Deepening militarization of Latin America

Abstract

This article analyzes a contradiction taken place in Latin America today; that is the construction of democracy and the intensification of the military in politics. Located at the front of a dominant discourse is the idea of democracy in the region, as well as the military insolation. This paper deals with the role of the Military broadening the idea of neoliberal domination. The Military Armed Forces safeguard the dominant order and make possible conservative forms of government. As the level of exclusion and conflict increases in Latin America, force becomes a necessary mean for capitalist survival, and thus politics is replaced by it. After thirty years of Neoliberalism and transitional democratic governments, the Military has turned into a centralized entity. Since Latin America is within the influential geopolitical and geoeconomic sphere of the U.S. there is a tendency to militarize the region. Also, the U.S. history, its militaristic approach in the region, and its economic troubles contribute to that process.