bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Operation Condor: Mexico's Antidrug Campaign Enters a New Era
Authors: Craig Richard
Published: March 2007

In recent years Mexico has demonstrated the capacity to cultivate, process, ship, and transship vast quantities of illegal narcotic drugs. Such activity has traditionally been geared to the realities of domestic poverty, enormous profit, and American demand. Mexican marijuana dominated the U.S. market until quite recently. More importantly from the American viewpoint were the tons of Mexican heroin which saturated U.S. cities in the mid-1970s. Furthermore, Mexico is still the source of vast quantities of psychotropics and an increasingly popular conduit for South American cocaine.

According to Craig (1978), U.S. officials long sought to convince their Mexican counterparts that the key to any effective antidrug program lay in eliminating the illicit product at the source. Until such time that herbicides were applied on a massive scale against marijuana and opium poppies, they argued, the annual Mexican campaign would prove an exercise in futility.
Interstate Conflict Behavior and Regional Potential for Conflict in Latin America
Authors: Grabendorff Wolf
Published: March 2007

The growing importance of third world countries in the international system brings their potential for conflict and cooperation to the forefront. Given the fact that the East-West conflict tends to intensify the North-South conflict, a general tendency toward more warlike antagonisms is becoming evident within the Third World. In view of this trend, Latin America as a region becomes particularly interesting; conditions here have always led to conflict situations between the various countries, but specific historical factors seem to have kept these conflicts from erupting to the same extent that they have in other regions of the Third World.

Conflicts between two states do not suddenly occur. Their virulence rather gradually develops from a mixture of border conflicts, historical animosities, economic disputes, differences in political systems, arms races, and certainly, the influence of the big powers.
Intraregional Trade of the Least-Developed-Members of Latin American Integration Systems
Authors: Thoumi Francisco E.
Published: March 2007

Differences in the degree of economic development and diversification among members of economic integration systems could easily create obstacles to economic integration, as they tend to have an impact on the distribution of costs and benefits of economic integration processes.

There are several reasons why the Least Developed Members (LDMs) within integration movements in Latin America are likely to be losers in the integration processes taking place within the region. First, the economies of these countries are less diversified than those of the more advanced countries. The LDMs have manufacturing sectors which are not well developed and which are concentrated in productive branches which process natural resources. When these countries join an integration movement with countries with more advanced and diversified manufacturing sectors, they would tend to import manufactured goods which are more protected than the natural-resource-based goods which they are likely to export.
Central America: Monetary Policy and Economic Growth
Authors: Wallich Henry C.
Published: March 2007

Central America has always seemed to me a particularly fruitful object of study, of economic and particularly monetary affairs, because of the existence of six countries of not too different size and economic structure. This situation provides an opportunity for assessing the workings of certain economic principles.

In economic terms, the countries of Central America are very small units. For such units, economics can provide a few analytical propositions that seem prima facie plausible. One is that such economies need not indefinitely specialize in exports of primary products, but if they diversity and industrialize their economies, it must be for export. Industrialization for the domestic market is unlikely to permit sufficient economies of scale. In this regard, the Central American countries have industrialized much less than the small republics in the Far East, and accordingly have not enjoyed as rapid a rate of economic growth.
Development Planning and the Public Enterprise: The Case of Pemex
Authors: Street James H.
Published: March 2007

Public enterprise plays a key role in the economic development process in Latin America, both because of the region's cultural heritage, which has led people to look to central authority for leadership in promoting economic growth, and because of the accelerated pace of recent cataclysmic events to which only governments have had the power to respond.

