Political (In)justice PITT LATIN AMERICAN SERIES George Reid Andrews, General Editor Catherine M. Conaghan, Associate Editor Political (In)justice AUTHORITARIANISM AND THE RULE OF LAW IN BRAZIL, CHILE, AND ARGENTINA Anthony W. Pereira UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH PRESS Published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15260 Copyright © 2005, University of Pittsburgh Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pereira, Anthony W. Political (in)justice : authoritarianism and the rule of law in Brazil, Chile, and Argentina / Anthony W. Pereira. p. cm. — (Pitt Latin American series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8229-5885-6(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Rule of law—Brazil. 2. Authoritarianism—Brazil. 3. Rule of law—Chile. 4. Authoritarianism—Chile. 5. Rule of law—Argentina. 6. Authoritarianism— Argentina. I. Title. II. Series. KH552.P47 2005 340'.11—dc22 2005011120 To my daughter Bela and my son Bevan— may you fight to make your world a more just one than this. Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xv Chapter 1: Repression, Legality, and Authoritarian Regimes 1 Chapter 2: National Security Legality in Brazil and the Southern Cone in Comparative Perspective 16 Chapter 3:The Evolution of National Security Legality in Brazil and the Southern Cone 37 Chapter 4: Political Trials in Brazil: The Continuation of a Conservative Tradition 63 Chapter 5:“Wartime” Legality and Radical Adaptation in Chile 90 Chapter 6:Antilegalism in Argentina 117 Chapter 7:Defense Lawyers in Brazil’s Military Courts: Redefining Free Speech, Subversion, Terrorism, and Crime 140 Chapter 8:Transitional Justice and the Legacies of Authoritarian Legality 159 Chapter 9:The Sword and the Robe: Military-Judicial Relations in Authoritarian and Democratic Regimes 173 Chapter 10:The Puzzle of Authoritarian Legality 191 Appendix 1:A Note on Sources and Data 201 Appendix 2:Interviews 204 Notes 209 Works Cited 237 Index 253 Illustrations Figures Figure 1.1:Variation in legal approaches to repression 5 Figure 9.1:Variation in legal approaches to repression: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and other cases 176 Maps Map 1:South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile 17 Map 2:Location of political trials in military courts, Brazil 1964–1979 64 Map 3:Location of some of the most active military courts, Chile 1973–1978 91 Map 4:Argentina, 1971–1983 118 Tables Table 2.1:Lethal violence by state forces and other indices of political repression in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, 1964–1990 21 Table 2.2:Features of authoritarian legality in Brazil, Chile, and Argentina 23 Table 2.3:Comparison of courts analyzed in this book 24 Table 4.1:Acquittal rates in national security trials in regional military courts by location of court, Brazil, 1964–1979 79 Table 4.2:Average sentences in national security trials in regional military courts by location of court, Brazil, 1964–1979 80 Table 4.3:Acquittal rates in national security trials in regional military courts by year of alleged crime, Brazil, 1964–1979 81 Table 4.4:Acquittal rates in national security trials in regional military courts by professional background of defendant, Brazil, 1964–1979 83 ix