Category Archives: The “Disappeared”

Manuel Contreras, Head of Chile’s DINA, Dead at 86

Posted on August 8, 2015 by

Manuel Contreras, who headed the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (National Intelligence Directorate, or DINA) from 1973-1977, some of the most repressive years of Augusto Pinochet’s regime, has died at the age of 86. As head of DINA, Contreras was directly responsible for … Continue reading →

Posted in Augusto Pinochet, Chile, Deaths, Human Rights Violations, The "Disappeared", Torture

Get to Know a Brazilian – João Leonardo da Silva Rocha,

Posted on June 7, 2015 by

This is part of an ongoing series. Previous entries can be found here. This week, we look at João Leonardo da Silva Rocha, the sixth of fifteen political prisoners who were exchanged for US Ambassador Charles Elbrick in 1969, in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Brazil, Brazil's Military Dictatorship, Human Rights Violations, Latin American Politics, The "Disappeared", The "Left" in Latin America

The Ties between the Ayotzinapa Killings and Argentina’s Military Dictatorship

Posted on November 8, 2014 by

Over a month ago, 43 students from the Ayotzinapa teachers’ college in the state of Guerrero, Mexico, went “missing” after mobilizing and protesting for improvements in Mexico’s educational policy and social system. Within days, authorities had uncovered mass graves; yet the … Continue reading →

Posted in Argentina, Argentina's Military Dictatorship (1976-1983), Human Rights Issues, Memory Struggles, Mexico, The "Disappeared", Uncategorized

Police Disappearing Protesting Students in Mexico in 2014

Posted on October 5, 2014 by

I’ve written before of police violence against students in Mexico on a much grander scale. And now, in 2014, it tragically appears we have a twenty-first century version, no less horrific even if on a smaller scale: Authorities were investigating whether … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Rights Issues, Mexico, Police Violence, Student Movements, The "Disappeared"

On This Date in Latin America – September 16, 1976: Argentina’s “Night of the Pencils”

Posted on September 16, 2014 by

Given the recent discussion of memory and military dictatorships, it seems worthwhile to recall one of the many horrific events of Argentina’s military dictatorship: La Noche de los Lápices, or “Night of the Pencils.” The Night of the Pencils had … Continue reading →

Posted in Argentina, Argentina's Military Dictatorship (1976-1983), Buenos Aires, Human Rights Issues, Human Rights Violations, Military Dictatorships, On This Date in Latin America, The "Disappeared", Torture

Around Latin America

Posted on December 4, 2013 by

-Peru has launched its biggest exhumation ever, as it tries to find victims from the violence between the Shining Path and the Peruvian state between 1980 and 2000. -Peru is not the only country exhuming victims of violence. In an … Continue reading →

Posted in Around Latin America, Border Issues, Brazil, Corruption, Costa Rica, Drugs and the Drug Trade in the Americas, El Salvador, Elections in Latin America, Governance in Latin America, Honduras, Human Rights Violations, Indigenous Peoples, Latin American Economies, Latin American Politics, Mexico, Nicaragua, Oil in the Americas, Peru, Peru's Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), Protests in Latin America, Rio de Janeiro, The "Disappeared", United States

The Brazilian Truth Commission after One Year

Posted on December 3, 2013 by

The truth commission investigating repression and state-sponsored violence during Brazil’s military dictatorship of 1964-1985 has recently completed a full year of work, and issued a report of some of its major findings after one year: Part 1. Hiding of Documentation from … Continue reading →

Posted in Brazil, Brazil's Military Dictatorship, Human Rights Issues, Human Rights Violations, Impunity, Police Violence, The "Disappeared", Torture, Truth Commissions