bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Industrialist in the Wilderness: Henry Ford's Amazon Venture
Authors: Galey John
Published: March 2007

In the latter half of the 1920s, a half dozen North American, British, and Canadian engineers and geologists individually began secretive explorations for oil, minerals, and likely locations for rubber plantations in the Brazilian Amazon jungle. Their goal: to interest the Ford, Firestone, and Goodyear companies in land that would supply the raw materials for their product—tires. As these land speculators negotiated with the Amazonian state governments for concessions, each thought he had claimed the richest territory with virtually unlimited exploitation privileges. Several scrambled for concessions, and by July of 1927 one individual obtained 2.5 million acres on the Tapajós river in the Amazonian state of Pará. He secretively planted half a million rubber seedlings in the forest (an indication of the vastness, sparse population, and poor communications in the Amazon at that date) and left behind an armed guard to protect the land against incursions by other speculators (Winter, 1927). In a subsequent contract with Pará, Henry Ford then acquired this land to grow rubber.
Britain and Chile, 1851-1886: Anatomy of a Relationship
Authors: Mayo John
Published: March 2007

In 1880, the famous Chilean politician and historian, Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna, wrote:

There does not exist in the whole globe a country whose prosperity or adversity has a more direct influence as regards Chile than that which affects the welfare of the vast empire of Great Britain, the modern Rome [Chilean Times, 1880].
The Politics of Automobile Industry Development in Colombia
Authors: Fleet Michael
Published: March 2007

Colombia provides a particularly instructive case of auto industry development. An intermediate-level country in terms of market size and stage of industrialization, its potential for dealing or bargaining effectively with transnational automobile firms is considerably less than that of Brazil, Mexico, or Argentina, but far more comparable to that of most Third World countries. It would be wrong, however, to lump all intermediate countries together. They vary enormously in terms of the size of their carbuying publics, their economic and natural resources, and their commitments to and progress toward industrial development. Moreover, these factors themselves are conditioned by past and present policy decisions and are subject to the politico-economic priorities and strategies of individual governments.
Have Import Substitution Policies Either Precipitated or Aggravated the Debt Crisis?
Authors: Pazos Felipe
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the development policies applied to Latin American countries in the post-war period, particularly those designed to develop manufacturing production for the domestic market through tariff protection. The paper will try to find out whether such policies (1) brought about reasonably high rates of growth; (2) distorted the structure of domestic prices and hindered the later development of manufactures exports; (3) provoked persistent balance of payments disequilibria, thereby forcing the countries to borrow abroad in large quantities; and (4) weakened the countries' capacity to resume development in the future, once the current debt crisis is overcome.

Advancing conclusions, the first and fourth questions can be answered with a relatively high degree of confidence: inward-oriented policies promoted a high rate of growth during the three decades spanning 1950 to 1980, but narrowed the import coefficient to a degree that will force the countries to depend almost solely on export promotion to resume their development in the future.
The Fall of Balmaceda and Public Finance in Chile: New Data for an Old Debate
Authors: Bowman John R. , Wallerstein Michael
Published: March 2007

The 1891 civil war that led to the downfall of President José Manuel Balmaceda is without doubt one of the most visible episodes of Chilean history. Already the subject of a voluminous bibliography by 1894 (Echeverría y Reyes, 1894), the “revolution's” importance to historians of Chile actually increased over time as a new generation of scholars came to view it not merely as a discrete event of limited intrinsic interest but as an important key to understanding Chile's subsequent political and economic development. In retrospect, the conflict came to be seen as a “crucial watershed” in Chilean history (Blakemore, 1974: 243), marking the replacement of a presidential system—1833-1891—notable in nineteenth-century Latin America for political stability, by a parliamentary system—1891-1924—notorious for political and monetary disorder.
Mexico's Recent Science and Technology Planning: An Outsider Economist's Critique
Authors: James Dilmus D.
Published: March 2007

There are a number of reasons why Mexico attracts students of economic development. Boasting an impressive rate of economic growth that has been sustained for four decades, yet plagued with discouraging and mounting problems of surplus labor and maldistribution of income, Mexico is one of the prime cases that has sparked the discussion over the distinctions between “economic growth” and “economic development.” Furthermore, Mexico affords a classic test of the validity of some dependency writers’ claim that periphery countries’ subjugation to external control varies directly with the length and intensity of contact with center nations (Frank, 1972: 10). The sudden revelation of Mexico's potential as an energy supplier, the growing concern with the magnitude and consequences of illegal Mexican migration to the United States, and the increasing recognition of the uniqueness and importance of the Mexico-U.S. border economy add further appeal for economists, political scientists, and sociologists.
Perspectives on the Mid-Vargas Years: 1934-1937
Authors: Levine Robert M.
Published: March 2007

