Comparative politics, Latin America, political violence, human rights, transitional justice
Jo-Marie Burt is associate professor of political science and Latin American Studies at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. At Mason, she has served as Director of Latin American Studies, Co-Director of the Center for Global Studies, and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies. She is an affiliate faculty in Global Affairs, Latin American Studies, Conflict Analysis and Resolution, and Women and Gender Studies. Dr. Burt is also a Senior Fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), a leading human rights research and advocacy organization.
Dr. Burt has published widely on political violence, state-society relations, human rights and transitional justice in Latin America. Her early research focused on state and insurgent violence in Peru, and civil society responses to violence and violent actors. This was the subject of her 2007 book, Silencing Civil Society: Political Violence and the Authoritarian State in Peru (Palgrave), which received an Honorable Mention for the WOLA-Duke Book Award for Human Rights in Latin America, and which was published in Spanish as Violencia y Autoritarismo en el Perú: Bajo la sombra de Sendero y la dictadura de Fujimori (Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 2009; 2nd expanded edition, 2011). She is also co-editor of Politics in the Andes: Identity, Conflict, Reform (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004).
In recent years, Dr. Burt’s research has focused on the ways post-conflict societies confront demands for justice and accountability after atrocity. She engaged in research and advocacy in close collaboration with local human rights organizations in relation to several high-profile human rights trials in Latin America, including the 2009 trial of the former president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, and the 2013 genocide trial of former dictator of Guatemala, Efraín Ríos Montt. She organized international observation missions to these trials, prepared public reports on ongoing developments, and advocated on behalf of the rights of victims to access justice in these and other cases. As a research consultant for Open Society Justice Initiative, she writes about war crimes prosecutions in Guatemala for International Justice Monitor. She also is part of a collaborative, Verdad y Justicia en Guatemala that publishes reports on war crimes trials in Guatemala on social media in Spanish.
Between 2002 and 2003, Dr. Burt was a member of the regional studies research team of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and her report on Villa El Salvador was incorporated into the Commission’s 2003 Final Report. In 2006, Dr. Burt was a Fulbright Scholar at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. In 2010, she was named the “Alberto Flores Galindo Visiting Professor” at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Dr. Burt has been an expert witness in several cases of human rights violations before the National Criminal Court of Peru, before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and in immigration courts in the United States involving both asylum cases and cases of suspected war criminals who face extradition or deportation proceedings from the United States. In 2011, the Government of Peru recognized Dr. Burt with the Award in Merit, in the Grade of Grand Official, for Distinguished Service in Defense of Democracy, Rule of Law, and Human Rights in Peru.
Dr. Burt has received grants and fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, Open Society Foundations, the United States Institute of Peace, the Aspen Institute, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Inter-American Foundation, the Latin American Studies Association Otros Saberes Initiative, the Tinker Foundation, the Institute for the Study of World Politics, and the Thomas J. Watson Foundation, among others.
Dr. Burt is an active member of professional associations including the International Studies Association (ISA), the Law and Society Association, and the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). She was appointed as one of the program co-chairs for the LASA Congress for 2020, scheduled to be held in Guadalajara, Mexico. She was elected to serve a two-year term on LASA’s Executive Council between 2016-2018, and served as co-chair of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Human Rights between 2016-2019. She is a member of the international advisory boards of the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF) and the Luz Ibarburu Human Rights Observatorio in Uruguay. Between 1995 and 2000, Dr. Burt was editor of NACLA Report on the America, the largest English-language publication on Latin America.
Dr. Burt has commented frequently on Latin American politics for various national and international news media, including The New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Forbes, Time, BBC World, CNN, The Christian Science Monitor, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now, El País, PRI’s The World, PRI’s The Takeaway, NPR’s Morning Edition, McClatchey, Pacifica Radio as well as print and electronic media in several Latin American countries. She has published articles in The Nation, National Public Radio, The Huffington Post, Truth-Out, Foreign Policy in Focus, Open Democracy, NACLA Report on the Americas, and in Latin American newspapers such as La República (Peru), El Comercio (Peru), Diario 16 (Peru), Plaza Pública (Guatemala), among others. She has written op-eds for NPR, Americas Quarterly, The Huffington Post, Open Democracy, Al Jazeera, Animal Político (Mexico), La República (Peru), El Comercio (Peru), El País (Spain) among others, as well as journalistic articles for NACLA Report, The Nation, The Progressive, TruthOut, and Foreign Policy in Perspective, among others.
