Insurgents to Presidents: Contemporary Civil-Military Relations In Brazil, El Salvador, and Uruguay
Abstract
This thesis analyzes contemporary civilmilitary relations in three Latin American countries: Brazil, El Salvador, and Uruguay. Since 2010, each country has elected a president who was previously an armed insurgent resisting authoritarian regimes of the 1970s and 1980s. Considering this phenomenon, and evaluating recent trends across Latin America to expand military roles and missions, civilmilitary relations are assessed using a new framework. The framework, adapted from the trinity model employed by scholars at the Naval Postgraduate Schools Center for Civilmilitary Relations, shows significant differences among the three cases and their respective degrees of positive civilmilitary relations; however, the specific phenomenon of electing a former insurgent to the presidency has not resulted in a significant deterioration of the relationship between the armed forces and their civilian executives. In fact, civilmilitary relations under ex-insurgent presidents have been improved over the last decade in each country. Ultimately, this thesis concludes that Uruguay has achieved the greatest degree of positive civilmilitary relations and trends are presented for consideration in improving civilmilitary relations across the region.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1027170
Entities
People
- John R. Berg
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School