Security and Defense Studies Review 2010 Fall ... - Offnews.info

infrastructure conditions that may also foment crime when coupled with ineffective and corruptpolicy, government, or military forces.Transitions in societies are times of political and/or social upheaval. Instability unsettles society’sstructures even if the transition itself is not characterized by violence. New cleavages may appear,accompanied by increased lawlessness or corruption. Significant segments of society may haveincomes insufficient to support themselves through legitimate means as their nation shifts from oneeconomic base to another. State-funded social safety nets are minimal or absent under a traditionaldevelopment rubric of austerity. Urbanization increases, yet jobs are scarce and cities lack adequateexisting infrastructure to support the population shift. People are lost in societal cracks and leftdisenfranchised and desperate as old ways of life fade without any clear alternatives provided by thestate or the market. Desperation may encourage political terrorism where there is little confidencein the intended result of successful transition and where there are only feeble mechanisms to checkviolence.2. Class Conflict. Class conflict is another explanatory element of political terrorism. Whilemany Latin American countries have experienced increased income over the last decade, incomeinequality remains higher here than in any other region of the world. Economic crisis makes it worse.Few control the preponderance of power and resources within many of these societies. In most cases,paper currency translates to political currency, allowing the wealthy to be politically influential andmarginalizing the overwhelming majority who are poor, working class, or lower class. Thus, masseswho often subsist on less than a living wage and who lack basic necessities are left with a sense ofimpotence in a political system that denies them voice, representation, or equal control.Political terrorism confronts these class iniquities, perceived or real. Through their acts,terrorists may seek to galvanize political support behind legal reforms, elections, parties, or evenrevolutionary measures that in some manner address the income and power disparities of society.Political terrorists in societies with class conflict may be seeking a redistribution of wealth and areallocation of power, however crude their methods or poorly articulated their logic. Terrorist andcriminal gangs often increase their popularity by building schools, hospitals, and athletic fields whichcash-strapped governments cannot afford.3. Political Culture and Machismo. Latin American political culture is often characterized ashaving strong elements of machismo, even today. In an environment traditionally dominated bymen and where respect is earned through conspicuous bravery, expressions of heroic conquest,and decisive action, the methods of political terrorism may resonate with those frustrated by theirineffectiveness within state-sanctioned participatory political processes. This is especially true todayof Central American young people: no jobs, no education, no prospects, hence the turn to crime. Thebigger the guns, the more respect one commands.Political culture also represents the political norms, understandings, and mores of society. InLatin America, what may have started as an accident of history—the orchestrated use of violenceto achieve either limited or total gain—now has had a certain legitimacy conferred upon it bysuccess, repetition, and societal acceptance. Violence becomes part of the political process. Politicalterrorism in every corner of the world has been justified as the fight for freedom. Nowhere hasthat iconography been more celebrated than in the countries of such people as Simon Bolívar, CheGuevara, Fidel Castro, and Hugo Chávez.4. Scarce Resources and Overcoming the Zero-Sum Game. The scarcity of resources confrontingsome countries of the Caribbean and Central and South America has rendered developmentconsiderably more problematic. A country with negligible natural endowments or comparativeadvantage in cash crops alone has no obvious economic base that can be cultivated and reaped fordevelopment income. Industrialization becomes nearly impossible because raw materials, finishedSecurity and Defense Studies Review 2010 Fall-Winter Issue / Edicíón Otoño-Invierno 2010 / Edicão Outono-Inverno 2010 / Volume 11 173