Currently, Latin America is undergoing its worst economic setback in half a century, in which eight newly-elected democratic governments are struggling to regain control over their destinies. These governments face unprecedented planning and administrative problems as they move from the crisis-management phase of economic austerity programs to one of resumed growth. A central concern of these governments is, and will continue to be, the successful operations of major parastatal enterprises.
Bankers Versus Diplomats: The Debate Over Mexican Insolvency
Authors: Bodayla Stephen D.
Published: March 2007

The question of state insolvency has been a recurring problem in modern history. Defaults have plagued investors and damaged many nations' credit on international money markets. Other nations have suffered due to investor anxieties resulting from defaults by their neighbors. Politicians, diplomats, financiers, and investors have differed greatly in their proposed solutions to the problems of national fiscal failure. The experience of Mexico in its postrevolutionary era is a classic example of the myriad problems faced by those who assist in the financial rehabilitation of the distressed nation, as well as by those who seek to protect investors.

The first half-century after Mexico won its independence was characterized by almost constant domestic strife, frequently humiliating international relations, and a tendency toward fiscal irresponsibility. It was not until Porfirio Díaz seized the presidency from Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada in 1876 that Mexico experienced a degree of domestic tranquility which earned it the tolerance begrudgingly granted by powerful states to their weaker but stable brethren.
A Guatemalan Nightmare: Levels of Political Violence, 1966-1972
Authors: Booth John A.
Published: March 2007

Since the late sixties, Guatemalans have murdered each other at an astonishing rate. This wave of politically related terrorism and assassinations began to grow rapidly in 1966 and has continued, fluctuating in intensity, to the present. In 1967, for instance, incidents of violence averaged 70 per month, causing some 30 monthly deaths; in 1971 the figures had risen 60%. This article describes the historical antecedents of this conflict, its development as right-wing terrorists sought to counterbalance leftist guerrilla insurgency and the subsequent evolution of violence. Seeking an explanation for why violence was greater in some areas than in others, the essay examines two structural theories which suggest that conflict may be most intense where the strength of contending political parties is most nearly equal and where socioeconomic change is greatest.
Technology and Armed Conflict in Central America
Authors: McDonald Ronald H. , Tamrowski Nina
Published: March 2007

Whether One Agrees or disagrees with the objectives of a revolution, the experience stimulates emotions from those who participate and those who observe. There have been many experiences which most would regard as revolutionary: the French revolution, the revolution for independence of the United States, the Mexican revolution, the Russian revolution, the Chinese revolution, as well as perhaps those of Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Visions of people rising up against an outworn, impotent, or despotic government accompany our concept of revolution, as do visions of militia soldiers with rifles on their backs and ammunition strapped across their chests.
From Medellín to Puebla: Notes for Reflection
Authors: Poblete Renato
Published: March 2007

Ten years ago the Latin American Catholic Bishops held their Second General Conference in Medellín, Colombia. The conference had a great influence not only within the Catholic Church, but also on the formation of socioeconomic and political issues in Latin American countries. At the time of this writing, we are in the midst of preparations for the Third General Conference taking place in Puebla, Mexico, in October 1978. Therefore, this seems a good opportunity to reflect on the general processes of change in the Church leading to Puebla and their implications for the future.
Dependency and Cliency in Latin America
Authors: Gasiorowski Mark J.
Published: March 2007

Dependency Theory has become a major paradigm for understanding Latin American politics. Based on the premises that the study of politics must begin with analysis of underlying socio-economic structures, and that these structures cannot be understood without considering a country's role in the world economy, dependency theory provides a cogent analytical framework that has been upheld in numerous empirical studies. The model of politics presented by dependency theorists is a bleak one: because economic dependence polarizes society between a small class of wealthy elites and a large mass of impoverished workers and peasants, politics in dependent societies is reduced, essentially, to class struggle between these highly mismatched forces. Except under unusual circumstances, authoritarianism is the inevitable result.
Early Peronism and the Post-Liberal Argentine State
Authors: Ranis Peter
Published: March 2007

Perón and the Peronista party and movement have been interesting from at least two crucially important perspectives: first, Perón's ability to keep Argentina hostage for three decades in his roles as twice-elected “lider,” as exiled “caudillo,” and president once more (I say “hostage” in the sense that he remained the pivotal political force in all the crucial coalition bargains struck among the major power contenders since 1943); second, his ability to forge an intellectual and political clientele that spanned several generations and encompassed various, but unique, ideological views. Perón had the leadership capability not only of touching many people but also of striking a common political resonance among vastly differing sets of values.
The State, Elite, and Export in Nineteenth Century Peru: Toward an Alternative Reinterpretation of Political Change
Authors: Gorman Stephen M.
Published: March 2007

