The Armed Forces and April 5

This text is part of a research project on the development of civil-military relations since the restoration of democracy in 1980. The original proposal was based on the observation that these relations constituted one of the most important unresolved problems in the transition to democracy. In addition to the traditional difficulties in civil-military relations, three issues took on particular importance for the armed forces in the 1980s: armed subversion, drug trafficking, and the repercussions of the economic crisis on their budget. The counter-subversive war became the main concern of the Armed Forces (FFAA) and a source of growing friction with political parties, state institutions such as the Judiciary, democratically elected governments, and civil society.