ABSTRACT
For three years the Tupamaros ravaged Uruguay. In the end the terrorists were defeated because the state declared total war against them and gave the army and the police the powers they wanted to wage this war. The consequence was the destruction of one of Latin America’s model democracies. The capacity of a society to protect itself while preserving democratic procedures depends largely on the attitude that is adopted toward both terrorism and democracy. In effect, terrorists would be accepted as part of the civilized world, which they are not. Their grievances would be recognized as legitimate, when in fact this is entirely beside the point. Terrorism is but a symptom of a much deeper problem, which is the newly revived role of ideology as a legitimation of violence. This is also the lie which unites terrorists with totalitarian rulers, above all with those who rule in the Soviet Union. Terrorism is a manifestation of a disease that has gripped democratic societies.
