Beyond law enforcement: the militarization of democratic politics in Latin America

The military is back in the politics in Latin America after the transitions to democracy beginning in the late 1970s. Presidents of different ideologies in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico have advanced the militarization of democratic politics in their countries. Unlike in the past, it is democratically elected leaders who call the military to carry out political administrative tasks in different areas and to act in law enforcement and/or fight against drug trafficking, which has made it possible to recover or increase the political weight of the Armed Forces (AF). The comparison of the cases to one that does not present the phenomenon, Argentina, indicates that high perception of risk of criminal violence, loss of control over parts of the territory for guerrillas and/or organized crime, visibility of the military in peacekeeping missions or law enforcement operations, impunity for crimes in previous authoritarian regime and/or in law enforcement operations and high confidence of the population in the AF are sufficient factors for civilian governments to transfer diverse tasks to the military. The advance of militarization has consequences for the quality of democracy, such as increase in human rights violations and homicides committed by members of the AF, discretionary authority and opacity in the activities they carry out, and loss of autonomy and civilian control over the political decisions.