The Cold War in Latin America: Art and Politics
CHAPTER 5: Period of the Military Dictatorships (1960s-1980s)
Chapters
As social unrest escalated throughout Latin America, military dictatorships took control in Brazil (1964), Chile (1973), Uruguay (1973), Argentina (1976), and other countries until the mid 1980s. The military ruthlessly repressed all opposition, secretly capturing and executing an unprecedented number of people. Their objective was to cleanse society of what they considered subversive elements polluted by socialist and communist ideas. During this time, many artists were forced into internal and external exile in order to survive. They developed conceptualist strategies to bypass censorship and comment on the terrifying events taking place, relying on viewers to read between the lines and understand their messages.