Excesses, exception and order: obstacles to the post-transitional democratic construction

Abstract

The present work intends to discuss, through the analysis of sources, how military discourse, at two different times, kept among its characteristics an articulation between the notions of excesses, exception and order. In defense of a vague but active conception of order, they engaged in repressive processes that organized portions of the State for the systematic use of violence. These processes appear in their discourse sometimes as excesses committed at the end of the system, sometimes as legitimate exceptions to the legal framework, since the defense of order sometimes requires the use of legally unforeseen resources, particularly when the situation is analogous to a war. The speeches that allow us to perceive this articulation were sought in the discussions around of the State Armed Forces in the 1987-8 constituent and, thereafter, in the statements given to the National Truth Commission (CNV). Transition and transitional justice appear here challenged by the narratives that justify, at one time and another, the continued use of violence.