When states with legacies of violence transition into or reestablish democracy, the question emerges of what to do with those who were both perpetrators and victims of the violence. On the one hand, in countries like Brazil or Uruguay, where torture occurred on a mass scale and institutional level, the new governments might look to educate citizens on the horrors that occurred under the previous regime and prosecute those responsible. On the other hand, the new governments might see forgetting the past as the best step they can take towards appeasing those previously in power and establishing a long-term democracy.

As we have discussed in class—and as I discovered while writing my essay—democratic backsliding often occurs when those in power place greater emphasis on their own interests than on the preservation of the democratic regime as a whole. In this case, it is important for competing parties to respect the peaceful transition of power and to let those who have lost an election live freely go on with their lives after the election is over. However, in the case of new democratic regimes dealing with legacies of violence, remembering and educating the public on the nation’s past mistakes and holding those involved accountable seem to be necessary steps in order to differentiate the new, democratic regime from the previous regime. How could the Chilean democracy be any different from the previous, oppressive regime when that regime’s leader, Augusto Pinochet, has been granted amnesty and named a senator for life? While it is obviously implausible to put every person responsible for the atrocities committed by the previous regime on trial, remembrance, I think, is the only way for a new government to create a distinction between themselves and the torturers they are succeeding.