The term “Dirty War” was coined in Argentina by a military government which wanted to justify mass rape, torture, executions without trials, arrests without bail, chucking dissidents out of planes, etc, as necessary to “prevent subversion”. Between 1976 and 1983, over 30,000 Argentines were killed in sundry ways by men in uniform, usually after being sexually violated and tortured.
Dirty War is now used to describe more generic state-sponsored repression of civilian populations. Latin America has a tradition of rule by military-backed dictators, and military councils, or juntas. There have been “Dirty Wars” in Paraguay (1954–1989), Brazil (1964–1985), Bolivia (1971–1981), Uruguay
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