Dr. Burt's research publications include:
Books:
Transitional Justice in the Aftermath of Civil Conflict: Lessons Learned from Peru, Guatemala and El Salvador (Due Process of Law Foundation, 2018)
Violencia y Autoritarismo en el Perú: Bajo la sombra de Sendero y la dictadura de Fujimori (Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 2009; 2nd expanded edition, 2011)
Silencing Civil Society: Political Violence and the Authoritarian State in Peru (Palgrave, 2007) (paperback in 2010)
Politics in the Andes: Identity, Conflict, Reform (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004) co-editor, P. Mauceri
Peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters:
Undergraduate:
Latin American Government and Politics
Human Rights in Latin America
Human Rights and Transitional Justice in Comparative Perspective
Political Violence and Revolution in Latin America
Social Movements in Latin America
Power and Politics in the Andes
Latin American Studies: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Revolutions in International Relations
Graduate:
Comparative Politics Graduate Seminar
State-Society Relations in the Developing World
Politics and Society in Latin America
Political Ethnography
Ph.D. in Political Science, Columbia University, 1999
B.A. in Political Science, Magna Cum Laude, College of the Holy Cross, 1986
Op-eds
Guatemala Must Not Grant Amnesty to War Criminales, National Public Radio, February 11, 2019
In Guatemala, Victims Commemorate the Third Anniversary of the Genocide Verdict, The Huffington Post, May 18, 2016
Peru Elections 2016: Back to the Future?, AULA-American University Latin America Blog, April 7, 2016
Guatemala Opens Landmark Sexual Violence Trial Against Former Military Officers, Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) commentary, February 22, 2016
The Ghosts of Past Violence Haunt New President of Guatemala, The Huffington Post, January 17, 2016
Latin America’s Lesson for the U.S.: Prosecute the Torturers, The Nation, December 12, 2014
A New Genocide Trial in Guatemala? The Huffington Post, December 30, 2014
Historic Verdict in Guatemala's Genocide Case Overturned by Forces of Impunity, NACLA Report on the Americas (Summer 2013)
The bones tell the story: The search for Peru's missing, Al Jazeera, March 30, 2013
Still waiting, [human rights prosecutions in Peru] e-misférica (an online journal of the Hemispheric Institute of performance and politics at New York University) 7:2 (2010).
Peruvian Precedent: The Fujimori Conviction and the Ongoing Struggle for Justice, co-authored with Coletta Youngers, NACLA Report on the Americas 43:2 (March 2010).
2019
Guatemala Amnesty Bill Stirs Fear of Impunity and Revenge by Ex-Military, Los Angeles Times, February 25, 2019
An Amnesty for Crimes Against Humanity? Guatemalan Proposal Stirs Outrage, Washington Post, February 24, 2019
[Op-ed] Guatemala Must Not Grant Amnesty to War Criminales, National Public Radio, February 11, 2019
Guatemala’s Slow-Motion Coup is Causing Migrants to Flee to the U.S., Vice, February 1, 2019
Killing of Guatemala’s Indigenous Activists Raises Specter of Human Rights Crisis, All Things Considered (National Public Radio), January 22, 2019 (Radio interview and print article)
Guatemala in political crisis as Trump administration looks the other way, Los Angeles Times, January 12, 2019
Guatemala withdraws from anti-corruption commission, PRI The World, January 9, 2019 (Radio interview)
Expulsion de la commission anticorruption de l’ONU. Le gouvernement passe le la parole aux actes, La Press(Canada), January 9, 2019
Guatemalan president condemned after ejecting UN anti-corruption group, The Guardian, January 8, 2019
Guatemala is expelling entire anti-corruption team investigating its president, Los Angeles Times, January 7, 2019
2018
Adopted by the Man Who Killed my Family, BBC The History Hour (radio program), December 8, 2018
WOLA: Peru’s Fujimori should return to prison, Agencia Andina (Peru), November 26, 2018
