The "R.I.P" should not need any explanation. The "D" stands for "Don't"!
One of Argentina's brutal military dictators has died. A person whom nobody should remember with any sadness and someone who does not deserve to be forgotten or forgiven. See the following assessment:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/17/jorge-rafael-videla-dies-dead-death_n_3292636.html?ir=World
He follows Chile's Augusto Pinochet, fellow former Argentinian Leopoldo Galtieri, Brazil's Emílio Garrastazu Médici and others to the grave. Men whose reputation for torture and human rights abuse in Latin America speaks of the evil methods they imposed upon their peoples to enforce their rule and hold on to power.
That there were some forces in their countries seeking violent revolution to change the regimes cannot be denied. But in no way can it be said that the ends justified the means when it came to defeating these groups. Nor does the evidence point to the fact that only violent Marxist-inspired opposition figures were arrested and tortured and killed. Among the "disappeared" were many people who were hardly that radical. Idealistic maybe. And since when has idealism been an excuse for the imposition of a violent dictatorship and the use of torture?
More details on the events in Latin America in the 1960s, 70s and 80s can be obtained from the websites of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International (and for those concerned about the "left" you can also find plenty of material there on what happened in the former Communist Bloc).
The world has moved on. Latin America has moved on. But we should stand firm and utter the words "never again!" (or "nunca más!") at the thought of the Videlas and the Pinochets and the Médicis and their like (and the likes of Pol Pot, Ulbricht, and Ceaușescu if you insist - this piece is not about political bias!).
We have standards, we should abide by them. No matter how difficult times are, no matter the severity of the problems that we face.
Jorge Rafael Videla D.R.I.P!
No comments:
Post a Comment