In a recent reinterpretation of political change in Peru between independence and World War I, Berg and Weaver (1978) suggest that the rise of guano export beginning in the 1840s led to important changes in socioeconomic relations within the country. In consequence, a centralized and powerful state emerged which asserted its authority over the formerly dominant provincial elites. On this point, Berg and Weaver's analysis is not inconsistent with existing literature on the period (Basadre, 1963; Pike, 1967; Bonilla, 1974). But their argument that by retaining control over guano export the state acquired the financial resources with which to establish its independence from newly emerging urban elites does not seem completely valid.
The Politics of Adjustment: Labor and the Venezuelan Debt Crisis
Authors: McCoy Jennifer L.
Published: March 2007

In mid-1985, the US Embassy in Caracas stated that “Venezuela appears to have successfully coped with its financial crisis” (US Embassy, 1985). In January 1986, the Wall Street Journal announced that

Venezuela will become the first country in Latin America to sign a debt-refinancing agreement without mediation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Its success stands in stark contrast to the situation in another oil-rich nation, Mexico, where the ruling political party has seemed more interested in using the oil wealth to perpetuate the party's power than to secure the country's independence from the IMF (WSJ, 1986).
Current Dynamics and Future Prospects of Brazil's Relations with Latin America: Toward a Pattern of Bilateral Cooperation
Authors: Selcher Wayne A.
Published: March 2007

Socio-Economic or General Cultural Similarities between Brazil and the rest of Latin America would seem sufficient to support similarities of interests and close cooperative relationships. Yet Brazil's Lusophone culture, the immensity of the country, the geographical distance of much of its population from Spanish American population centers, and middle and upper class fascination for things American or European led instead to a sense of separateness and distinctness which impeded serious Brazilian selfidentification, beyond rhetoric, as a Latin American nation despite its geographical location. Thus the question of how Brazil should relate to the rest of Latin America has been a topic of domestic and continental debate, with increasingly practical consequences as the South American development process continues. The recent shift toward more intense, collaborative relations, in particular, invites analysis of current trends and speculation on possible outcomes.
Canada Acts on Free Trade
Authors: Weintraub Sidney
Published: March 2007

Prime Minister Brian Mulroney requested the opening of trade talks with the United States on September 26,1985. He did not use the words “free trade,” but that was the gist of the request. He explicitly rejected a common market or a customs union and implicitly dismissed the sectoral free-trade approach. The US administration responded positively and requested permission from the Congress to open negotiations. Negotiating teams have been appointed and discussions are taking place. All the actors noted that the negotiations will be difficult and may last several years. After more than a decade of avoiding the issue, Canada has acted. The context is complex because of growing US protectionism, including concern over certain imports from Canada, especially lumber. Fear of this protectionism was one reason for the Canadian decision. Another was concern about the future of Canada's economy. The Canadian economy has performed poorly for much of the past ten years.
Industrial Elites in Mexico: Political Ideology and Influence
Authors: Story Dale
Published: March 2007

The socioeconomic behavior and belief systems of industrial elites in Latin America have received considerable attention from social scientists, but research on the political ideology and activities of these important groups has been surprisingly limited. The socioeconomic literature has focused on the development or underdevelopment of entrepreneurial attitudes and values among Latin American industrialists. The major conclusions, documented by considerable quantitative research, are that industrial entrepreneurship in Latin America has been inhibited by international and domestic structural factors. It is accepted that national industrial elites in general tend to resist economic change and innovation, prefer the maintenance of traditional values such as family ownership, paternalistic labor relations, and laborintensive, low-technology means of production. National industrial elites are furthermore dominated by "internationalized" entrepreneurs and direct state investment.
The Commonwealth Caribbean in the New World Order: Between Europe and North America?
Authors: Payne Anthony J. , Sutton Paul K.
Published: March 2007

