ABSTRACT
To understand the practices of applied performance in Latin America, it is particularly important to take a look at three key moments. First, there is the colonial past and the indigenous peoples’ ensuing struggle for justice and recognition. Second, and more recently, are the dictatorships suffered in several of the region’s countries during the twentieth century, many of them backed by the United States. Finally, there is the ‘internal violence’ that occurred in countries such as Peru, Colombia, and Mexico, often tied closely to drug trafficking. Within the left-wing movement in Latin America, certain factions viewed armed resistance as the only way to free themselves from oppression. Such was the case with the Tupamaros in Uruguay or the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria in Peru, organizations that were heavily suppressed by the authoritarian regimes, leading to deaths, disappearances, and serious human rights violations.
