Coups d’État in Latin America: Continuities and Ruptures from the Cold War to Yesterday

Coups in Latin America are often treated as Cold War artifacts. But some of the patterns that produced them are still active. Building on Coups d'État in Cold War Latin America, 1964–1982 (Cambridge, 2025), the editors extend their analysis to the present, tracing how two forces continue to reshape Latin American politics: US intervention (now morphing from military coups to economic extortion to intimidation) and the Christian right (which has shifted from defending the status quo to remaking society in its image). Contemporary cases—from Bukele’s El Salvador to Milei’s Argentina to current US pressures on Colombia and Brazil—reveal both continuities and innovations.