The Supposed emergence of a New World Order has quickly become one of the cliches of the 1990s. First enunciated by President Bush in the context of US attempts to mobilize international support for the Gulf War, the phrase has already been defined and redefined in countless journalistic analyses of recent events in Eastern Europe, the Gulf itself and lately of course the Soviet Union. This is not the place to add directly to that debate. It is obvious that the world order of the 1990s is very different from the post-1945 order. Briefly expressed, it is constituted by the interplay between, on the one hand, a new but still unequal diffusion of power between the core states of the world (the United States, the European Community [EC], and Japan) and, on the other, a new concentration of power in the hands of international capital.
European Community Relations With Latin America
Authors: Grabendorff Wolf
Published: March 2007

Five Years after the lapse that occurred in European-Latin American relations as a result of the Malvinas/Falklands conflict (Rhein, 1983; Bodemer, 1985), and two years after the entry of Spain and Portugal into the European Community (CE), it would appear appropriate to review the relations between the European Community and Latin America. At the suggestion of the president of the Spanish government, Felipe González, who, among European heads of state, not only has a strong personal interest in Latin America, but also displays the most differentiated knowledge of the region, the European Council decided, in 1986 at The Hague (La Vanguardia, 1986), to charge the Commission of the European Community to come up with new guidelines regarding EC relations with Latin America.
The Politics of NAFTA in Mexico
Authors: Poitras Guy , Robertson Raymond
Published: March 2007

For much of the twentieth century, Third World economies that were based upon import-substitution industrialization (ISI) were dominated by authoritarian regimes. When economic liberalization began to overtake many of these countries, however, as happened in recent years, the question arose as to whether authoritarian rule had not become anachronistic in mediating the relations between state and economy in the Third World.

The experience of Mexico strongly suggests that authoritarian rule remains a potent force in this era of economic change. Although Mexico's authoritarian government continued to retain power even in the presence of a liberal economic agenda, adopted during the early 1990s, it did find it expedient to make some adaptations in the system. The most significant of these, by far, was to make alterations in the ruling coalition that had governed the country since the early 1930s, rather than to embark upon a transition to democracy. These changes represented the regime's most critical initiative in attempting to meet, if not reconcile, the conflicting claims of authoritarianism on the one hand with the demands of economic liberalization on the other.
De Facto Demilitarization: Budget-Driven Downsizing in Latin America
Authors: Franko Patrice
Published: March 2007

The international financial community has recently joined the arms control community in scrutinizing the relationship between military spending and economic growth. The Independent Group on Financial Flows to Developing Countries, headed by Helmut Schmidt, recommended (inFacing One World) that priority in financial assistance be given to countries that spend less than 2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on security (The Economist, 1991a: 61). Robert McNamara, past president of the World Bank as well as a former US Secretary of Defense, supported this proposal in his speech before the World Bank Annual Conference on Development Economics (April 1991), recommending that military expenditures, as a percentage of GDP, be reduced by 50%. Nicole Ball, inPressing for Peace: Can Aid Induce Reform?, argues cogently for conditioning international assistance on the initiation, or acceleration, of reforms in defense spending in the developing world (Ball, 1992).
The Rio Group: Decline or Consolidation of the Latin American Concertación Policy
Authors: Yopo H. Boris
Published: March 2007

At the end of 1986, when Contadora and its Support Group reduced their presence in Central America, their member countries decided to create a permanent organism for consultation and agreement, thus re-orienting and extending their working agenda, which had originally been limited to the issues of Central American policy and, in the economic area (through the Cartagena Group), to the problem of external debt. Several factors prompted them to take this course. First, all had found the experiment in concertación policymaking to be valuable and were reluctant to lose the experience and momentum acquired over the years. Second, it was apparent that changing circumstances had altered their position in resolving the Central America crisis, so that the Contadora and Support Groups found themselves playing only a secondary role in the negotiations and becoming increasingly marginalized. Furthermore, some countries felt that the excessive emphasis on the Central American problem had circumscribed the ability of the Group to focus on other issues which, as tensions eased in Central America, were gaining priority on the foreign policy agendas of their respective governments.
Political Variables and Governmental Decentralization in Peru, 1949-1988
Authors: Schmidt Gregory D.
Published: March 2007

