L’uso ideologico del concetto di “guerra giusta” nei regimi argentino e brasiliano. Strategie della repressione e della soppressione dei diritti individuali

Since the moment they seized political power through civil-military coups, the regimes of Brazil (1964) and Argentina (1976) attempted to find ways to discursively legitimise their violent actions. The subsequent authoritarian regimes were, in fact, described as part of redeeming revolutionary processes aimed at the liberation of the nation from the vices of Latin American societies, as much as from the destructive power of “international communism”. This essay intends to analyse how the militaries in power constantly instigated a belligerent socio-political context with the intention to justify their coercive actions. In particular, through the de-humanisation of “subversives”, the armed forces managed to construct a positive image around the military cadre, human protectors of the true nation.