensions over Latin America with special emphasis on Guatemala, Cuba, Chile,
Brazil and Argentina.
Compare the role of the United States and the Soviet Union in Latin America after
World War II.
Contextualize historical documents against the backdrop of the historical processes
considered by the bibliography and the lectures.
Define the meaning of concepts such as: dictatorship, authoritarianism, democracy, state
terrorism and covert operation.
Debate about the different viewpoints concerning politics in Latin America since World
War II.
Empathize with a variety of historical and political experiences of Latin American social
groups during the era.
Formulate an educated opinion on the topics taught in the course and articulate such
point of view with the reading material.
Explain the conditions under which different countries in Latin America experienced a
military coup.
Describe the context leading to the 1954 military coup in Guatemala, the 1959
Revolution in Cuba, the rise and fall of Allende in Chile and the 1976 military coup in
Argentina.
Summarize the most important arguments made by the scholars whose work students
will be reading.
Asses the importance of international networks in the rise of dictatorial rule throughout
the Americas.
Distinguish the characteristics of the variety of reading and visual materials offered
throughout the course (secondary bibliography and primary sources, but also the
difference between newspaper articles, declassified documents, political tracts, movies,
etc.).
Organize the historical events discussed in the course in chronological order and asses
the importance of the sequence of events.
Narrate the complex political history of dictatorships in Latin America through the
essays assigned by the professor and through class participation.
Formulate questions about the most important topics in the reading materials.
Differentiate the role of a variety of social groups and state agencies within the same
countries.
Discuss the moral responsibility of those who collaborated with dictatorships or failed
to oppose them and justify one’s own point of view on the topic with references to the
reading materials.
-
Explain the relationship between church and state comparing different countries of
Latin America throughout time.
Identify the importance of international politics in local contexts and the relevance of
national events for global processes.
Grading
Assignment
Percentage of the grade
- First Essay
30%
- Class Participation 20%
- Final Essay
50%
Due Date
Oct, 1st
All Classes
Dec 15th
Students will write essays presenting an analysis of the topics studied in this course according
to the guidelines provided by the professor. Grading of the first and final essay will be based on
the following criteria:
1) One of the main goals of this course is to prepare you to provide complex explanations
of historical events, more specifically the rise of political radicalism and dictatorships in
Latin America during the second half of the twentieth century. Your essay should
provide a narrative understandable for a general educated audience and not only for the
professor who already knows about the topic. If the writing is vague or unclear your
grade will be affected even if the content of the exam is correct.
2) The organization of your paper is crucial. Provide an introduction where you establish
the theme that gives unity to the essay. Make sure the narrative flows and the
paragraphs are properly organized with topical and transitional sentences. Write a
conclusion.
3) Consider all the topics listed in the guideline provided by the professor, failure to
address the totality of the topics can seriously affect your grade.
4) Make sure you quote primary sources and discuss their relevance according to the
bibliography.
5) All bibliography should be cited and the student needs to show mastery of the
mandatory readings as well as the lectures and class discussions.
6) Essays should demonstrate that the student has accomplished the learning outcomes.
The grading of class participation is based on a set of responsibilities the students will be
expected to fulfill throughout the course. Attendance is mandatory. If you are absent once there
will be no consequence in terms of your grade for class participation, but try to attend every
class anyway. If you don’t come, it is your responsibility to know what I said in the class. I may
change the dates of assignments or discuss a modification of something stated in the syllabus
and you should know about that even if you were not able to attend the class. Come to my office
hours or ask other students about it. I will not answer emails about a class you failed to attend
unless you had health problems or some other urgent personal matter. Consider that even one
absence can cause problems for you in a course that meets once a week because even if your
class participation grade is not affected you may miss something important. Two absences will
severely affect your class participation grade and you will fail the course if you fail to come to
class more than twice. I only make exceptions to this rule for medical reasons or other
unavoidable issues, but you need to talk to me about it. If you expect problems with this you
should let me know in advance.
In addition to attending every class, the student will come prepared to discuss the materials.
Attentive reading is fundamental for this course. The professor can ask students about the
readings and provide brief quizzes at the beginning of the class. In addition, students will:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Prepare a study guide including three to six questions about the readings once
during the semester.
Answer the study guides provided by other students and provide a brief 5
minute answer for the course at least twice during the semester.