¿Quién es la víctima? El caso Odebrecht y el pedido de asilo diplomático de Alan García, Brecha (Uruguay), November 23, 2018
WOLA: Alan García usa supuesta persecución para evadir justicia: Jo-Marie Burt pide que Uruguay rechace pedido de ex presidente, Agencia Andina (Peru), November 19, 2018
International organizations question law that would benefit Fujimori, El Comercio (Lima), October 12, 2018
Secret tapes have Peru tangled in political scandal once again, Bloomberg, July 23, 2018
Interview on The Takeaway / Public Radio International about a legislative proposal in Guatemala to grant amnesty to perpetrators of grave human rights violations, June 18, 2018
Guatemalan Ex-Generals Sentenced to Decades in Prison, Latin American Herald Tribunal, May 24, 2018
Guatemala: ex-military officers convicted of crimes against humanity, The Guardian, May 23, 2018
Guatemala impone hasta 58 años de cárcel a militares por desaparición forzada en 1981, El Comercio (Peru), May 23, 2018
Corrupt Guatemalan officials find help from an unlikely source: Marco Rubio, The Guardian, May 17, 2018
How Ríos Montt Won the War in Guatemala, Insight Crime, April 4, 2018
Efraín Ríos Montt, Guatemala Dictator Convicted of Genocide, Dies at 91, The New York Times, April 1, 2018
Peru’s President Offers Resignation Over Vote-Buying Scandal, The New York Times, March 21, 2018
Facebook Live Interview by the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) on the December 24, 2017 pardon of Alberto Fujimori, who in 2009 was convicted of grave violations of human rights, January 18, 2018
In wake of Fujimori pardon, divided Peru debates meaning of reconciliation, Christian Science Monitor, January 12, 2018
2017
As Peru president faced impeachment, jailed Fujimori worked to save both, Reuters, December 30, 2017
Radio interview on Morning Edition, National Public Radio, Fujimori Pardoned After Peru’s President Survives Impeachment Vote, December 27, 2017
Peru’s jailed ex president Alberto Fujimori pardoned, sparking protests, The Guardian, December 24, 2017
PPK in the most important newspaper in the world, El Comercio (Peru), December 22, 2017
Odebrecht podría causar el eclipse de Kuczynski, The New York Times in Spanish, December 21, 2017
Peru’s President Survives Impeachment Bid, Government Limps On, Bloomberg,December 21, 2017
El mundo contra el indulto a Alberto Fujimori: Organizaciones internacionales se pronuncian por la medida de PPK, Caretas (Peru), December 20, 2017
PPK podría ser el más grande en caer en Américan Latina según The New York Times, La República (Peru), December 20, 2017
Peru Leader Could Be Biggest to Fall in Latin America Graft Scandal, The New York Times, December 19, 2017
After 25 years in US, alleged war criminal may finally face justice at home, Christian Science Monitor, November 27, 2017
What is transitional justice good for? Plaza Pública (Guatemala), November 7, 2017
Interview on Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales’ decision to expel head of the UN body, the Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), Nuestras TeleNoticias–NTN24 (Colombia), August 29, 2017
Thumbing his nose at high court and UN, Guatemala’s president risks constitutional crisis, The Boston Globe, August 28, 2017
Presidente de Guatemala mete a su país en una crisis, Fox News, August 28, 2017
Crisis flares in Guatemala over corruption and organized crime, The Guardian, August 27, 2017
Guatemala Crisis Deepens Over Bid to Expel Anti-Graft Chief, Bloomberg, August 27, 2017
Jo-Marie Burt: “A pardon for Fujimori will adversely affect the international reputation of President Kuscynski,” La República (Peru), May 1, 2017
Human Rights Trials in Guatemala: ‘Two Steps Forward, One Step Back,’ Podcast interview with Jo-Marie Burt, Washington Office on Latin America, April 18, 2017
2016
Cárcel para 10 militares por una matanza en Perú en 1985, El País (Spain), September 2, 2016
