Remembering the Rescuers of Victims of Human Rights Crimes in Latin America
Contributions by Stephanie Alfaro, Jeffrey Blustein, Pascale Bonnefoy, Roddy Brett, Jessica Casiro, Isabel de León Olivares, Jenny Escobar, Marcia Esparza, Zachary D. McKiernan, Christopher Ney, Miriam Rodriguez, Maribel Rivas-Vasconcelos, Kristy Sanandres, Angie Tamayo Edited by Marcia Esparza, Carla De Ycaza
Publication date:
20 December 2016Length of book:
218 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksISBN-13: 9781498533263
This book explores the significance of remembering the rescuers denouncing human rights crimes as well as protecting and sheltering targeted victims—including the dead—during the Cold War state violence in Latin America. In light of newly unearthed archival evidence, testimonial memories, and the continued mobilization of human rights groups to preserve Cold War memory, this timely book moves beyond the victim-perpetrator dichotomy and its discursive studies to focus on those whose moral courage and righteous acts were beacons of hope in the midst of extreme violence. Remembering Latin American “righteousness,” a term used in Holocaust literature, is important in recognizing that those who resisted human rights violations and protected victims yesterday are those who often keep the collective memory of that past alive today.
The least noticed aspect of genocide is the courageous resistance that is often put up to save the victims. This collection shows how victims were helped during Cold War violence in Latin American countries including Guatemala, El Salvador, Argentina, Chile and Colombia. The rich exploration of historical cases enhances our general understanding of "rescue", showing that it is not just a matter of bystander intervention but of solidarity among victims. This is an important collection that deserves a wide readership.