Marxism and Guerrillas

Marxism. What the hell is that? It seems like the name of a poor innocent boy who is ready to be made fun of for the rest of his life. Well, it turns out Marxism is the bully in Latin America’s situation. Marxism, according to the Merriam-Webster encyclopedia definition, is the political, economic, and social theories of Karl Marx including the belief that the struggle between social classes is a major factor in history and that there should eventually be a society in which there are no classes. When this type of government status entered Latin America’s radar – for example, it was among Latin American artists, social scientists, and nationalist intellectuals– it set off many triggers. In the Latin American countries, accepting Marxism was basically interpreted in to siding with weak and turning against the rich. Once the word got around, the upper class was terrified of losing their social status, and decided to go against it and take matters in to their own hands.

                The popularity of Marxism was noticed in public universities through prestigious authors who spoke for revolution, for example, Colombia’s Gabriel Garcia Marquez. His novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, is one of the best known Latin American Novel of the century. The novel explains the terrible violence that was committed from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. Throughout that time period, the violence that was occurring was normally formed by the Latin American military, which soon became known around the world. The military targeted anyone who they suspected to have any sympathy for the guerillas. Their techniques – according to the novel Born in Blood and Fire— involved snatching people off the streets and “disappearing” them forever without any sort of trace or legal record. Generals informed the public they were doing this to protect them from danger caused by communist guerrillas.

                When talking about guerrillas, I am not referring to the big hairy animal we can visit at the zoo. I am referring to the members of an irregular military or paramilitary unit operating in small bands in occupied territory to harass the enemy by surprise raids. In the 60’s, the ones the generals were trying to eliminate were the urban guerrillas. An urban guerrilla is someone who fights a government using unconventional warfare or domestic terrorism in an urban environment. In this case, they were very vulnerable and only had one form of protection, trust and secrecy. To find the guerrilla’s hideouts, higher ranked officials forced prisoners to tell by torturing them. Examples of the torturing that took place were rapes, electric shocks to nipples and testicles, and witness the torture of a loved one.

                Due to actions of trying to avoid Marxism, many Latin American Governments were beginning to get taken over by executive committees formed by generals and admirals, they were known as juntas. These juntas tried to maintain things under collective institutional control, but the new military dictatorship led to bureaucratic authoritarianism. By mid-1970’s, constitutional civilian governments survived in very few countries.           

 

 

 

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/marxism

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/guerrilla

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_guerrilla_warfare