In the period following Brazil's 1964 military coup, many historians turned their attention to the Vargas years, especially the 1930s. For one thing, the period had not been thoroughly examined. For another, factors common to both “revolutions” intrigued them: interplay among civilians and military officers in the respectivegolpes; repression of dissent and the use of nationalistic propaganda; concern over Brazil's place in the international order; social mobilization to neutralize class conflict and promote growth; tension between liberalism and corporatism; and efforts to promote national integration. Many of the historical actors, as well, were the same.
From Jew to Basque: Ethnic Myths and Antioqueño Entrepreneurship
Authors: Twinam Ann
Published: March 2007

Twenty minutes by jet or fifteen hours by bus northwest of Bogotá lies the department of Antioquia, with its capital, Medellín, second largest of Colombia's cities. Although the Andes serve as divider and incubator of a diversity oípatrias chicas, each with characteristic accent, folklore, and regional identity, the country of the Antioqueño, orpaisa, remains one of the most distinctive. Unlike Colombians from other regions, the Antioqueño has typically been stereotyped as the alien. Whether he has been reviled as a Jew, lauded as a “New Breed,” portrayed as a Basque, a Swiss, a Yankee, or a Protestant, writers have used ethnic interpretations which minimize the Latin, the Catholic, and even the Colombian image of the paisa (Lipset, 1967:27,28).
Progress in the Democratic Revolution in Latin America: Country Assessments–1987
Authors: Anderson Thomas D.
Published: March 2007

The Amount of Freedom enjoyed by individuals varies widely in countries around the world. In the Americas it is a matter of particular concern because of a common history of colonialism. This concern is complicated by ideological and scholarly disagreements about just what constitutes freedom. Such impediments notwithstanding, the subject holds broad public interest and frequently is the basis for comparing governments although not always in an informed manner.
Cooperative Confrontation in the Falkland Islands Dispute: The Anglo-Argentine Search for a Way Forward, 1968-1981
Authors: Beck Peter J.
Published: March 2007

Territorial disputes have been an important factor influencing and embittering international relationships within Latin America, especially since the disagreements—often dating back to the early days of independence during the early 19th century—have been difficult to resolve because of the sensitivity of governments and public opinion to sovereignty issues. As a result, there is a marked reluctance to compromise. This not only makes the resolution of such disputes a remote possibility, but also discourages disputants from submitting the matter to a third party such as the United Nations. In the meantime, the very nature of these questions means that normal diplomatic and economic relations are likely to be interrupted by a conflict at any time. In many respects, the Anglo-Argentine dispute over the Falkland Islands (or Islas Malvinas) conforms to this general Latin American pattern even though it involves a European power.
A North-South Dilemma: The Need and Limits of Conditionalities in the Americas
Authors: Mamalakis Markos
Published: March 2007

Commerce and manufactures can seldom flourish long in any state which does not enjoy a regular administration of justice, in which the people do not feel themselves secure in the possession of their property, in which the faith of contracts is not supported by law, and in which the authority of the state is not supposed to be regularly employed in enforcing the payment of debts from all those who are able to pay. Commerce and manufactures, in short, can seldom flourish in any state in which there is not a certain degree of confidence in the justice of government.

Adam Smith, The Wealth Of NationsBook y Chapter III, p. 862

Economic relations between the United States and Central and South America are pervasive, complicated and ever changing. The nature of these relations, i.e., conflict, cooperation or neutrality in settling issues, depends on the degree and the form in which their respective markets for inputs (labor, land, capital and technology), outputs (goods and services), financial assets and unilateral transfers interact. These relations evolve around and arise from the movement of people, goods, services and financial assets between the North and the South, and within the South.
The Rise and Decline of Liberalism in Central America: Historical Perspectives on the Contemporary Crisis
Authors: Woodward Ralph Lee
Published: March 2007

Recent violence, civil war, revolution, and economic crises have focused attention on Central America. Analyses of these crises vary widely. Class struggle, Soviet or U.S. imperialism, geopolitical balance of power, the energy crisis, and the general malaise of the West all contribute to the turmoil on the isthmus. Yet the bitter political and economic realities of contemporary Central America are deeply rooted in the past. The present conflicts are neither recent in origin nor conducive to short-term military, economic, or political solutions. This article offers a historical interpretation of modern Central America as an explanation of the current crises. The hypothesis of this overview is that the current crises all represent the inevitable collapse of political, economic, and cultural structures erected in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to serve the interests of the elites who commanded the Liberal Reforms or Revolutions of that era, but that fail to meet the demands of the societies they created.
Oil and U.S.-Mexican Relations
Authors: Grayson George W.
Published: March 2007