Perú: condenan a militares por la matanza de Accomarca, Proceso (Mexico), September 2, 2016
Exemplary Sentence for Accomarca Massacre, The Peruvian Times (Peru), September 2, 2016
WOLA advierte que la excarcelación de Fujimori afectaría la democracia, La República (Peru), August 1, 2016
Un mensaje contra la impunidad: Los dos primeros juicios por violencias sexuales cometidas por el Ejército peruana son una esperanza para las víctimas, El País (Spain), July 11, 2016
Fujimorismo and the Academy, La República (Peru), July 9, 2016
The Secrets in Guatemala’s Bones, The New York Times Magazine, June 30, 2016
Guatemala’s Attorney General Is in Real Danger, TeleSUR, June 29, 2016
Peru promulga ley para buscar 15 mil desaparecidos, La Jornada (Mexico), June 22, 2016
Kuczynski ahead in Peru election, but will he be able to govern? The Guardian, June 7, 2016
Unas reñidísimas elecciones dejan a Perú en una encrucijada política, El Diario (Spain), June 7, 2016
In last-minute twist, Peru taps a leader without ties to country’s dark past, The Christian Science Monitor, June 6, 2016
Peruvians vote for president in a tight contest, The Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2016
Keiko Fujimori, Ex-President’s Daughter, Heads to Runoff in Peru, The New York Times, April 10, 2016
Cinco libros para entender el golpe del 5 de abril, La República (Peru), April 4, 2016,
Preocupa curso que ha llevado nuevo juico contra Ríos Montt, Centro de Reportes Informativos de Guatemala (CERIGUA), April 1, 2016
Por qué el fujimorismo se mantiene poderoso? El prefacio de este libro nos da algunas razones, La Mula (Peru), March 25, 2016
Interview with Jo-Marie Burt on criminal trials in Latin America, Latin American Council on the Social Sciences (CLACSO), March 24, 2016
Clientelism in a key strategy for Fujimori’s party, La República (Peru), March 19, 2016
Guatemala sends soldiers to jail for using rape as a weapon, Global Citizen,March 4, 2016
Justice at last for Guatemalan women as military officers jailed for sexual slavery, The Guardian, March 1, 2016
Guatemala: Soldiers sentenced to 240 years for systematic rape, TeleSUR, February 26, 2016
The Sepur Zarco Case: Maya Q’eqchi’ Women Survivors of Sexual Violence in Guatemala Demand Justice, Upsidedown World, February 13, 2016
Interview, Mayan Women Accuse Military of Holding them as Sex Slaves, All Things Considered/National Public Radio, February 3, 2016
Interview, Guatemala slavery: Women tell stories of alleged abuse, Al Jazeera America News, February 3, 2016
Guatemalan soldiers face sex slavery charges in historic trial, The New York Times, February 2, 2016
Interview, Seeking Justice in Guatemala: Interview with Jo-Marie Burt, Warscapes, January 19, 2016
New President, Old Problems: Guatemala Seeks to Turn the Page, TeleSUR, January 14, 2016
Guatemala Arrests Former Military Officers in Connection With Massacres, The New York Times, January 6, 2016
2015
Cambalache, La República (Peru), December 29, 2015
Berenson: Convicted American leaves Peru where terrorism’s shadow persists, The Christian Science Monitor, December 3, 2015
WOLA: Es imprescindible individualizar responsabilidades por esterilizaciones y procesarlos ante la justicia, Agencia Andina (Peru), November 15, 2015
Peru: Los desaparecidos, una herida abierta, Revista Proceso (Mexico), September 18, 2015
The lesson of Guatemala: Punish elite corruption, even the president, Union de Morelos (Mexico), September 5, 2015
Guatemala wakes up to a president gone, but it still has much to protest, Public Radio International / The World, September 4, 2015
Unanimous: Guatemalan Congress strips President Pérez Molina’s immunity, The Tico Times, September 1, 2015
Guatemalans Say Reforms Needed Before Any Future Election, TeleSUR, August 23, 2015
Guatemala’s President Faces Impeachment Over Alleged Links to Corruption Case, Vice News, August 22, 2015
Familiares piden justicia por masacre de Accomarca, Diario UNO (Peru), August 16, 2015
