During the 1960s and early 1970s, the collapse of civilian democracies in several of Latin America's most socioeconomically developed nations and the rise of highly institutionalized, repressive regimes raised serious questions about the nature of political development and political decay in that region. Neither advanced social indicators (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay), nor an extensive, modern-industrial economic sector (Argentina, Brazil), nor a sustained period of representative government (Chile, Uruguay) seemed to be guarantees of continued civilian-democratic rule. Indeed, scholars such as Guillermo O'Donnell have suggested that the nature of economic growth and industrialization in Latin America—most notably in the “Southern Cone”— had resulted in increased class conflict, intense political strains, and the rise of bureaucratic-authoritarian (B-A) regimes.

Analyses of military roles in Latin America during the two decades following World War II often assumed the military were both isolated or apart from politics, and hence amenable to civilian control. The resurgence of militarism since the early Sixties has been reflected in scholarly works reassessing these assumptions. Whereas the pioneers in this field, such as Lieuwen (1964) and Needier (1969), are clearly civilianist—reflecting a democratic and distinctly liberal bias in their values—students of Latin American militarism in the late Sixties and Seventies have increasingly, if tacitly, assumed the unviability of civilian hegemony and tended to downplay the democratic normative issue. Terms such as militarism, democracy, and civilian supremacy have been virtually eclipsed from analyses of military intervention (Johnson, 1964; Einaudi, 1969; Ropp, 1970; Stepan, 1971; Rankin, 1974; Needier, 1975; Fitch, 1979).

The concepts of “political assassination” and “terrorism” are fraught with definitional problems. For purposes of this study, the former will be defined simply as “murder for political motives.” It is one of a series of acts that collectively are intended to produce a psychological state of fear and uncertainty within the general population, i.e., “terrorism,” in an effort to direct political activity through intimidation.

Assassination is usually thought of as a terroristic act associated with opposition political groups. This article examines its use as a mechanism of control by government and private groups who perceive a threat to their privileged position in society.

The early relations of Latin America and Japan, representing a distinct chapter in the discovery of East Asia by the West, are attributable to the initial thrust of West European expansion beginning in the late fifteenth century, led by Portugal and Spain. Magellan claimed the Philippines for Spain in 1521, and following the conquest of Mexico, and later Peru, Spain sought to establish a trans-Pacific route for communication and commerce. The conquest of the Philippines, carried on from 1565 to 1571 under the leadership of Miguel López de Legaspi, foreshadowed the beginning of the Manila-Acapulco trade, which was subsequently carried on until 1815. In 1606 there were 3,000 Japanese colonists in Manila, and 15,000 in Dilao, which included Manila. Some Japanese, as well as Chinese, served as crew members on the Spanish galleons, and it is probable that these Japanese were the first in recorded history to reach the Americas (Ishii, 1937: 88; Bradley, 1942: 11; Meskill et al., 1971: 74-86; Schurz, 1939: 99-128).