Although decentralization is probably the institutional reform most frequently proposed for Third World countries, it has proven to be an elusive topic for both practitioners and analysts of development. Studies of centralization and decentralization are overwhelmingly descriptive, formalistic, or episodic. This article attempts to improve our understanding of how macro-political factors affect the adoption and implementation of decentralization policies in Latin America.
After San Antonio
Authors: Bagley Bruce Michael
Published: March 2007

In an Effort to extend and accelerate regional cooperation and coordination in the “War on Drugs” in the Western Hemisphere, President George Bush hosted a widelypublicized, regional, anti-drug presidential summit in San Antonio (Texas) on 26-27 February 1992. This cumbre was conceived as an expanded sequel to the first “Andean” drug summit held in Cartagena (Colombia) on 15 February 1990. In addition to the original four-country participants in Cartagena I — the United States, Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia — Ecuador, Venezuela, and Mexico attended Cartagena II as well.
Why The Illegal Psychoactive Drugs Industry Grew In Colombia
Authors: Thoumi Francisco E.
Published: March 2007

The Growth of the illegal, psychoactive drug industry has had a dramatic impact on Colombia. Most studies of the financial effects of this industry — mainly cocaine and its by products, but extending also to marijuana, quaaludes, other psychoactive substances, and, more recently, heroin — have focussed upon trying to estimate its size and determining its impact on the national economy. On the whole, the conclusion of most observers has been that its effects on the latter have been more negative that positive (Kalmanovitz, 1989; Reyes, 1990; Sarmiento, 1990; Urrutia, 1990; Thoumi, 1987).
Quest for Integrity: The Mexican-US Drug Issue in the 1980s
Authors: Reuter Peter , Ronfeldt David
Published: March 2007

The Flow of drugs from Mexico to the United States has been a source of trouble in US-Mexican relations for at least two decades. The dominant view in Mexico is that the problem arises from the inability of the United States to control its domestic demand for heroin, cocaine, and marijuana. The dominant US view has been that the Mexican government has failed to make effective efforts to control the supply of drugs. At times — in particular after the killing of Enrique Camarena, an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), in 1985 — US government anger at Mexico's alleged failure to maintain the integrity of its anti-drug efforts has been the dominant source of friction between the two nations.
Swedish Social Democracy in Central America: The Politics of Small State Solidarity
Authors: Nilsson Ann-Sofie
Published: March 2007

Few events have captured the imagination of progressive countries and parties worldwide as did the July 1979 Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua. Many of these parties became strong supporters of the Ortega government and were thus quite taken by surprise — as were most of those involved and engaged in Central American politics — by the outcome of the Nicaraguan election in February 1991. One such party, one of the most determined in its support of the Sandinistas, was Sweden's Social Democratic Party (Socialdemokratiska Arbetare Partlet or SAP), even though Sweden may not immediately come to mind as a natural participant in Central American politics. How can this intense Swedish Social Democratic involvement and partisanship be explained? How has Swedish support been translated into practical positions? Did the election victory of Violeta Chamorro, who was supported by the United States (a country whose Central American policy came under relendess fire by the SAP), signal the end of Swedish Social Democratic engagement in Nicaraguan politics?
Myths and Realities in US-Cuban Relations
Authors: Suchlicki Jaime
Published: March 2007

The deepening economic crisis in Cuba, the collapse of the Soviet empire, an aging leadership and revolution, and mild overtures from Fidel Castro toward the United States have, together, served to encourage those US observers who believe that the time for rapprochement with Cuba has come. In this line of reasoning, closer relations with Cuba, particularly in the economic field, will both moderate Castro's penchant for revolution and lead, eventually, to the advent of perestroika on that troubled island.

