Marcelo Colussi*, Prensa Latina employee
Violence in Central America: Realities and Perspectives (I)
The Cold War, which found expression in Central America in the conflicts that bled its countries dry for years, is now part of history; although the consequences of these wars are still there and will last for a long time. When the great struggle between the two competing models ended with the triumph of one and the disappearance of the other, in reality the underlying problems that kept these two worldviews at odds with each other were not resolved. The war of those years ended, but not its engine. For this reason, the peace agendas of various regions of the world, including Central America, have been pursued. Agendas that in any case speak not so much about the processes of overcoming differences in local spaces where conflicts have been openly expressed (such as in the Middle East or sub-Saharan Africa), but rather about the necessity or expediency of the powers – the United States at the top – to eliminate hot, problematic areas. In return, the guerrillas actually signed peace because they had no other way out in the new, open scenario. As it was mockingly said: It went from Marx to Marc: “Alternative methods of conflict resolution”. The idea of class struggle arose from discussion… but not from reality! The neoliberal policies associated with these pacification plans exacerbated the historical contradictions and injustices in the region. Violence therefore continued to be present in all its forms, always strong and brutal.
A novel legacy left by the end of the Cold War in Central America – a process that actually extends to the whole of Latin America, but which takes on very clear contours in the region – is the spread of fundamentalist evangelical churches. Emerging as a covert political strategy by the United States to counter the growing Catholic liberation theology of the 1960s and 1970s with its “option for the poor,” these groups flooded the region and spread a message of disinterest in the earthly and utter political apathy. Today, based on the dynamics of autonomy they have acquired, they represent a factor of great importance in the daily life of the communities of all the countries of the Isthmus, always repeating the patterns of a vital project: not to worry, to leave everything inside the hands of God. , with an extremely conservative moralistic message. The frequency is high: it is estimated at no less than a third of the regional membership. In short, these mechanisms represent a form of subtle psychocultural violence against the population and are part of social control strategies developed by powerful power factors that do not want change.
The new extractive industries that the Western powers, with Washington at the helm, are developing by leaps and bounds across the continent – and of course in the Central American isthmus – are eager to find essential resources for their expansion (oil, strategic minerals). for advanced technologies and the military industry, fresh water for human consumption or for hydroelectric power generation, biodiversity of tropical forests for pharmaceutical and food production), in reality it does not change the basic structure in terms of dependency and underdevelopment. In any case, the relationship of subordination remains unchanged through the external modification of the form of expropriation. The array of U.S. military bases sealing off the region shows what Washington’s true interest in Central America is: a spoil that it will continue to plunder with the consent of local bourgeoisies, in many cases minor partners in that plunder. That means more of the same.
Is peace being built?
To say that Central America has entered a time of peace is incorrect, to say the least. Maybe: exaggerated because everyday reality is ignored. Of course it is progress not to live with war every day. Even today, children still die of hunger or lack of drinking water, or women in childbirth without appropriate care, but no one dies in an ambush, stepping on a mine or being shot by a cannon. This is no small thing. However, if we look at the phenomenon in the light of a historical analysis, it is obvious that the wars experienced in the region are, in short, rooted in hunger, lack of protection and exclusion. Nothing changed about that. Without technically being a war, the area remains one of the most violent in the world. New actors (organized crime, which occupies an ever larger space in public life, drug trafficking, youth gangs), against the background of historical inequalities that have never changed, are the elements that make the region a problematic, difficult and complex place. If you don’t die in war, you can die as a victim of an attack. Violence remains prevalent, along with other equally harmful expressions such as machismo and racism.
Once the local wars are over, the first task is to solve the immediate problems arising from armed conflicts: material, psychological and cultural. This has been in the works for several years, depending on the timing. However, the amount of funds invested in post-war reconstruction is many times less than the funds allocated for the wars, so it seems that the wounds and losses cannot be overcome with great success if this trend continues. There was no equivalent of the European Marshall Plan to reactivate the economy – time has run out for that. There was support from the international community, but not much greater than what might have come after a natural disaster. In short, there was no real reconstruction process based on new parameters: nothing much remained the same as always, and the aid was not intended to initiate fundamental change. Violence, in whatever form, continued to be a dominant element in all situations of daily life.
Since the area is pacified (or at least without the noise of the declared wars that took place years ago), the economic structure has not changed significantly: land ownership has not changed, agro-export models have not been abandoned, no sustainable The process of industrial modernization started. The vast majority are still unskilled, cheap workers with little or no unionization. In general, a possible way out is to migrate to the supposed “American dream” (which generally turns out to be more of a nightmare than anything else) under more than precarious conditions. In other words: more of the same.
Not much has changed on a political and cultural level. Impunity still prevails. This is the main element that determines the general situation after the war conflicts suffered. After this period, the oligarchies repositioned themselves without major problems in maintaining their privileges. In Nicaragua, they openly returned to power after the Sandinista Spring – which, for various reasons, turned out to be a temporary storm – and the return to government of a team flying the flags of historic Sandinism has nothing to do with the revolutionary project of the 80s of the last century. In Guatemala, this traditional oligarchy has had to share some power with the armed forces that looked after their farms years ago and that have now become new empires by managing the “hot” economies: drug trafficking, smuggling, organized crime, entrenched in the form, growing as hidden powers in the folds of the state structure. Hidden powers that also act in the same way, with country-specific characteristics, in Honduras and El Salvador.
