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Impunity is characteristic of authoritarian regimes, especially in Latin America. Guy tortures you, then you see him a few weeks later getting a latte at Starbucks. "His hair was perfect."
Just guessing, but it could be that one little noticed aspect of the Latin aspect of Iran-Contra--and all the perps popped up again in the Bush administration, with promotions--is that Republican operatives found out down there how Latin American regimes worked, and decided they wanted that kind of power (and, specifically, the power to torture and disappear) for themselves.
Sort of a bringing-the-dirty-war-back-home style of thing...