BRAZIL LAB

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE FROM THE COLD WAR TO THE WAR ON TERROR

Abstract

This article aims to answer the question “is there a continuity between the practice of enforced disappearances committed by the Brazilian state during the Cold War and those committed, in particular, by the United States of America (USA) in the context of the War on Terror?”. Specifically, the work will address, through documentary research and a bibliographical review, how Brazil was, in the 20th century, used as a testing ground for a counterinsurgency doctrine which, under the influence of the USA, laid the foundations for the use of enforced disappearance that would become recurrent in the context of the War on Terror. The link between Cold War counterinsurgency practices and the War on Terror has been analyzed by various authors; however, only the article at hand approaches the subject from the point of view of enforced disappearance, taking dictatorial Brazil as a paradigmatic example. The article concludes that the National Security Doctrine laid the foundations for the fight against the political enemy, often encapsulated in the image of the “terrorist”, so that the use of enforced disappearance to control dissent was reused by the US to combat what were called “terrorists” in the 21st century.