Impunity remains the dominant pattern throughout the Central American region. After the atrocities that the wars led to, there were no trials of those responsible for so many crimes and so much destruction. Even many of the war murderers continue to hold public office without the slightest disgrace. The millionaire’s compensation ($17 billion) awarded to Washington by the International Court of Justice as compensation for Nicaragua for the war damage it caused by financing the Contras for almost ten years was forgotten. In fact, its repeal was one of the first actions taken by the government of Violeta Barrios, widow of Chamorro, when it assumed the presidency after the departure of the Sandinistas in 1990. General José Efraín Ríos Montt, the visible leader of the scorched earth policy that this country recorded in the 1980s, the country’s power factors led to the verdict – 80 years of permanent imprisonment – being withdrawn two days after it was announced. In other words, even after the end of the internal wars, impunity continues to prevail. As a derivative, corruption continues without showing signs of exhaustion and shapes much (or most) of the political dynamics.
The culture of violence is established. A presidential candidate in one of the Central American countries who killed a person in a personal dispute was asked about the incident during his campaign, to which he replied: “It wasn’t one, it was two!” “If I did that, um defend my family, then what wouldn’t I do to defend my country?” This candidate won the presidency. This means that violence as a constant shows no end because it is “normal”.
The role of the United States remains the same: hegemony, total dominator of the region. There is even the paradoxical case that, after the end of the local wars, the great power allows itself to promote aid programs for the victims of all the atrocities it has promoted. But not exactly out of guilt, but as part of the same strategy of power as always, updated today and appropriate to the circumstances. For example: It finances exhumations where years ago it promoted massacres: These are just strategies that try to avoid social “overheating”. These exhumations serve only to “end the mourning,” not to initiate legal proceedings denouncing the massacres. Their promotion of democracy is therefore the support of cosmetic formal processes, “lukewarm” democracies. With the exception of Costa Rica, none of the Central American democracies have solved any structural problem.
For many, violence is a business; Of course not for the vast majority, who are the ones who continue to add dead and wounded regardless of whether they are technically at war or not. But yes, for the various power groups: historically dominant elites linked to agricultural exports (landowners, in some cases heirs to the colony), new elites linked to “hot” companies, and as always the ever-present US embassy, a factor of decisive politicians in the region. Mexico and the Central American countries now represent the main route through which Latin American drugs (mainly from the Andean Altiplano) enter the United States, with powerful cartels ending up a state within a state and moving much of the economy. local.
At the moment we are experiencing an impressive media cataract on these topics. The feeling conveyed daily by the media is that criminal mafias are “bringing the population to their knees”. All of this justifies the implementation of savings plans. In this sense, it can be understood that the current explosion in drug activity and organized crime fully serves a regional control strategy, in which the media message sets the conditions for possible interventions by Washington. In addition, with the Chinese and Russian approaches to the region, the White House is strengthening its presence in its traditional area, which is considered its own “backyard” where it does not allow interference. Now, fighting all these disasters is not Central America’s priority at all. Will the living conditions of their population improve through new remilitarization initiatives or local “iron fists”? Certainly not, but the balance sheets of large companies in the north will improve. Gangs, for example, are a symptom of this history of violence. To attack them militarily is to ignore their real causes.
Violence runs through the entire history of the region and shapes the patterns of relationships between subjects. Violence, in all its most ruthless forms, has been a constant since the beginning of the European invasion. A 16th century chronicler might say bluntly: “With perfect right the Spaniards rule over these barbarians of the New World and the adjacent islands.” (…) What could have happened more comfortably and healthily to these barbarians than to be subjected to the empire of those whose wisdom, virtue and religion would transform them from barbarians (…) into civilized people?” (Ginés de Sepúlveda). The region’s history was written – and is still being written – with blood and fire. Authoritarianism, the subjugation of others, is a constant that has shaped the individual and collective profile of Central American societies. Racism, patriarchy – the medieval “right to remain” in certain rural areas where arranged marriages continue to work still works – verticalism, in which order is never discussed, shaped a culture in which violence is normalized.
Peacebuilding as a sustainable and irreversible process is not yet an indisputable fact. As long as history is not seriously addressed, the structural causes of armed conflicts will not be addressed and those responsible for war crimes will not receive justice – as happened, for example, with the hierarchy in Europe. Nazi, as long as there is no culture of respect for differences, it is impossible to truly pacify societies. While there is some cold water, as in the current case, the deep wounds caused by hatred and irreconcilable positions will not be able to disappear unless these issues at hand are seriously addressed. The rampant violence in the region – crime, persistent death squads, street crime, in some cases lynchings, racism, patriarchy – all of which make the region one of the most dangerous places in the world – are expressions of this undeveloped history. There may be “peace sayers,” but we don’t really live in peace. It is a sad reality that in these circumstances, as a popular rancher says, “Life is worth nothing.” Therefore, it is important to continue to look for ways to overcome the current situation.
rmh/mc
*Political scientist, university professor and Argentine social researcher, living in Guatemala
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