Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T08:06:13.412Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Central American Militaries: A Survey of the Literature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2022

Ron Seckinger
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The overthrow of Nicaraguan strongman Anastacio Somoza Debayle by the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional in mid-1979 promises to stimulate academic research on contemporary Central America just as the rise of Fidel Castro and Salvador Allende did for Cuba and Chile. As scholars and policymakers contemplate the future of post-Somoza Central America, they will inevitably consider the role of the armed forces in each country. In recent years the military institutions have occupied key positions in national politics as the Central American nations have attempted to reconcile the often conflicting demands of economic development, political order, and social reform. This note is intended to serve as a guide to the existing social-science literature on the Central American militaries. Costa Rica, having replaced its army with a civil guard or police force in 1948, is mentioned only in passing. Although historically considered a part of South America, Panama is included here because it shares many characteristics with the Central American countries. Not surprisingly, the available literature is sparse in comparison with the sophisticated studies of the armed forces of Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. Only Guatemala has inspired a significant output of scholarly analysis. Millett's work (1977) on the Nicaraguan national guard is the only published monograph concerning one of the Central American military institutions, although several unpublished dissertations have appeared and at least one valuable article exists for each country.

Type
Review Essays
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , 1981 , pp. 246 - 258
Copyright
Copyright © 1981 by the University of Texas Press

