ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the ideological legacy of Russia’s relations with Latin America by emphasizing perceptions of the Soviet (Communist) threat by Latin American governments and choosing Colombia as a case study. In particular, the author examines Colombia’s judicial response to the Russian 1917 October Revolution and its echoes in South America, including the foundation of local left-wing parties and the rise of strike movements. By scrutinizing the “Heroic Law” and other judicial tools used by the Colombian government to stop the advance of the socialist propaganda and various types of political, trade union, and social activities, the author shows that, during the initial period, the basic judicial tools matched the Constitutional framework. However, soon, the measures became more repressive and could no more be considered implemented in concordance with the Carta Magna. The author also describes how the consensus between the leading Colombian political parties was reached over fighting national and international communism, which was strongly associated with the Soviet Union. Finally, this chapter further explains how the government of Colombia was using judicial tools in the 1970s, attempting to prevent the export of not only Soviet but also Cuban and Nicaraguan political practices to South America and avoiding the strengthening of leftist guerrilla groups in the region. The chapter demonstrates how the laws, elaborated initially to protect the political system against what was considered a Communist threat originating in the Soviet Union, became the tools of control and disintegration of the Colombian own working movement, trade unions, and political opposition. Ultimately, the chapter’s narrative reveals that the law system in contemporary Colombia inherited a great deal of legacy linked to the recent history of Colombia’s relations with the USSR: It is a factor playing against a rapprochement even with post-Soviet Russia.
