Abstract

The leading role played by the United States during the Cold War in Central Americaeclipsed the relations between the Isthmus and Latin American countries, many of which allow tounderstand key aspects of the counterinsurgency state repression in Central America. This article explores the networks that the Argentinian and Guatemalan militaries tended towards the end ofthe seventies and the beginning of the eighties in the framework of the process oftransnationalization of the political violence characteristic of the Cold War. It takes into accountthe socio-historical particularities of each case. Moreover, it focuses its attention, through a seriesof interviews, on the (re) appropriations that the Guatemalan military made of the “counter-subversion knowledge” put into play in the courses and conferences given by the ArgentineArmed Forces. Finally, it seeks to contribute elements to understand the process of reformulationof the repressive strategy that the Guatemalan State undertook towards the end of the seventiesthat led to the most significant genocide of the Latin American’s 20th Century.

Keywords: counter-subversion transnationalization of the political violence; cold war; armed forces; Latin America