In the past, Castro has pursued a dual strategy in dealing with the United States. On the one hand, Havana has made rhetorical overtures designed to reduce tensions between the two countries.
Impact of Development on the Panama Canal Environment
Authors: Moreno Stanley Heckadon
Published: March 2007

The historical Chagres River Basin, which serves as the basin for the Panama Canal, extends some 3,260 kilometers in length and is not only the most important river basin in Panama but also one of the most strategic river basins in the world. Its two major lakes — Gatún and Alhajuela — function as reservoirs for the water needed to operate the inter-oceanic canal as well as to supply the water requirements of both Panamá City and Colón, urban concentrations that contain more than half the country's population.

Gatún Lake was created in 1913, when the Chagres River was closed off at its Atlantic outlet, while the Alhajuela was created in 1934 by damming up the Madden River in the high, mountainous part of the country.
The Security of Panama and the Canal: Now and for the Future
Authors: Manwaring Max G.
Published: March 2007

The old certainties of the Cold War, and the conventional attrition-type war implicit in it, have gone. In their place we now have a world of dangerous uncertainty and ambiguity in which old concepts of security are no longer relevant. The present security and future of Panama and the Panama Canal after the year 2000 is a case in point.

This article will take a look at the issue of Canal security within the context of the contemporary “new world disorder” and develop the argument for a new approach to deal with current and future challenges to Panamanian and international security interests.

The bottom line is this: the security of Panama and the Panama Canal — or any other point of strategic interest, now and for the future — will not depend so much on conventional military strategies as it will depend on international and domestic policies that provide for political stability, economic progress, and social justice.
The US State Department's Narcotics Control Policy in the Americas
Authors: van Wert James M.
Published: March 2007

Governments, Like People, Function in ways that enhance their perceived self-interest. Effective narcotics control is in the best interest of the United States for at least three reasons.

First, reducing the available supply of illicit narcotics (potentially) can reduce the incidence and prevalence of abuse by US citizens. For example, by making drugs relatively hard to find and expensive to use, supply-reduction efforts might successfully discourage potential users from experimenting with drugs and risking future chronic, intensive involvement. Moreover, it can be argued that control measures may be an important deterrent in motivating current drug users to seek treatment and find gainful employment (Moore, 1988).

Second, reducing the supply of illicit narcotics may reduce the level of organized crime and lawlessness in the United States. An effective supply reduction program presumably can bring success in stopping trafficking organizations from supplying illegal goods and services; seizing their ill-gotten wealth; punishing their acts; prosecuting them for corrupt practices; and weakening or eliminating these groups as threatening criminal enterprises.
The Drug War: Going After Supply—A commentary
Authors: Sharpe Kenneth E.
Published: March 2007

The US Policymakers Working on the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act have clearly understood that going after the suppliers of narcotics is only part of the war on drugs; until US domestic demand is diminished, it will be difficult to bring this lucrative and illicit multinational business under control. There is, however, general agreement that something must be done about supply and that interdiction of drug shipments to the United States is only one means. The drug supply war's major focus is the growing, production, and shipment of narcotics within the Third World countries who are the suppliers, particularly in Latin America (Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia head the list).

Although there have been occasional attempts to “Americanize” anti-drug operations in Latin America (with the US government assuming drug enforcement functions as it did in Bolivia with Operation Blast Furnace in 1986), the major US option is to support the build-up of the Latin American governments' own drug-fighting capabilities by supplying funds, training, and equipment.
The Single European Act: A Caricom Perspective
Authors: Basdeo Sahadeo
Published: March 2007