Participate in class discussions.
Accomplish the learning outcomes stated in this syllabus.
Grade
Points
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
D
E
F
94-100
90-93
86-89
83-86
79-82
75-78
72-75
68-71
65-68
Below 65
Assignments and Due Dates
Students will still be expected to complete assignments on time. If you have any problems
doing so, please contact me to explain your situation at least two days before the due date;
otherwise, late assignments will lower your grade. Make-up assignments will only be granted if
a serious emergency occurs and there will be no extra-grade opportunities.
Class Attendance
Your presence is a fundamental component in the process of learning and it is mandatory. You
will fail this course if you are absent three times.
Readings and contents of the class
Students will read the bibliography and be prepared to discuss it by the dates listed in
the schedule. The reading materials may be challenging, but you will find that with patience
and practice, you can keep up and fully participate in the course. Not doing the reading – or
allowing yourself to fall far behind – will leave you unable to understand lectures and
participate in discussions. This could seriously affect your grade.
In addition to knowing the reading materials, students will also take lecture and class notes. In
addition to the bibliography, the professor will provide handouts of primary sources and other
documents and guidelines. Students will also study those materials for the assignments.
Any information provided by the professor in class is considered part of the content of this
course and students should always keep track of it.
Policy on Electronic Devices
Students cannot cellphones for the duration of the class. Laptops, E-books and I-Pads can
ONLY be used in class if students are reading bibliography and documents related to the
course.
PLAGIARISM
Academic integrity is expected of every student. Students must not plagiarize the work of
others. This means that if you quote directly from any author’s work (including texts on
Internet sites), you must put quotation marks around that material, and you must cite it in a
footnote or endnote. Plagiarism also includes using someone else’s phrases, strings of words,
special terms, or ideas and interpretations without citing your source, even if you have not
quoted directly from that source.
In short, you must give credit where it is due. If you have doubts, feel free to come and ask me,
or check the SDSU General Catalogue for more information. Cheating on any exam or
plagiarizing on papers will result in a failing grade for the course.
Bibliography
Mandatory:
Class Reader
Roger Burbach, The Pinochet Affair: State Terrorism and Global Justice (London: Zed Books,
2003).
Stephen G. Rabe, The Killing Zone: The United States and Cold War in Latin America (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2012).
Optional:
Ariel C. Armony, Argentina, the United States and the Anti-Communist Crusade in Central America,
1977-1984 (Athens: Center for International Studies, Ohio University, 1997).
Hal Brands, Latin America’s Cold War (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010).
Juan E. Corradi, Patricia Weiss Fagen, and Manuel Antonio Garretón, Fear at the Edge: State
Terror and Resistance in Latin America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992).
Mark Danner, The Massacre at El Mozote: A Parable of the Cold War (New York: Vintage Books,
1993).
Marguerite Feitlowitz, A Lexicon of Terror: Argentina and the Legacies of Torture (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1998).
Virginia Garrard-Burnett, Terror in the Land of the Holy Spirit: Guatemala under General Efraín
Ríos Montt, 1982-1983 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).
Anthony Gill, Rendering unto Caesar: the Catholic Church and the State in Latin America (Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 1998).
Piero Gleijeses, Shattered Hope: The Guatemalan Revolution and the United States, 1944-1954 (New
Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1991).
James Green, We Cannot Remain Silent: Opposition to the Brazilian Military Dictatorship in the
United States (Durham: Duke University Press, 2010).
Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991 (New York: Vintage,
1994).
Peter Kornbluh, The Pinochet File: A Declassfied Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability. A National
Security Archive Book (New York: The New Press, 2004).
Emilio F. Mignone, Witness to the Truth: The Complicity of Church and Dictatorship in
Argentina, 1976-1983 (New York: Orbis Books, 1988).
Marifeli Pérez-Stable, The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course and Legacy (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2012).
Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer, Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in
Guatemala (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2005).
David F. Schmitz, The United States and Right Wing Dictatorships (New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2006).
Thomas E. Skidmore, Brazil: Five Centuries of Change (New York: Oxford University Press,
2010).
Thomas Skidmore and Peter Smith, Modern Latin America (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2005).
Steve J. Stern, Remembering Pinochet’s Chile: On the Eve of London 1998 (Durham: Duke
University Press, 2004).