The Aztecs discovered petroleum in Mexico and used it before the arrival of the Spanish in 1519. They burned it in tribute to their gods, caulked their canoes with it, smeared it on their bodies as a medicine, and utilized it as a dye and a glue. Over three centuries elapsed before an effort was made to turn black gold into cash. Ten years after Edwin L. Drake drilled his famous well near Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1859, a group of Mexicans unsuccessfully attempted to produce oil on the “Furbero” hacienda near Papantla in Vera Cruz state. It was not until May 1901 that Edward L. Doheny, a wily product of the rough-and-tumble American oil industry in which he had amassed a fortune, struck oil in Ébano, a jungle region of San Luis Potosí. Another pioneer in the development of Mexico's petroleum industry was Weeman Pearson, later Lord Cowdray, a Yorkshire entrepreneur who formed the fabulously profitable Mexican Eagle (Aguila) Company after discovering the “Golden Lane” fields in 1908 (Bermúdez, 1963; Sampson, 1975: 83-85; Grayson, 1978a).
Origins of the “New Professionalism” of the Brazilian Military
Authors: McCann Frank D.
Published: March 2007

In 1973 Alfred Stepan published an article with the descriptive title “The New Professionalism of Internal Warfare and Military Role Expansion.” In this article, he used the cases of Brazil and Peru to discuss “how the ideology of new professionalism arose and how it contributed to the expansion of the military's role in politics.” He proposed to do this by identifying “some of the institutional and political variables that are peculiar to Brazil and that help account for some of the special characteristics of the present military regime” (1973). He then set out the paradigms of the “old professionalism” as formulated in the carefully constructed analysis of Samuel P. Huntington (1957) and compared these to the stated missions and observed activities of the Brazilian army in the 1960s. This comparison led him to conclude that because the army's missions and activities were clearly different from those in the Huntington model they must flow from a different definition of the military profession rather than merely being lapses from the “old professionalism” (Stepan, 1973: 48).
The Debt Crisis: The Baker Plan Revisited
Authors: Bogdanowicz-Bindert Christine A.
Published: March 2007

When James Baker, US Secretary of the Treasury, took the rostrum at the IMF-World Bank annual meeting in Seoul, in October 1985, and told 9,000 delegates from 149 countries that the debt crisis could only be solved by an even closer cooperation of all parties concerned, more money from commercial banks, an enhanced role for the World Bank, and more growth in the developing world, everybody sighed with relief.

The Baker declaration was significant as it had taken three years of muddling through crises for the Reagan Administration to recognize the debt crisis for what it is: a long term economic and political barrier to development that is slowly strangling world economic growth.
Recasting the Politics of Inter-American Trade
Authors: Sanderson Steven E.
Published: March 2007

The Continuing Latin American Debt crisis and the huge United States trade deficit inevitably mean that trade politics are on the rise again in the hemisphere. In 1986, on the eve of the proposed new GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs) round, President Reagan announced a duty on Canadian lumber, which, coupled with a Canadian duty against US corn less than a month later, derailed the broad bilateral free trade negotiations begun in 1985. The US and Brazil continued to argue the merits of a Brazilian market reserve law in microcomputers and software; and Mexico concluded its first bilateral trade pact with the US in decades during 1985, desperately embracing trade liberalization with the same zeal that made it the US model for “solving the debt crisis” in 1984.
Sendero Luminoso and the Peasantry of Andahuaylas
Authors: Berg Ronald H.
Published: March 2007

Since 1980 the maoist party known as Sendero Luminoso, the “Shining Path,” has been waging a guerrilla campaign against the civilian government of Peru. To the surprise of most observers, this group not only has survived but has expanded its scope of operations, kept the military on the defensive, and attracted a small but significant national following.

This limited success is puzzling because of the movement's small size, its lack of arms and its extreme radicalism, in a country with a diverse and substantial Left. Sendero Luminoso, calling itself the Communist Party of Peru, holds to an orthodox Maoist philosophy.
Mexico's Development Experience, 1950-85: Lessons and Future Prospects
Authors: Ramírez Miguel D.
Published: March 2007

In the late seventies and early eighties the Mexican economy was in a crisis situation. This crisis, however, did not manifest itself until August 1982 when the Mexican government sent shock waves through the international financial community by declaring a temporary moratorium on external debt payments. Six years earlier, during the waning months of the Echeverría administration, a similar financial and economic crisis had taken place amid rumors of an impending military coup. These adverse economic developments - and their challenge to the country's long-term political and social stability - stand in stark contrast to the so-called “miracle years” of the late fifties and sixties. During these years M éxico enjoyed high rates of economic growth coupled with annual rates of inflation (below 5%) which were the envy of the developing world.

