In Venezuela, the issue of civil-military relations has traditionally been very controversial. The origin of the controversy is complex, but basically it is about the historical problem related to the political significance that the military have played in the conformation of the State and the place they should occupy in Venezuelan society. But, fundamentally, the Venezuelan civilian political leadership did not have, nor has it had until now, the capacity, the interest, the political will and clarity, conceptual consistency and doctrinal conviction, and even the need to implement a set of mechanisms and techniques to exercise an effective civilian control over the historical praetorian potential of the Venezuelan military. Thus, it can be affirmed that in the matter of Venezuelan civil-military relations, after the failure of the ruling praetorianism of dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez, we have not had a real and true civilian control over the military. On the contrary, what we have had is an understanding, agreement, fusion, alliance and military-civilian and political-military symbiosis; not written, but operative and effective. After several centuries of barbarism, backwardness and uncivilization, the 21st century may be for Venezuela the century of the definitive defeat of the praetorianism virus and the final supremacy of the Venezuelan civil society over the military and its armed institutions.
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Ecuador has been one of the last countries in the region to have a civilian minister of defense. Traditionally, this task has been given to retired military officers. The military has been and continues to be an area that civilian and academic society has little desire to learn about. President Correa himself has accepted that he knows very little about security issues, to the point that in one of his weekly media briefings, he offered to read and learn more about the subject. Despite knowing little about the subject - as he admits - during his government, a civilian minister for defense was appointed for the first time in more than 35 years. So far in his government two ministers have been women - one of whom died in a military helicopter crash. The current minister is a former journalist who, through his column in one of the national newspapers, was a sometimes unfair critic of the activities of the Armed Forces.
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This paper examines the Honduran Coup of 2009 as a case study of the application of the Organization of American States Inter-American Democratic Charter. The Charter, unanimously approved by the Organization in September 2001, consolidated and built upon earlier OAS efforts to support and defend democracy in the hemisphere. The study highlights the steps taken by the OAS and its member states and examines the difficulties multilateral organizations have in trying to effect democratic changes inside of a state. While the OAS took the severest actions permitted by the accord, the coup was not reversed. The sanctions remained in place nearly two years afterwards.
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Americans are so committed to elections and democracy as the only legitimate path to political power that it is sometimes hard to conceive of politics by other means. Moreover US policy-makers tend to believe that elections occupy a higher realm of moral authority, and hope that, with democracy-assistance programs, Latin America and other developing areas will "move beyond" revolutions, coup d'états, general strikes, and other non-electoral routes to power. But as the Silvert quote below indicates, non-electoral paths may still be pursued especially in crisis circumstances; furthermore, these extra-electoral means may enjoy both legitimacy and constitutional mandate. In this article we test these propositions as they apply in Latin America.
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This paper analyzes the evolution of the institution of self-defense and its relationship with the prohibition of the use of force. It studies the path towards the consolidation of the classical concept of self-defense, its elements and its requirements. Subsequently, he presents three positions on the evolution of this legal institution towards an anticipatory scheme, from the position of states and the instruments of international law. Finally, it shows the road ahead for the establishment and consolidation of the notion of preventive self-defense.
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The use of military forces in the fight against all criminal threats that affect democracies is viable and necessary, but the important thing is to know when and how force can be used as a first option in order not to incur in an illegitimate and illegal act. This article develops the assertion by first recognizing the terms "human rights" and "international humanitarian law" and how the actions of the armed forces can be applied and restrained within the territory of a country. In addition, it recognizes the danger of the type of non-traditional warfare currently occurring against the populations of some countries, and how the mission of police and military forces must be re-evaluated and adapted to the new operating environments. Finally, this article addresses the daunting questions of how to complete these new missions successfully within legal parameters, and how to respond to "enemy" allegations and attacks that may take the form of political and judicial tactics
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Peace operations are pragmatic responses by the international community to a situation that threatens or undermines international peace and security. Although the charter of the United Nations does not make reference to peace operations, they are covered by chapters VI, VII, and VIII of that treaty. The organization also uses, as a theoretical basis for the treatment of the theme, mainly, the documents An Agenda for Peace and its Peace and its Supplement, which were presented by the then Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 1992 and 1995, respectively. Since 1947, more than since 1947, more than a million military, police, and civilians have served in the 67 peacekeeping missions peacekeeping missions. South American countries, especially Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, have South American countries, especially Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, have had a significant presence in these operations. This paper presents a descriptive account of the participation of South American countries in UN peacekeeping in United Nations peacekeeping operations and the legal provisions that govern their participation. In conclusion, it presents some considerations on the experience accumulated by the countries of the region, leading the reasoning to the importance of joint participation in these operations.
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The subject of strategic leadership has had a spectacular development in the world of business management, where much literature has been published to explain its scope, forms of operation and its relationship with strategic planning and the decision-making process. All this information, which would ensure the success of a company, has been an extremely useful reference for the field of defense and security, even though everything written is not exactly applicable to the strategic scenario in which we operate. Indeed, the specificities of the political office, of the Armed Forces and of the type of conflict this sector is involved in, make it necessary to redefine the essential aspects of strategic leadership in the field we are concerned with.
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