The Boundaries of Democracy

Abstract

This article examines the aftermaths of four murders: those of anti–Ferdinand Marcos activists Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, and Kuomintang critics Chen Wen-Chen and Henry Liu. These murders all occurred during the Ronald Reagan presidential administration and relied upon the transnational reach of foreign governments into the United States. I explore how activists responded to these murders, focusing on the Committee for Justice for Domingo and Viernes, the Committee on Political Freedom, which was formed by Chen’s colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University, and the Committee to Obtain Justice for Henry Liu. I argue that, in contrast to those radicals who saw oppression as flowing outward from the United States toward the Third World, these critics saw the transnational murders as symbolizing the growing convergence between domestic and foreign repression.