References

References Cited

AcuÑA, G. Augusto 1973 La Escuela Politécnica y su próximo centenario. Guatemala: Tip Nacional.Google Scholar
Adams, Richard N. 1968-1969 “The Development of the Guatemalan Military.” Studies in Comparative International Development, 4:5:91–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adams, Richard N. 1970 Crucifixion by Power: Essays on Guatemalan National Social Structure, 1944–1966. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Aguilera, P. Gabriel 1978 “La tragicomedia electoral de la burguesía: un análisis sociológico del proceso electoral del 5 de marzo de 1978.” Política y Sociedad 2:5 (enero-junio):159–71.Google Scholar
Aguilera Peralta, Gabriel 1971 La violencia en Guatemala como fenómeno político. Cuernavaca: Centro Intercultural de Documentación.Google Scholar
Aguilera Peralta, Gabriel 1972 “El proceso de terror en Guatemala.” Aportes 24 (abril):116–36.Google Scholar
Ameringer, Charles D. 1974 The Democratic Left in Exile. The Antidictatorial Struggle in the Caribbean, 1945–1959. Coral Gables: University of Miami Press.Google Scholar
Anderson, Thomas P. 1971 Matanza: El Salvador's Communist Revolt of 1932. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Baker, Ross Kenneth 1966 “Military Intervention and Status Deprivation in Postwar Latin America.” Ph.D. dissertation. University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Blasier, Cole 1976 The Hovering Giant: U.S. Responses to Revolutionary Change in Latin America. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Blutstein, Howard I., ET AL. 1971 Area Handbook for Honduras. Washington: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Blutstein, Howard I., ET AL. 1979 El Salvador: A Country Study. Washington: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
CarÍAs, Marco Virgilio, ET AL. 1971 La guerra inútil: análisis socioeconómico del conflicto entre Honduras y El Salvador. San José: Editorial Universitaria Centroamericana.Google Scholar
De La Selva, Mauricio 1962 “El Salvador: Trés décadas de lucha.” Cuadernos Americanos 120(enero–feb.):196–220.Google Scholar
Dombrowski, John, ET AL. 1970 Area Handbook for Guatemala. Washington: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Elam, Robert Varney 1968 “Appeal to Arms: The Army and Politics in El Salvador, 1931–1964.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of New Mexico.Google Scholar
Etchison, Don L. 1975 The United States and Militarism in Central America. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Frankel, Anita 1969 “Political Development in Guatemala, 1944–1954: The Impact of Foreign, Military, and Religious Elites.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Connecticut.Google Scholar
Galeano, Eduardo 1967 Guatemala, Occupied Country. Belfrage, Cedric, trans. New York: Monthly Review Press.Google Scholar
Goldwert, Marvin 1962 The Constabulary in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Gainesville: University of Florida Press.Google Scholar
Gott, Richard 1973 Rural Guerrillas in Latin America. Rev. ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Grieb, Kenneth J. 1976 “The Guatemalan Military and the Revolution of 1944.” The Americas 32:4(Apr.): 524–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HenrÍQuez, Orlando 1972 En el cielo escribieron historia. Tegucigalpa: Tipografía Nacional.Google Scholar
Ibarra Grijalva, Domingo 1973 The Last Night of General Augusto C. Sandino. Bonitz, Gloria, trans. New York: Vantage Books.Google Scholar
Jamail, Milton Henry 1972 “Guatemala 1944–1972: The Politics of Aborted Revolution.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Arizona.Google Scholar
Jenkins, Brian, and Sereseres, Caesar D. 1977 “U.S. Military Assistance and the Guatemalan Armed Forces.” Armed Froces and Society 3:4 (Summer):575–94.Google Scholar
Johnson, Kenneth F. 1971 “The 1966 and 1970 Elections in Guatemala: A Comparative Analysis.” World Affairs 134:1 (Summer):34–50.Google Scholar
Johnson, Kenneth F. 1973 “On the Guatemalan Political Violence.” Politics & Society 4:1 (Fall):55–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LeÍVa Vivas, Rafael 1969 Un país en Honduras. Tegucigalpa: Offset Calderón.Google Scholar
LÓPEZ-TREJO, ROBERTO 1974 Realidad dramática de la república: 25 años de traición a la fuerza armada y a la patria. San Salvador: Editorial Ahora.Google Scholar
Lovo Castelar, LuÍS 1971 La Guardia Nacional en campaña (relatos y crónicas de Honduras). San Salvador: Editorial Lea.Google Scholar
Macaulay, Neill 1967 The Sandino Affair. Chicago: Quadrangle Books.Google Scholar
Melville, Thomas and Melville, Marjorie 1971 Guatemala: The Politics of Land Ownership. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Miller, Robert Howard JR. 1975 “Military Government and Approaches to National Development: A Comparative Analysis of the Peruvian and Panamanian Experiences.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Miami.Google Scholar
Millett, Richard 1977 Guardians of the Dynasty: A History of the U.S.-Created Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua and the Somoza Family. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books.Google Scholar
Monteforte Toledo, Mario 1965 Guatemala: monografía sociológica. 2nd ed. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales.Google Scholar