This paper will argue that, on closer examination, the rapid economic growth of this period was achieved as a result of economic and financial policies which, by exacerbating existing structural weaknesses endemic to the Mexican economy, paved the way for the crises of 1976 and 1982.
“Public Private Partnership:” Lessons from the Brazilian Armaments Industry
Authors: Franko-Jones Patrice
Published: March 2007

In Less than Twenty Years Brazil has become one of the ten largest exporters of conventional armaments in the world. How the Brazilian armaments industry has achieved such success offers a rich case study of an effective division of labor between state and firm. With the state acting as technological agent and ambassador to external markets, the firms have become innovators of internationally competitive armaments systems. Rather than being forced, by military control, to produce highly sophisticated weapons systems, Brazilian defense firms receive support to develop products which cater to an international demand for those conventional armaments which occupy a niche just below the technological frontier defined by the superpowers.
Soviet “New Thinking” and the Central American Crisis
Authors: Zubek Voytek
Published: March 2007

A revolution can only be legitimate if it is capable of defending itself(Lenin,Sochinenia).

While it is Still too Early to draw decisive conclusions about the ongoing process of reform in the USSR, there are some observations that might safely be made.Glasnosthas generally come to be viewed as a profound attempt to re-evaluate a number of time-honored principles of Marxism-Leninism before the actual undertaking ofperestroika(policy reform) itself. If the scope and potential success ofperestroikaare the subject of heated scholarly debate in the West, a consensus holds that, thus far, a process of rethinking, re-evaluating, and transforming approaches to domestic policies in the USSR lie at its core. In light of the importance of the reform for the evolution of the Soviet domestic system, its influence upon the conduct of Soviet foreign policy represents an intriguing area for examination.
Peru, The Drug Business And Shining Path: Between Scytta And Charybdis?
Authors: Palmer David Scott
Published: March 2007

In Just 20 Years Peru has shifted from beacon of hope to basket case. As late as the mid-1970s, Peru's reformist military government (1968-1980) appeared to offer significant possibilities for economic and political development (defined as improved distribution of income and greater participation by the citizenry). From 1940 to 1975, economic growth and low inflation had been the norm. A major agrarian reform during the militarydocenio(12-year rule) created production cooperatives nation wide; the industrial community gave workers a meaningful management role in the operation of their firms. Both stirred the imagination of many Peruvians and the academic community alike.
Laundering the Gains of the Drug Trade: Miami and Caribbean Tax Havens
Authors: Maingot Anthony P.
Published: March 2007

The Headlines Had a Tone of sensationalism in Trinidad'sSunday Guardian: “Drug Barons Taking Over Big Business: 'Dirty’ Money is being laundered into the system” (Guardian, 1988).

Trinidadians, however, were hardly in a mood to accuse the normally staid TrinidadGuardianof sensationalism; the doings of drug barons is the subject of almost every dinner, cocktail party and informal conversation. Visitors are taken on tours of the new multimillion-dollar mansions springing up in formerly placid and genteel neighborhoods. Their massive walls and remote control cameras stand in stark contrast to the gingerbread quaintness of the adjoining structures (Interviews, 1988). But architectural divergency is the least of the contrasts so annoying to Trinidad citizens. What the Guardian calls the “satanic plot,” carried out by men of “prominence and respectability, ” is especially grating as the depressed economy has everyone else tightening belts or, worse, going into receivership. The court system is overwhelmed with drug and drug-related cases, and the main thrust of communityoriented philanthropy is the establishment of drug rehabilitation centers.
Putting Latin American Debt to Work: A Positive Role for the US
Authors: Ronald Scheman L. , Bailey Norman A.
Published: March 2007

The long anticipated collapse of the economies of Latin America is already underway. The facts:

•

In Argentina, the currency devalued over 1,000% in less than four months and was close to a free fall as the Central Bank has no resources to stabilize the market and riots wracked provincial cities.

•

Brazil approaches hyperinflation now running at close to 1,000% as the government has given up on trying to curb inflation through traditional means and resorted to extensive indexing to enable the people to cope.
Export Assembly Operations in Mexico and the Caribbean
Authors: Schoepfle Gregory K. , Pérez-López Jorge F.
Published: March 2007

Faced with limited opportunities for their primary-product exports, many developing countries have sought new strategies to develop manufactured products for export. Often lacking the necessary infrastructure for industrialization but possessing abundant labor resources, some developing economies have attempted to attract investment through assembly operations that promote domestic employment, exports, and local development.
Orthodox and Heterodox Stabilization Policies in Bolivia and Peru: 1985-1988
Authors: Mann Arthur J. , Pastor Manuel
Published: March 2007

With the outbreak of the Latin American debt crisis in late 1982, nervous bankers and hard-pressed debtors turned to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for both short-term finance and macroeconomic advice. By 1985, however, steadily increasing inflation and stagnant output reduced what little appeal such orthodox IMF programs had ever enjoyed. In late 1985 and early 1986, Argentina and Brazil adopted new “heterodox” stabilization programs, whose essential elements included income policies to break inflationary inertia, monetary reform (especially the creation of new currencies), and a verbal commitment to fiscal restraint.
A Democratic Party Approach to Latin America
Authors: Moss Ambler H.
Published: March 2007

As in most presidential election years, Latin America is not significant in the campaign issues presently under discussion, nor is it likely to become so before November 1992. This article focuses, therefore, not so much upon which issues might, or even should, be emphasized by the Democratic Party during the campaign, as upon what might be the design of a Latin American policy by a new Democratic administration in January 1993. Start, then, by assuming a Democratic victory in November.

