Building the Rule of Law: U.S. Assistance Programs and Police/Military Relations in Latin America

Abstract

U.S. policy makers and academic researchers have neglected the deep institutional rivalries between police agencies and military services in Latin America. The problems of police/military coordination have complicated U.S. national goals of democratization, strengthening the rule of law, and combating the production and trafficking of illicit drugs in the region. Police agencies stand at the epicenter of dysfunctional criminal justice systems. Although the U.S. policy of engagement with Latin American military services is intended to reorient their roles and missions towards supporting democratically elected civilian governments, U.S. counternarcotics assistance programs have encouraged a wider Latin American military role in drug interdiction. This paper identifies the dimensions of police-military conflict in the context of the fundamental reform of criminal justice systems in Latin America.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA424620

Entities

People

  • Joel F. Cassman

Organizations

  • Air University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Department Of State
  • Drug Interdiction
  • Economic Systems
  • Governments
  • Interagency Coordination
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • Law
  • Military Personnel
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Public Policy
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse Science in Autism Spectrum Disorders.
  • International Relations and Conflict Resolution
  • Strategic Security Studies