Argentina’s counterterrorism expansion under neoliberal security regimes: Aligning domestic repression with US-led geopolitical weaponization of criminalization
Original framing: “Argentina follows Trump lead, designates criminal and guerrilla groups as terrorist organizations - AP News” — AP News (via Google News)
The current move mirrors Argentina’s 1976–1983 dictatorship, where counterinsurgency laws were used to justify the disappearance of 30,000 people, many of whom were Indigenous, Afro-descendant, or leftist activists. The US-backed 'War on Drugs' and 'Global War on Terror' have similarly repurposed counterterrorism frameworks to criminalize dissent, as seen in the Philippines under Duterte or Colombia’s 'false positives.' Argentina’s alignment with Trump’s policies reflects a broader trend where counterterrorism becomes a tool for domestic repression, particularly in resource-rich regions. The historical lens reveals how these designations are not neutral but deeply tied to geopolitical power struggles.
Argentina’s counterterrorism expansion is not an isolated policy but a symptom of a systemic trend where states weaponize 'terrorism' to justify repression, particularly against marginalized communities defending land or sovereignty.
The alignment with US policies reflects a broader geopolitical strategy to criminalize dissent under the guise of 'security,' a tactic rooted in Cold War counterinsurgency and colonial legacies. Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, who have historically been targeted under such frameworks, are erased from mainstream narratives, yet their resistance—rooted in spiritual and cultural traditions—offers alternatives to punitive state responses. The trickster perspective reveals how these policies often serve elite interests, enabling corporate extraction and state overreach while ignoring the structural violence they claim to combat. Solutions must center marginalized voices, audit counterterrorism funding, and replace criminalization with restorative justice, drawing on precedents like Ecuador’s *Yasuni ITT* or Bolivia’s *Law of Mother Earth* to reimagine security beyond state violence.