It would be reasonable to predict that Latin America will get more attention, of a different nature and on a more consistent basis, than it has during the Reagan-Bush years. The Democrats have had the affiliation of the greater number of this country's Latin Americanists, and their weight will be felt. They will want, demand, and probably get, some serious input.
US-Mexico Free Trade: Implications for the United States
Authors: Weintraub Sidney
Published: March 2007

The Moment of Truth has come for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The US Congress will have to stop talking and vote to accept or reject the agreement negotiated among Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The disagreement on NAFTA in the United States is about free trade with Mexico, not with Canada. A US-Canada free trade agreement (FTA) already exists.

This controversy over NAFTA has been fierce in the United States, much more so than in Mexico. This comparison speaks volumes about changing attitudes. It was almost unthinkable a decade ago that Mexico would so drastically alter its traditional position of maintaining economic and political distance from the United States. This change would not have been possible but for la decena trágica, the years of the 1980s. Beyond that, Mexico has more at stake in a free trade agreement. It has the smaller economy (about 1/27th that of the United States) so that changes, for better or worse, are magnified.
The Rise and Fall of President Collar and its Impact on Brazilian Democracy
Authors: Weyland Kurt
Published: March 2007

In May 1992, Pedro Collor de Mello accused his brother and then-president of Brazil, Fernando Collor de Mello, of involvement in an extensive corruption scheme operated and directed by his former campaign manager, Paulo César Farias. Pressured by opposition forces, the Brazilian Congress set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the widely publicized charges. Despite a combination of both passive resistance and active harassment on the part of government, the commission began a searching probe into Farias' diverse and shady dealings. Following leads uncovered by investigative journalists, the commission found conclusive evidence that Farias had, indeed, paid for many of the president's personal expenses, up to and including a $2.5 million landscaping job for the Collor mansion grounds. Much of this money came from the private enterprise sector in return for favors, like government contracts, which Farias was able to obtain by using his influence with the Collor administration.
The Military and Democratization in El Salvador
Authors: Walter Knut , Williams Philip J.
Published: March 2007

The recent coups and attempted coups in Haiti, Venezuela, and Peru serve as a sobering reminder of the military's central role in the political life of Latin America. Earlier assessments of the prospects for democratic consolidation now seem overly optimistic in light of these events. At a minimum, they point up the need to focus on the role of the military during transitions from authoritarianism and the consolidation of democratic regimes. As Stepan has suggested, prolonged military rule can leave important legacies which serve as powerful obstacles to democratic consolidation (Stepan, 1988: xi-xii). Understanding these legacies and the problems they present is essential in developing strategies aimed at democratizing civil-military relations.

This is no less true in El Salvador, where the prospects for democratization are closely linked to the future of the country's armed forces.
Brazil's Foreign Policy Under Collor
Authors: de Cruz Junior Ademar Seabra , Cavalcante Antonio Ricardo F. , Pedone Luiz
Published: March 2007

The low-profile foreign policy of the Fernando Collor de Mello government remained faithful to the major outlines which had guided Brazilian diplomacy for the last thirty years. In fact, during the 1990-91 period, the administration reaffirmed — in both actions and words —its commitment to such basic principles of Brazilian policy as national sovereignty, socio-economic development, international cooperation, multilateralism, universalism, and devotion to peace.

In addition the government continued to pursue the twin goals of technological progress and regional integration, both tenets of Brazilian foreign policy since the 1950s which continued to rank high on the executive agenda in 1990-91.

In fact, some of the above-named principles had become so established as national articles of faith that they were incorporated into the Federal Constitution of October 1988.
Soviet Policy toward Latin America: Time for Renewal
Authors: Bustamante Fernando
Published: March 2007

Among the Many Changes initiated in the Soviet Union, President Gorbachev has not left untouched its policy towards the Third World. By the end of 1986, he had outlined a position radically different from that of his predecessors.

What characteristics distinguish this new face which Moscow intends to turn to the less developed countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America?

