ABSTRACT
In the last 20 years, a “new militarism” has been emerging across many Latin American countries that involve the participation of armed forces in internal security affairs including fighting against insurgency, counterinsurgency, organized criminal violence, paramilitarism, terrorism, and even violent or massive protests. The “new militarism” also involves some overt military alliances between the armed forces and specific governments as in Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. This chapter discusses a series of novel challenges that this “new militarism” poses for the democratic rule of law. Specifically, the chapter addresses the impact of the “new militarism” on three areas: (1) the definition and mission of the armed forces in the constitution and the presence of military officers in the government; (2) the scope of the military justice and the characteristics of its internal processes; and (3) the role of national constitutional courts and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in regulating the military jurisdiction and the use of force.
