ABSTRACT
The recent political history of Latin America has followed a broadly similar pattern. In many countries, the elected governments of the early 1960s were subsequently overthrown by military coup d’etats which imposed authoritarian rule over most of the continent. For many Latin Americans, the 1960s and 1970s were years of harsh military repression, involving the systematic use of violence by the state, and the suppression or control of the legislature, political parties, the press, trade unions and other organizations of civil society. For many citizens, these were years of exile and resistance. Some sectors of the opposition resorted to armed struggle to combat the dictatorial state.
