'A Very Dangerous Game': In Latin America, Embattled Leaders Lean on Generals

Presidents are increasingly asking militaries to bail them out of crises, surfacing painful memories in a region where many grew up under military rule.



When President Sebastián Piñera of Chile went on television to extend the country’s state of emergency, he was surrounded by members of the military.Credit...Office of the Chilean Presidency

By Max Fisher
Oct. 31, 2019
Updated 7:02 p.m. ET

An old but far from forgotten sight is returning to Latin America: presidents facing TV cameras, addressing the nation in a moment of crisis — flanked by their generals.

In Ecuador, military leaders stood at attention behind President Lenín Moreno as he announced a state of emergency. A few days later, Chile’s president, Sebastián Piñera, did the same with a dozen camouflage-wearing officers at his side.

Both countries, reeling from the kinds of protests sweeping much of the world, also deployed troops to the streets — a jarring step in a region that has worked hard to put its history of military dictatorships behind it.

But presidential evocations of the military have extended, in recent days, beyond countries hit by anti-establishment unrest, suggesting there is more at play here.

More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/world/americas/latin-america-protest-military.html