In the first place, the Soviet Union places strong emphasis on avoiding any more direct military obligations, such as those assumed in Angola, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Mozambique, Ethiopia, and others in the past. The Soviet leadership has concluded that those obligations of “international solidarity,” far from representing gains and successes for the Kremlin, have represented a double loss.
The Aftermath of Intervention: Panama 1990
Authors: Millett Richard L.
Published: March 2007

It was hardly surprising that the December 1989 US intervention in Panama received strong public support. General Manuel Antonio Noriega had replaced Muammar al Qadaffi and the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as the foreign leader the US public most loved to hate. In addition, the Bush administration was quickly able to proclaim its intervention in Panama a virtually unqualified success, confidently asserting that the stated goals of protecting US lives, capturing General Manuel Antonio Noreiga and sending him to the United States for trial, defending the Panama Canal Treaties, and “restoring democracy” to Panama had all been met (Christian Science Monitor, 1990). The US military is involved in helping form the new “Panamanian Public Force” (PPF) to replace General Noriega's Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) and US advisors are working to rebuild the economy.
The Belize Triangle: Relations with Britain, Guatemala and the United States
Authors: Payne Anthony J.
Published: March 2007

Within the international politics of the Caribbean Basin attention is only rarely paid to the position of Belize. This neglect is the more remarkable since Belize epitomizes — more precisely than any other territory of the region — the characteristic geopolitical problem of the Caribbean caught, as it were, uneasily between the United States, Latin America and Europe. Yet, despite being threatened by the Guatemalan claim to sovereignty over its territory, which delayed its independence until 1981, Belize has skillfully taken advantage of its British colonial past to carve out for itself a distinctive geopolitical space in Central America and the Caribbean. This has allowed it not only to remain relatively undisturbed by the conflicts which have riven the other states of the Central American isthmus, but also to display a commitment to democratic change strong enough to sustain the electoral defeat — in December 1984 — of a regime which had held power in the country for more than thirty years, as well as the defeat of its successor — in September 1989 — after just one term in office.
The Political Impact of Free Trade on Mexico
Authors: Smith Peter H.
Published: March 2007

the rule of free trade, taken by itself, is no longer able to govern international relations … Freedom of trade is fair only if it is subject to the demands of social justice.

Pope Paul VIPopulorum Progressio

Current Debates over North American free trade focus almost exclusively on economic issues. Advocates claim that a trilateral agreement will provide impetus for sustained, long-term economic growth in Canada, Mexico, and the United States — and that it will provide a regional counterweight to the European Community (EC) and to Japan. Critics in the United States claim that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will encourage the export of US investment and employment to Mexico. Canadians fear accelerated debilitation of vulnerable sectors of the national economy, from natural gas to automobile parts. Skeptics in Mexico predict that NAFTA will perpetuate low wages for the Mexican working class and transform the entire country into a massive maquiladora.
Democratic Stability and Its Limits: An Analysis of Chile's 1993 Elections
Authors: Munck Gerardo L.
Published: March 2007

Once again, Chile stands out within the Latin American region. In the early 1970s, Salvador Allende's brand of socialism attracted worldwide attention and captured the imagination of the international Left. In the years thereafter, Pinochet's authoritarianism set the pace for a global resurgence of the new Right. Finally, in just the last few years, Chile has become a symbol of a new sort, rapidly establishing itself as a democratic success story. Chile's democratic progress becomes especially evident when viewed alongside the large set of Latin American countries that have democratized since the late 1970s. Indeed, an analysis of the last presidential and congressional elections in Chile (11 December 1993) indicates that it has undoubtedly made greater strides toward democratic consolidation than any other country in Latin America — all the more striking when one considers that its transition from authoritarian rule was concluded only as recently as 1990.
The Mexican Financial Crisis: Genesis, Impact, and Implications
Authors: Springer Gary L. , Molina Jorge L.
Published: March 2007

The financial problems faced by Mexico since late December 1994 are the result of a balance of payments crisis which developed earlier during the year when a number of economic and political developments came together to disrupt its financing plans. A combination of events — an increase in US interest rates, political ferment and presidential elections in Mexico, plus capital flight from Mexico which was prompted, in turn, by lax monetary policy during the last weeks of the Salinas administration — all helped contribute to, and culminated in, a collapse of the peso at the end of 1994. As a result, the incoming administration of President Ernesto Zedillo found itself in the position of having to devalue the peso, a move that sparked severe economic repercussions, including a crisis of confidence that spread beyond Mexico to affect other emerging markets as well.
Economic Development, Restructuring and the Illicit Drug Sector in Bolivia and Peru: Current Policies
Authors: Alvarez Elena H.
Published: March 2007

Economic development under a capitalist market economy is usually not a smooth process. In addition, restructuring the economy with the aim of promoting a freer market economy often entails high economic costs as well. This article has two goals: (1) it will outline the inter-relationship between the restructuring of the economy now taking place in both Bolivia and Peru and how this process is affected by the illicit coca drug sector in each of those countries; and (2) it will discuss the domestic anti-drug policies in each and how, or to what extent, these are affected by the anti-drug policies of the United States. On the one hand, the illegal drug industry may have served to ameliorate the costs of restructuring; at the same time, it may also have made economic adjustment somewhat more difficult.
Will Latin America Now Put a Stop to “Stop-and-Go”?
Authors: Ranis Gustav
Published: March 2007

