6 - Wrestling with Violence and Injustice Abroad and at Home

Summary

Most Central and South American civil wars drew to a close by the late 1980s and early 1990s, overlapping with the more abrupt end of the Cold War in 1989–1991. That is not to say that armed conflict in Latin American countries completely ceased or that new, more equitable societies replaced militarized and highly stratified ones. The end of the civil wars dramatically reduced the pervasiveness of the bloodshed but did little to narrow the enormous income and opportunity gaps between the small number of wealthy, powerful elites and the majority of poor, in both rural and urban areas. As a result, ethical tensions remained, including over the limitations of peace agreements and conflicting goals of truth and reconciliation commissions instituted in the aftermath of conflicts.