Uncivil Movements: The Armed Right Wing and Democracy in Latin America (review)

Leigh Payne's book on "uncivil movements" in Latin America is engrossing, illuminating, and, frequently, disquieting. Instead of focusing on movements that advance democratization, Payne examines three organizations that pose a direct threat to it: the Carapintadas in Argentina, the UDR (Rural Democratic Union), and the Contras in Nicaragua. Payne expertly explores the key--and usually ignored--role that these uncivil movements played in thwarting their nations' attempts to establish democracy following military dictatorships or war.

Payne defines uncivil movements as "political groups within democracies that employ both civil and uncivil political action to promote exclusionary politics" (p. 1). Although uncivil movements typically employ and/or threaten violence to achieve their goals, they also establish themselves as legal parties and operate within the democratic system. The dual character of these organizations helps to explain both the political victories and the internal tensions they frequently experience.

In addition to their threatened or actual use of violence, Payne attributes these movements' successes--or failures--to their ability or inability to convincingly frame the political threat they claim confronts them, cue themselves up to cultural symbols to which people will respond, and create legitimizing myths about themselves. To illustrate her argument, she pairs two successful cases, those of the Carapintadas and the UDR, with an unsuccessful one, the Contras.

Following the end of the Argentine military dictatorship, President Raul Alfonsín's government (1983-89) brought to trial and convicted leading military officers responsible for the torture and murder of civilians during their rule. In order to prevent further trials and the imprisonment of officers, the Carapintadas staged four rebellions between 1987 and 1990. They claimed they acted in defense of the dignity of the armed forces and to protect national security. This framing of the uprisings allowed them to garner support from nationalist sectors that disapproved of government efforts to undermine the military. The Carapintadas achieved their goal: Alfonsín's government passed the Due Obedience Law in 1987, which effectively "limited the possibility of bringing torturers to justice" (p. 53).

Equally successfully, the wealthy Brazilian landowners who established the UDR in 1985 managed to incorporate small landholders into their movement by defining their struggle as one in defense of private property, a principle "upon which the nation was founded" (p. 115). They blamed government attempts to take their land from them (i.e., agrarian reform) on leftists who had infiltrated the government and equated them with 1960s "subversives." Their skill at defining the struggle, combined with the murder of key land reform activists like Chico Mendes, account for the 1988 defeat of the agrarian reform amendment.

The Contras did not enjoy the successes their counterparts in Brazil and Argentina did. They found it difficult to blame President Violeta Chamorro or U.S. government for their plight, since they had been allies, and they could hardly claim the legacy of Augusto César Sandino, the national hero, since they had fought the Sandinistas for ten years. Unable to frame their issues in a fashion that could generate broad support, they failed to achieve their basic goal, the implementation of the 1990 Peace Accords that would have guaranteed them the land and financial support they demanded.

Payne takes issue with those who believe that moderation and the incorporation of the uncivil movements into the democratic system is the best method to overcome the danger these groups pose. Instead, she argues that governments should exacerbate internal tensions within the groups and work with the more pragmatic sectors among them. They should also prosecute those who engage in illegal activity, both to preserve the government's integrity and to expose and undermine the organizations' myths about themselves.

In addition to analyzing the relationship between these uncivil movements and democracy, this book offers a fascinating look into the methods and mentalities...