This paper raises the question whether the current wave of macro-economic and structural reforms in latin America should be viewed as a decisive change in the continent's long-term development strategy or as part of but another stop-and-go cycle, for which the continent has been known in the past. While no unambiguous answer is provided, the paper outlines what is still needed in the way of persistent micro-economic policy change if obstacles of political economy, including an abundance of natural resources and relatively easy access to foreign capital, are to be overcome.
Poverty and Inequality in Latin America: A Neostructural Perspective
Authors: Ramos Joseph R.
Published: March 2007

Two facts stand out from even the most cursory inspection of income distribution data in Latin America. First, income is highly concentrated, making the region one of the most unequal in the world. Second, despite the fact that the region has now reached an intermediate position among the world's nations in terms of per capita income (some US$2,000 per year on average), a level which, by historical standards, would presuppose a more equitable distribution of income, this has not happened. In fact, the distribution of income in Latin America has become, if anything, more highly skewed than ever. The question then is: why is this so? The explanation forms the heart of this paper. Precisely because neither of these statements would hold if the countries to which they apply were either “average” or “well-behaved,” the explanation thatfollows assumesa “neostructuralist perspective” (Lustig, 1991) — i.e., one that ascribes causality to a number of regional charactristics related to its history and the interaction among its factor, cultural, and institutional endowments.
Poverty and Inequality in Latin America: Mesoeconomic Dimensions of Justice and Entitlements
Authors: Mamalakis Markos J.
Published: March 2007

According to the present paper, absolute poverty and relative inequality have persisted in Latin America as a result of mutually reinforcing, and unfair, patterns of distribution of final private, broad, and total consumption and income. Furthermore, it is argued that the prevailing pattern, characterized by a vicious circle of distributive injustice in both consumption and income (production), can be broken only by mesoeconomic, sectoral constitutions and, thus, by public policies that uphold the principles of justice, freedom, and equality — on both the consumption and income (production) sides.
The New Clinton Administration and the Caribbean: Trade, Security and Regional Politics
Authors: Bryan Anthony T.
Published: March 2007

Faced with rapid changes in the global system, most Caribbean countries may seem to be doing everything right. The English-speaking Caribbean countries, in particular, have been exemplary in their practice of democracy and political stability. Others, such as Suriname and Haiti, are nurturing new democratic regimes. Economically, the region has followed the neoliberal reform rule book and implemented policies mandated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. They have trimmed fiscal deficits, privatized state-owned commercial enterprises that were losing money, and liberalized their trading regimes. These measures have been implemented either by reform-minded governments or governments which have seen no alternative. Only Cuba continues to labor under a discredited, ideological model that does not encourage democracy, while its economy mirrors some version of “á la cartecapitalism” in the face of an accelerated US embargo.
North-South Polarity in Inter-American Environmental Affairs
Authors: Sanderson Steven
Published: March 2007

Since the conclusion of the Earth Summit - or, more formally, the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) - in 1992, the world's political leaders have had to deal with an ambitious environmental agenda whose mission is nothing short of saving the biosphere, a spectacular quest that carries an equally impressive price tag. The acceleration of a global environmental agenda over the first part of the 1990s, combined with the accumulated commitments of earlier years - of which the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES), the Ivory Ban, and the Montreal Protocol, are among the most prominent - and the high profile assigned to the environment by the Clinton administration, mean that the December 1994 Hemispheric Summit in Miami will have the opportunity (and the challenge) to set a new environmental agenda.
La Ganadería Americana: Una Propuesta Para la Historia Comparativa
Authors: Machado Manuel A.
Published: March 2007

Cuando Herbert Eugene Bolton, en 1932, enunció su tesis sobre la integración histórica de los países americanos despertó gran conmoción entre los historiadores sobre la validez de su tesis. Lo que propuso, simplemente, era que existían raíces comunes en todos los países americanos y que éstos necesitaban un estudio integrado para comprender los puntos complejos de dicha historia y darle una perspectiva continental. No cabe duda que a partir de 1932 varios historiadores han corregido ciertos aspectos de su tesis, pero a la vez, sigue íntegra como base para empezar un estudio económico y social de la ganadería americana. El problema con la tesis de Bolton aparece durante el período después de la independencia de los varios países y a la vez con la unión continua del Canadá con el Imperio Británico. He aquí donde muchos historiadores lo critican sin considerar que casi todos los países tomaron sus inspiraciones intelectuales de Europa y también de los Estados Unidos.
Juan M. Thome, Argentine Astronomer from the Quaker State
Authors: Hodge John E.
Published: March 2007

