Historical Foundations of Civil-Military Relations in Spanish America

Abstract

From Introduction:

"In Spanish America, both colonial and nineteenth-century patterns of civil-military relations have survived into the twentieth century, though they have not survived unchanged or uniformly within the region. Nevertheless, certain aspects of civil-military relations and military institutions in Latin America, and certain patterns of conflict over these patterns and institutions, are recognizable common legacies of pre-twentieth century developments. The present chapter emphasizes some of the similarities across the region and notes the main variations prior to World War I. The chapter begins with colonial legacies, considers the impact of the wars of independence and early efforts at nation building, the challenge of creating new constitutional regimes and the role of the armed forces in nineteenth century constitutions, nineteenth-century national security laws and penal codes, and the impact of European military missions. Together these legacies form a 'living past' that continues to influence civil-military relations. Examples of the influence of this 'living past' are presented for illustrative purposes, but without making an effort to historicize or to compare systematically the diverse cases � a task for lengthier, detailed historical research."