Caso Accomarca: Familiares de víctimas pidieron justicia, El Comercio (Peru), August 14, 2015
Familiares piden justicia para víctimas del caso Accomarca, Andina agencia peruana de noticias, August 14, 2015
WOLA: Fujimori’s habeas corpus petition is a desperate move. Jo-Marie Burt believes it lacks merit, Agencia Andina (Peru), July 9, 2015
Public anger only grows after Guatemala appoints controversial vice president, Global Voices, May 15, 2015
Thousands of Guatemalans March to Demand Resignations of Top Leadership, Global Voices,April 26, 2015
Perú: state prosecutor accuses Humala’s most popular ex minister in journalist’s murder, Fox News Latino, March 1, 2015
Humala’s ex minister is accused in assassination of journalist, Associated Press/ Pulso, March 1, 2015
Justice in Guatemala Deferred, Again. Christy Thornton talks to Jo-Marie Burt about the past, present, and future of the historic Ríos Montt trial, WBAI Radio / NACLA Report on the Americas, January 15, 2015
2014
Interview, “What they did can only be categorized as torture,” Revista Factum (El Salvador), December 17, 2014
WOLA: Revisión de la condena a Alberto Fujimori no debe proceder, La República, November 10, 2104
Morales Bermúdez y una deuda con la justicia por el secuestro de montoneros, La República, October 19, 2014
Interview, Human rights trials in Peru, La Mula, September 8, 2014
Larga lucha contra la impunidad [en el Perú], Revista Proceso (Mexico), August 23, 2014
Caso Urresti es un mal mensaje, Perú 21, July 9, 2014
Interview, The legacy of the Rios Montt trial and verdict, Al Jazeera TV, May 11, 2014
Interview, The legacy of the Rios Montt trial and verdict, CNN, May 7, 2014; A year after genocide trial, has justice been done?
Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz seeks re-election, El Faro (El Salvador), March 8, 2014
Guatemala may be about to oust Rios Montt prosecutor, McClatchy Report, February 25, 2014
Concerns about the institutional stability and independence of the Attorney General’s Office, La Hora (Guatemala), February 12, 2014
Organizaciones americanas critican actos dilatorios en juicio por genocidio, Publinews Guatemala, January 10, 2014
Deception in Guatemala over new delays in trial against former dictator, El País (Spain), January 6, 2014
2013
“I was at the dentist, your Honor,” by Vanessa Baird, about human rights trials in Peru, The New Internationalist, November 7, 2013
Podcast interview, Impeding or Furthering Justice, HablaGuate, October 31, 2013
Unhealed from Peru’s bloody conflict are legion a decade after truth commission’s report, Associated Press(Washington Post, Fox News World), September 3, 2013
Juicio por genocidio: La FIDH presenta sus conclusiones sobre el juicio por genocidio, Plaza Pública (Guatemala),August 9, 2013
Organization calls on Guatemala to uphold genocide conviction, Associated Press, August 8, 2013
The genocide trial is a watershed for Guatemala, El Periódico (Guatemala), August 8, 2013
WOLA: ‘se debe investigar injerencia en el caso Chavin de Huantar’, Peru 21 (Peru),August 6, 2013
WOLA expresa preocupación sobre posible interferencia en caso Chavin de Huantar, La República (Peru), August 6, 2013
Is Peru’s history coming back to haunt it? Christian Science Monitor, August 5, 2013
WOLA: Las condiciones para un indulto no están dadas, La República (Peru). May 19, 2013
WOLA: Condena a Fujimori fue precedente en sentencia contra Ríos Montt, Agencia Andina (Peru), May 15, 2013
Why have the crimes of the past come to light now? by Jody García, La Hora (Guatemala), May 14, 2013, pp. 6-7
WOLA pide ahondar búsqueda por desaparecidos durante violencia, Agencia Andina (Peru), March 31, 2013
WOLA: Es hora de cerrar la discusión sobre indulto a Fujimori, Agencia Andina (Peru), March 29, 2013
Académicos internacionales manifiestan preocupación por traslado de jueza Mariana Mota, Radio Uruguay, February 18, 2013
Deudas pendientes en derechos humanos, Diario La Primera (Peru), January 14, 2013