History, Crimes and Judicial Politics: Argentina and Colombia

We will review the links between judicial actions and national political discussions in Latin America through the analysis of judicial politics which have been applied to past crimes in Colombia and in Argentina in two main national class trials : colombian paramilitary fighters trial and the ESMA trial in Buenos Aires. For a better understanding of those trials, we will scrutinize the domestic social and political frameworks which have bolstered the opportunity of such judicial actions in strengthening the relationships and communication between judges and political actors. Beside the social and political characteristics of those trials, we will also explain how the judicial powers have been strongly involved in a better understanding of national History. We will explain how the legal definitions of crimes have been used in strengthening the research of truth in History.