Steve J. Stern, Battling for Hearts and Minds: Memory Struggles in Pinochet’s Chile, 1973-1988
(Durham: Duke University Press, 2006).
Steve J. Stern, Reckoning with Pinochet: The Memory Question in Democratic Chile, 1989-2006
(Durham: Duke University Press, 2010).
Peter Winn, Weavers of the Revolution: The Yarur Workers and Chile’s Road to Socialism (New
York: Oxford University Press, 1986).
Thomas C. Wright, Latin America in the Era of the Cuban Revolution (Westport: Praeger, 2001).
Class Schedule
August 27th
First Week
Economic Decline, Political Radicalization and
Military Dictatorships in Latin America
September 3th
Second Week
The Origins of the Cold War and
the 1954 Guatemalan Coup
Rabe, Introduction and p. 1-58
On Blackboard: Monroe Doctrine, Roosevelt Corollary, Platt Amendment, CIA Operation
PBSuccess in Guatemala, 1954.
Graduate Students: For the second through fifth week, graduate students should read the
following extra material: Piero Gleijeses, Shattered Hope: The Guatemalan Revolution and the
United States, 1944-1954 (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1991).
September 10th
Third Week
Latin America, the United States
and the Cold War
Reader: Hobsbawm, p. 225-56.
On Blackboard: The Good Neighbor Policy, The Rio Treaty, The Menace of Communism
A Realist Views Latin America, Kennan
September 17th
The Cuban Revolution
Fourth Week
from 1959 to 1971
Reader: Pérez-Stable, p. 58-102.
On Blackboard: The United States Rules Cuba, 1952-1958, How the Poor Got More, The
Literacy Campaign, Man and Socialism, “Che” Guevara, The “Rehabilitation” of Prostitutes
The Family Code, Homosexuality, Creativity, Dissidence.
September 24th
Fifth Week
Cuba, the United States
and Latin America
Rabe, p. 59-113
On Blackboard: Lessons of the Bay of Pigs, Kennedy; The Alliance for Progress; Rostow, A
Non-Communist Manifesto; Two, Three, Many Vietnams, “Che” Guevara.
October 1th
Sixth Week
FIRST ESSAY DUE
State Terrorism
throughout the Americas
Rabe, 114-143
Movie: The year my parents went on vacation, Cao Hamburger, 2007.
October 8th
Seventh Week
Reader: When States Kill, p. 3-27; Some People Die of Fear, p. 26-35.
October 15th
Eighth Week
Dictatorship in Brazil
from 1964 to 1985
Reader: Skidmore, 153-179; James Green, p. 177-223, 233-254.
October 22nd
Ninth Week
The Chilean Coup
1973
Burbach, p. 1-73.
Students should search for primary sources / Movie: Machuca
Graduate Students: From week sixth through the end of the course you should read the
following texts: Steve J. Stern, Remembering Pinochet’s Chile: On the Eve of London 1998
(Durham: Duke University Press, 2004); Peter Winn, Weavers of the Revolution: The Yarur
Workers and Chile’s Road to Socialism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986).
October 29th
Tenth Week
State Terrorism and Dictatorship in Argentina
from 1976 to 1983
Reader: Feitlowitz, p. 3-88; Students should search for primary sources.
November 5th
Eleventh Week
State Terrorism in South and
Central America, 1970s-1980s
Rabe, 144-195
Reader: When States Kill, 28-56.
November 12th
Twelfth Week
Argentina, The US and Anti-Communism
in Central America, 1977-1984
Reader: Armony, 1-105.
November 19th
Dictatorships and the
Catholic Church, 1970-1990
Reader: Gill, 121-171; Mignone, Selections.
Thirteenth Week
November 26th
Fourteenth Week
Chilean and Global Resistance
against Dictatorships
Burbach, 77-160
December 3rd
Fifteenth Week
The Legacy of the Dictatorship in
Argentina and Brazil
Reader: Auyero, p. 29-79; Caldeira, p. 19-53.
December 10th
Sixteenth Week
Review
Graduate Students:
For the final essay choose one book from the list of optional readings or consult me about
looking for alternatives related to a specific interest you may have.
FINALS WEEK
(From December 12th to 18th)
FINAL ESSAY DUE ON DECEMBER 15th