Doug
joanna wrote:
>This discussion assumes that there's no such thing as the Military,
>but many different kinds of militiaries, as shaped by specific
>historic and social forces.
>
>Joanna
>
>boddi satva wrote:
>
>>Yes the military is a well-known champion of democracy.
>>
>>Oh, wait, I guess that can't really be true, can it?
>>
>>
>>boddi
>>
>>On 12/3/05, Yoshie Furuhashi
>><mailto:furuhashi.1 at osu.edu><furuhashi.1 at osu.edu> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Michael wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>>>>dhenwood at panix.com 12/02/05 10:38 AM >>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>joanna wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>I was asking a knowledgeable friend about how to account for the
>>>>>Venezuelan army's swing to the left, when the military of so many
>>>>>other Latin American countries swung in the other direction, and he
>>>>>guessed that it had something to do with the fact that the officer
>>>>>corps in Venezuela is not drawn from the elites but from the
>>>>>aspiring lower classes of the countryside and the cities.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>Richard Gott has some good stuff on this in his book on Chavez. He
>>>>points out that the militaries in LatAm do have strong left, as
>>>>well as right, traditions. In a stunning phrase, Gott describes a
>>>>Venezuelan officer as being Harvard-trained and of Trotskyist
>>>>leanings.
>>>>Doug
>>>><<<<<>>>>
>>>>
>>>>recall peruvian military of late 1960s, junior officers from
>>>>'lesser' social strata revolted against their role as agents of
>>>>landed-elite used to repress rural indian insurgencies, they
>>>>carried out successful revolt against gov't of balaunde terry
>>>>(stereotypical liberal pol who made campaign promises he either
>>>>could not nor intended to fulfill)...
>>>>
>>>>under leadership of velasco alvarado, military gov't initiated
>>>>significant reforms, beginning with expropriation of land *and*
>>>>establishment of worker cooperatives on large estates, velasco
>>>>gov't also began nationalizing 'commanding heights' of the economy
>>>>(including u.s. oil. copper, sugar interests)...
>>>>
>>>>gov't did not carry out comprehensive nationalization of private-
>>>>owned industrial production, however, it required 'profit-sharing'
>>>>and transfer of stock to workers until they controlled 50%, goal
>>>>was to create worker/management 'co-determination'...
>>>>
>>>>cultural changes occurred as well with recognition of indian
>>>>peoples, adoption of bilingualism with declaration of quechua as
>>>>official language alongside spanish, and selection of tupac amaru
>>>>as national symbol...
>>>>
>>>>above happened quite 'peacefully' until internal conflict among the
>>>>officers resulted in ouster of velasco,
>>>>
>>>>
>>>Left-republican movements in the military existed in the Middle East
>>>also: Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, etc.
>>>
>>>Yoshie Furuhashi
>>><http://montages.blogspot.com><http://montages.blogspot.com>
>>><http://monthlyreview.org><http://monthlyreview.org>
>>><http://mrzine.org><http://mrzine.org>
>>>
>>>
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