For Immediate Release
April 7, 2000
Contact: Tom Krattenmaker
610-328-8534
Expert: Lessons Learned Since Waco Can Help Defuse Miami Standoff
An expert on standoffs between authorities and anti-system resisters says lessons learned since Waco can help achieve a peaceful resolution of the situation developing in Miami over the fate of Elian Gonzalez.
Robin Wagner-Pacifici is a professor of sociology at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and author of a new book on standoffs between the state and anti-system groups.
"The violent end to the standoff in Waco demonstrates what can happen if authorities do not approach these situations skillfully and delicately," says Robin Wagner-Pacifici, author of Theorizing the Standoff: Contingencies in Action. "But in more recent standoffs -- including those involving the Montana Freeman and Republic of Texas groups -- little to no force was employed by law enforcement agencies, and the standoffs ended peacefully."
One key, she says, was the use of several largely symbolic measures that helped defuse the impasses and allow the resisters to save face. For example, Republic of Texas members participated in a formal "laying down of arms" ceremony before submitting to arrest. She notes that use of mediators respected by and sensitive to the standoff group can also help resolve confrontations without bloodshed.
"Standoffs are always about much more than the weapons that do or do not get used," Wagner-Pacifici says. "They are about history, culture, ideas, and language, as officials' responses since Waco have shown. It is these innovative approaches that need to be encouraged in attempts to resolve the potentially dangerous situation in Miami."
Note: Robin Wagner-Pacifici is available at 610-328-8638. This number is only for reporters and should not be included in any published articles.
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