On the front line of hearts and minds: The evolution and impact of United States military human rights promotion in Latin America

This dissertation assesses Department of Defense (DoD) human rights promotion efforts in Latin America using three case studies---Bolivia, Colombia, and Venezuela. The dissertation details how human rights promotion became a DoD priority in the region and provides a review of US military efforts in this area. The overarching thesis of this study is that US military human rights promotion can serve as a positive influence in foreign armed forces. The dissertation employs four working hypotheses: (1) The success of human rights promotion efforts depends on the consistency in US policy. (2) The status of overall US bilateral relations, specifically military-to-military relations with a country, tends to have a positive impact on that country's military awareness and respect for human rights. (3) The level of democratic development of a particular country affects the level of success that human rights promotion has in the armed forces of that country. (4) Military human rights promotion tends to play a positive role in military counterterrorism policy.; Key findings. The case studies largely support my thesis. The consistency of US policy and the status of military-to-military relations prove to be key factors influencing human rights performance. Lacking democratic development proves to be a critical obstacle to human rights promotion. While the case studies offer little for testing the final hypothesis, research revealed key factors that affect human rights promotion in the counterterrorism age.; Methodology. I conducted the bulk of research in the field, through dozens of interviews in nine countries. When discussing human rights, this study uses the US State Department definition of "integrity of the person." This dissertation employs a widely-used definition of democratic development as it applies to civil-military relations.