Written by former President of Ecuador Osvaldo Hurtado, Dictatorships in Twenty-First-Century Latin America explores the most important Latin American political phenomenon to emerge in the first two decades of the twenty-first century: democratic governments elected by citizens have become autocratic governments through the manipulation of the constitutional order and the legislative and judicial functions. Unlike traditional Latin American dictatorships, those of the twenty-first century have not been established by the military but by civilian politicians who were voted into power by the people to govern their countries subject to the provisions of the constitution and the law. Once the leaders assumed the presidency, however, they ignored the constitution under which they were elected and replaced it with one tailored to their political ambitions, using the broad powers assigned to them to remain in power indefinitely. This is what Presidents Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, and Nayib Bukele in El Salvador have all done. Hurtado explains the paradox of this new Latin American authoritarian trend occurring when, for the first time in the history of the subcontinent, democratic institutions governed in all countries, with the sole exception of Cuba.

Throughout the 20th century, the emergence of authoritarian dictatorships in Latin America coincided with periods of social convulsion and economic uncertainty. This book covers 15 dictators representing every decade of the century and geographically from the Caribbean and North and Central and South America. Each chapter covers their personal information (childhood, education, marriage, family...), assumption of power, relationship with the United States, oppression of civilians, and collapse of their regimes. The book also investigates inherent contradictions in U.S. foreign policy: promoting democracy abroad while supporting brutal dictatorships in Latin America. Such analysis requires multiple perspectives and this work embraces an evaluation of the influence of military dictatorships on cultural elements such as art, literature, journalism, music and cinema, while drawing on data from documentary archives, court case files, investigative reports, international treaties, witness testimonies, and personal letters from survivors. The dramatic experiences of courageous individuals who challenged these 15 oppressors are also recounted.

Latin America has been perceived as a region prone to dictatorships. Arguably, though, this is a rather dated perception, as the vast majority of Latin American countries nowadays enjoy political systems that embrace democratic institutions. There is, however, a small group of countries, the so-called "21st-century socialist" countries, where democratic institutions continue to have nominal existence while the rights and freedoms of their citizens are restricted. In his new book, Osvaldo Hurtado shines a bright light on the differences between 21st-century dictatorships and the familiar military despotisms of the past. Hurtado correctly points out that under these new dictatorships attacks against democracy and its institutions are perpetrated by democratically elected presidents who shield themselves behind their popular origins to justify their disregard for the rule of law. 21st-century dictatorships manipulate democratic institutions so as to bring about autocratic governments that do not fit the principles set forth in the Inter-American Democratic Charter unanimously signed by all countries of the Americas. The author succeeds admirably in analyzing these new-fangled dictatorships currently in power in Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela. He does so by drawing on his dual and considerable experience as a former president and an academic. Given the authoritarian challenge facing Latin American democracies, the Inter-American Institute for Democracy has deemed it absolutely necessary to make 21st -Century Dictatorships: The Ecuadorian Case available to the English-speaking world.

Dictatorship in South America explores the experiences of Brazilian, Argentine and Chilean experience under military rule. Presents a single-volume thematic study that explores experiences with dictatorship as well as their social and historical contexts in Latin America Examines at the ideological and economic crossroads that brought Argentina, Brazil and Chile under the thrall of military dictatorship Draws on recent historiographical currents from Latin America to read these regimes as radically ideological and inherently unstable Makes a close reading of the economic trajectory from dependency to development and democratization and neoliberal reform in language that is accessible to general readers Offers a lively and readable narrative that brings popular perspectives to bear on national histories Selected as a 2014 Outstanding Academic Title by CHOICE

This book broaches a comparative and interdisciplinary approach in its exploration of the phenomenon of the dictatorship in the Hispanic World in the twentieth century. Some of the themes explored through a transatlantic perspective include testimonial accounts of violence and resistance in prisons; hunger and repression; exile, silence and intertextuality; bildungsroman and the modification of gender roles; and the role of trauma and memory within the genres of the novel, autobiography, testimonial literature, the essay, documentaries, puppet theater, poetry, and visual art. By looking at the similarities and differences of dictatorships represented in the diverse landscapes of Latin America and Spain, the authors hope to provide a more panoramic view of the dictatorship that moves beyond historiographical accounts of oppression and engages actively in a more broad dialectics of resistance and a politics of memory.

Throughout the 20th century, the emergence of authoritarian dictatorships in Latin America coincided with periods of social convulsion and economic uncertainty. This book covers 15 dictators representing every decade of the century and geographically from the Caribbean and North and Central and South America. Each chapter covers their personal information (childhood, education, marriage, family...), assumption of power, relationship with the United States, oppression of civilians, and collapse of their regimes. The book also investigates inherent contradictions in U.S. foreign policy: promoting democracy abroad while supporting brutal dictatorships in Latin America. Such analysis requires multiple perspectives and this work embraces an evaluation of the influence of military dictatorships on cultural elements such as art, literature, journalism, music and cinema, while drawing on data from documentary archives, court case files, investigative reports, international treaties, witness testimonies, and personal letters from survivors. The dramatic experiences of courageous individuals who challenged these 15 oppressors are also recounted.

This thoughtful text describes how Latin America's authoritarian culture has been and continues to be reflected in a variety of governments, from the near-anarchy of the early regional bosses (caudillos), to all-powerful personalistic dictators or oligarchic machines, to contemporary mass-movement regimes like Castro's Cuba or Peron's Argentina. Taking a student-friendly chronological approach, Paul Lewis also analyzes how the internal dynamics of each historical phase of the region's development led to the next. He describes how dominant ideologies of the period were used to shape, and justify, each regime's power structure. Balanced yet cautious about the future of democracy in the region, this accessible book will be invaluable for courses on contemporary Latin America.