The founding of the Argentine National Observatory and much of its later development were the results of unusual inter-American cooperation. In 1870 the noted American astronomer Benjamin Apthorp Gould had realized his dream of inaugurating a major observatory in Argentina in order to extend to the Southern Hemisphere the kind of detailed examination of the stars already undertaken by the great observatories of the Northern Hemisphere. After a few false starts Gould was able to begin work in Córdoba thanks to the enthusiasm of President Domingo F. Sarmiento and the wholehearted support of his minister of public instruction, Nicolás Avellaneda. The Argentine government appropriated funds for the construction of an observatory and the purchase of a modest but adequate inventory of instruments.
The Contribution of Capistrano de Abreu to Brazilian Historiography
Authors: Fringer Katherine
Published: March 2007

João Capistrano de Abreu changed the course of Brazilian historiography. Unlike previous historians who had oriented their studies toward colonial history as an expression of Brazil's connections with European culture, he pointed to the socioeconomic and psychological aspects of the evolution of the Brazilian interior as the most significant part of Brazilian history. By reinterpreting familiar sources and uncovering new material, he reconstructed the Brazilian colonial experience from a totally original point of view. Dating from the publication of his two major works, Os Caminhos Amigos e o Povoamento do Brasil (1889) and Capítulos de História Colonial (1907), the perspectives of historiography in Brazil have altered, and historians have reoriented their studies to emphasize the development of Brazil as an independent nation rather than as an appendage of Portugal.
Patronage, Politics, and the Articulation of Local Community and National Society in Pre-1968 Brazil
Authors: Greenfield Sidney M.
Published: March 2007

The following pages examine the relationship between the transactions that constitute systems of patronage and clientage and politics as it operated in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais in the mid-1960s. The objective will be to show how the asymmetrical exchanges of patronage and the political-electoral system served to articulate local communities with the institutional systems of the larger society.

The data and analysis will be presented through an examination of the activities of individuals in two small municίpio communities in the Zona da Mata of the State of Minas Gerais during the critical election campaign for governor in the year 1965. By examining some of the activities of a local doctor and a lawyer involved in politics, we shall be able to make explicit the transactional process by means of which segments of local communities in the region were articulated, through the political-electoral process, to the state and national level institutions of Brazilian society.
Political Attitudes of Mexican Women: Support for the Political System among a Newly Enfranchised Group
Authors: Blough William J.
Published: March 2007

Any time a political system has to induct a formerly excluded group into the political process, there is apt to be some uncertainty about what the consequences will be. This has been true in the United States on several occasions. When the Nineteenth Amendment was under discussion, there was considerable interest in what effect the feminine vote would have. When Southern blacks began to vote in large numbers in the 1960s, politicians and scholars wondered what the consequences would be. In 1971, with the ratification of the Twenty-Sixth Amendment, the impact of the youth vote is being debated, even though we have twenty years of sophisticated behavioral research to guide our speculation.

In the United States, the political process is basically stable and institutionalized. But many countries are not so fortunate, particularly those that are moving rapidly from a traditional to a modern style.
Mexico's Party Deputy System: The First Decade
Authors: Mabry Donald J.
Published: March 2007

Mexico's party deputy system, created in 1963, has just completed its first decade of existence; enough experience has now been accumulated to evaluate its impact on the Mexican political system. This essay will examine the system in its following aspects: origins, implementation, amendments, beneficiaries, and effects.

Since 1929 the government party (currently called PRI, Partido Revolucionario Institucional, but having existed under other names) has so completely dominated the electoral scene at the national level that only in the Chamber of Deputies has the opposition been able to take some electoral posts. Even in the Chamber, opposition groups have only been able to acquire a few seats by winning a majority of votes (Table l). PRI's success has been attributed to its superior organization, appeal, finances, and relationship with the government. The high point of majority-elected opposition in the Chamber came in 1952 when nine opposition deputies represented 5.5 percent of the Chamber. Between 1946 and 1964, no opposition party, of whatever ideological stripe, achieved more than six seats in the Chamber (3.7 percent).
Units of One and The Visible Event: Reflections Based upon the Historiography of New Spain
Authors: Lamb Ursula
Published: March 2007

On the occasion of a meeting of Mexican and United States historians a discussion was scheduled to deal with the historiography of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of New Spain. For the purposes of this paper, the period will be extended to the 1760s or about the time when the Bourbon reforms became effective. Although the following reflections were prompted by this topic and the illustrations are drawn from that period and place, the frame of reference is largely incidental to the discussion of a problem which is typical of all narrative history. New Spain serves here only as a convenient base to supply a structure to the inquiry and to give a convenient support of detail.