Monteforte Toledo, Mario 1969 “La política militar de los Estados Unidos en Centroamérica.” Cuadernos Americanos 162:3 (mayo-junio):30–43.Google Scholar
Monteforte Toledo, Mario, ET AÍ. 1972 Centro América: subdesarrollo y dependencia. 2 vols. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales.Google Scholar
NORTH AMERICAN CONGRESS ON LATIN AMERICA 1973 “Integrating the Big Guns: The Central American Defense Council.” NACLA's Latin America & Empire Report 7:5 (May-June):22–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NORTH AMERICAN CONGRESS ON LATIN AMERICA 1974 Guatemala. Berkeley: NACLA.Google Scholar
Pippin, Larry La Rae 1964 The Remón Era. An Analysis of a Decade of Events in Panamá, 1947–1957. Stanford: Institute of Hispanic American and Luso-Brazilian Studies, Stanford University.Google Scholar
RamÍRez, Sergio, ED. 1978 Augusto César Sandino. San José: Imprenta Nacional.Google Scholar
Rey, Julio Adolfo 1958 “Revolution and Liberation: A Review of Recent Literature on the Guatemalan Situation.” Hispanic American Historical Review 38:2 (May):239–55.Google Scholar
Ropp, Steve C. 1970 “The Military and Urbanization in Latin America: Some Implications of Trends in Recruitment.” Inter-American Economic Affairs 24:2 (Autumn):27–35.Google Scholar
Ropp, Steve C. 1972a “Goal Orientations of Nicaraguan Cadets: Some Applications for the Problem of Structural/Behavioral Projection in Researching the Latin American Military.” Journal of Comparative Administration 4:1 (May):107–16.Google Scholar
Ropp, Steve C. 1972b “Military Reformism in Panama: New Directions or Old Inclinations.” Caribbean Studies 12:3 (Oct.):45–63.Google Scholar
Ropp, Steve C. 1974 “The Honduran Army in the Socio-Political Evolution of the Honduran State.” The Americas 30:4 (Apr.):504–528.Google Scholar
Ryan, John Morris, ET AL. 1970 Area Handbook for Nicaragua. Washington: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Samayoa Coronado, Francisco Armando 1964 La Escuela Politécnica a través de su historia. 2 vols. Guatemala: [Typ. Nacional].Google Scholar
Saxe-FernÁNdez, John 1967 “El Consejo de Defensa Centroamericana y la Pax Americana.” Cuadernos Americanos 26:3 (mayo-junio):39–57.Google Scholar
Schneider, Ronald M. 1959 Communism in Guatemala, 1944–1954. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Crisis, Seminario Latinoamericano La Democracia En 1974 La situación política en Guatemala: documento de trabajo. San José: Centro de Estudios Democráticos de América Latina.Google Scholar
Sereseres, Caesar Donato 1971 “Military Development and the United States Military Assistance Program for Latin America: The Case of Guatemala, 1961–1969.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Riverside.Google Scholar
Sereseres, Caesar Donato 1979 “U.S. Military Aid, Authoritarian Rule and Military Politics in Central America,” Armed Forces and Society 5:2 (Winter):329–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silvert, Kalman H. 1954 A Study in Government: Guatemala. New Orleans: Tulane University, Middle American Research Institute.Google Scholar
Sloan, John W. 1970 “Electoral Fraud and Social Change: The Guatemalan Example.” Science and Society 34:1 (Spring):78–91.Google Scholar
Smith, Laun C. JR. 1969 “Central American Defense Council: Some Problems and Achievements.” Air University Review 20:3 (Mar.–Apr.):67–75.Google Scholar
SolÓRzano MartÍNez, Mario 1978 “La constitución de un nuevo bloque histórico en Guatemala.” Política y Sociedad 2:5 (enero–junio): 67–127.Google Scholar
Somoza [GarcÍA], A[Nastacio] 1936 El verdadero Sandino, o el Calvario de las Segovias. Managua: Tip. Robelo.Google Scholar
Stokes, William S. 1950 Honduras: An Area Study in Government. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Thesing, Joseph 1971 “La política en Guatemala.” Aportes 21 (julio):30–59.Google Scholar
Torres-Rivas, Edelberto, and GonzÁLez, Vinicio 1972 “Naturaleza y crisis del poder en Centroamérica.” Estudios Sociales Centroamericanos 1:3 (set.-dic.):37–81.Google Scholar
[TURCIOS LIMA, LUÍS AUGUSTO.] 1969 Turcios Lima: biografía y documentos. Montevideo: Ediciones de la Banda Oriental.Google Scholar
Weaver, Jerry L. 1969a “Las fuerzas armadas guatemaltecas en la política.” Aportes 12 (abril):133–46.Google Scholar
Weaver, Jerry L. 1969b “The Military Elite and Political Control in Guatemala, 1963–1966.” Social Science Quarterly 50:1 (June): 127–35.Google Scholar
Weaver, Jerry L. 1969c “The Political Elite of a Military-Dominated Regime: The Guatemalan Example.” Journal of Developing Areas 3:3 (April):373–88.Google Scholar
Weaver, Jerry L. 1969-1970 “Political Style of the Guatemalan Military Elite.” Studies in Comparative International Development 5:4:63–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weaver, Kenneth Leroy 1973 “Transnational Military Elites: The Central American Case.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Washington.Google Scholar
Webre, Stephen 1979 José Napoleón Duarte and the Christian Democratic Party in Salvadoran Politics, 1960–1972. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.Google Scholar
Weil, Thomas E., ET AL. 1972 Area Handbook for Panama. Washington: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
White, Alastair 1973 El Salvador. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Zamora Castellanos, Pedro 1966-1967 Vida militar de Centro América. 2d ed. 2 vols. Guatemala: Editorial del Ejército.Google Scholar