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

Around Latin America

Posted on September 11, 2013 by

-Yesterday, Chile marked the fortieth anniversary of the coup that overthrew democratically-elected president Salvador Allende and ushered in the 17-year military dictatorship that killed over 3000 people and tortured tens of thousands. Even while the date was commemorated, the search … Continue reading →

Posted in Argentina, Argentina's Military Dictatorship (1976-1983), Around Latin America, Augusto Pinochet, Brazil, Chile, Coups in Latin America, Cuba, Guatemala, Guatemala's Civil War, Guerrilla Movements in Latin America, Human Rights Violations, Indigenous Peoples, Labor in Latin America, Multinational Corporations in the Americas, Protests in Latin America, Racism, Strikes, The "Disappeared", Torture, United States

Around Latin America

Posted on May 30, 2013 by

-Two former executives from Ford in Argentina have been charged (among other things) with having ties to the abduction of 24 workers for Ford during the military regime of 1976-1983. -El Salvador’s presidential election is shaping up to be a … Continue reading →

Posted in Argentina, Argentina's Military Dictatorship (1976-1983), Around Latin America, Brazil, Chile, Corruption, Costa Rica, Drugs and the Drug Trade in the Americas, El Salvador, Elections in Latin America, Environmental Issues in the Americas, Guatemala, Human Rights Violations, Inequalities in the Americas, Land Struggles & Issues, Latin America, Latin American Politics, Legal Issues in Latin America, Mexico, Peasant Movements, Poverty, Rio de Janeiro, The "Disappeared", The Amazon, Violence in the Americas

South American Dictatorships in Images

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

Greg Weeks points to this incredible, if harrowing, collection of photos from Operation Condor. The photos were found in Paraguay’s “Archives of Terror,” which documented the deaths of tens of thousands of South Americans at the hands of military regimes … Continue reading →

Posted in Alfredo Stroessner, Argentina, Argentina's Military Dictatorship (1976-1983), Augusto Pinochet, Bolivia, Brazil, Brazil's Military Dictatorship, Chile, Human Rights Violations, Memory Struggles, Military Dictatorships, Paraguay, Peru, The "Disappeared", Uruguay, Uruguay's Military Dictatorship (1973-1985) | 1 Comment