Abstract
This article breaks with traditional interpretations of Latin American military politics and instead sees Guatemalan civil-military relations and military interventionism as an unintended result of the high-minded goals of Guatemala's 1944-1954 revolution, rather than as a function of illegitimate or unconstitutional aspirations for power. Beginning in 1945 and perceiving the military as the true defender of la Patria (the Fatherland), Guatemala's revolutionaries created a legal framework wherein an autonomous military could intervene against alleged arbitrary presidential behavior or perceived violations of the constitution. Seen in this light, the notion of military "antipolitics" moves beyond the realm of military overzealousness, and places intervention, at least in Guatemala, within the realm of legal justification and constitutional mandate.
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