Fully two and a half years before its advent, the year 1992 is progressively assuming an aura which is simultaneously hopeful and threatening, the end of one era and the beginning of another. The attitude which any individual country, or any group of countries adopts towards 1992 will, of course, be largely dependent upon the perspectives from which the events scheduled to take place in 1992 are viewed by the particular country or countries. Therefore it is apposite, if not essential, for those of us in the Caribbean to understand fully the meaning and implications of 1992 and, armed with such understanding, to fashion appropriate responses to the challenges which 1992 will present throughout the rest of this century and into the next.
Democratic Consolidation and Military Professionalism: Argentina in the 1980s
Authors: Norden Deborah L.
Published: March 2007

The 1980s Witnessed a series of halting, tenuous but, nonetheless, widely—hailed transitions from military regimes to constitutional democracies throughout South America. Yet, despite the initial optimism, the political newcomers faced formidable tasks. Not only had memories of democratic rule and practices grown dim in the years of disuse, but, with few exceptions, new governments found themselves threatened by a deteriorating economy with bleak prospects for the future. Equally — perhaps even more — threatening was the fact that though the military regimes may have relinquished their position, they had not necessarily relinquished their power, which raised the possibility that their civilian successors might not be able to stay in office long enough to confront their multifarious problems.

In Argentina, the risk of a return to military rule was perhaps even greater than in some of its neighbors as the country had experienced a mosaic of alternating military and civilian governments ever since 1930.
The Curious Case of Cuba in American Foreign Policy
Authors: Bernell David
Published: March 2007

The bitter rivalry between the United States and Cuba has occupied a position as one of the principal political disputes in the Western Hemisphere for the past 35 years. Since the rise of Fidel Castro, the governments of these two countries have placed themselves on opposite sides of almost every major regional and global issue. They have long held vastly different ideas about what constitutes a good and just government, what kind of international behavior is legitimate, and the ends that foreign policy should serve. Moreover, they have not only harbored political differences but also maintained a very intense dislike of one another. The United States has attempted to sustain a picture of Cuba as an international outlaw, the source of much turmoil, crisis, and mischief in the world. Adding a personal dimension to the attacks, the United States has also sought to demonize Castro, creating and continually portraying an image of him as the embodiment of evil.
“Protected Democracies” and Military Guardianship: Political Transitions in Latin America, 1978-1993
Authors: Loveman Brian
Published: March 2007

In 1979, over two-thirds of Latin America's people were living under military rule. By 1993, however, not a single military regime remained in Central or South America or the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Elected presidents (even if former generals, as in the case of Paraguay's first post-Stroessner government) and legislatures replaced military dictators and juntas. Foreign observers certified the “fairness” of elections in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Paraguay — even when outgoing military regimes permitted elections only after certain parties or candidates had been excluded from participation. Political parties and opponents of incumbent governments operated openly. Media censorship declined, and fewer cases of politically-motivated abuses of human rights were reported. “Democratization” seemed to be underway.
Toward a New Agenda for the Study of Religion in the Americas
Authors: Vásquez Manuel A.
Published: March 2007

Recent scholarly work on Latin American religion reflects the pluralism and fragmentation of both religion and civil society. What effect will religious practice at the local, “micro” level have on institutions and structures at the “macro” level-namely, the process of democratization? A deeper, simultaneously more foundational and more encompassing definition of democratic politics might be involved. In an increasingly global context, the study of religion and social change in Latin America and among U.S. Latinos needs to take a comparative, truly interamerican approach.
Rethinking Transnationalism: Reconstructing National Identities among Peruvian Catholics in New Jersey
Authors: Baía Larissa Ruiz
Published: March 2007

Transnationalism has made significant contributions to the study of immigration, but it has failed to recognize the importance of the multiethnic, multicultural context of host societies in the construction of immigrants’ identities. Two Peruvian Catholic religious brotherhoods in Paterson, New Jersey, illustrate individual and collective identities that transcend traditional notions of nationality through complex relations with Latino immigrants from other nations. Religion contributes to the articulation of a pan-Latino identity in the host society.
Incomplete Democracy in Central America: Polarization and Voter Turnout in Nicaragua and El Salvador
Authors: Barnes William A.
Published: March 2007

Until relatively recently, the small, poor countries of Central America were typically regarded as particularly poor candidates for democratization, despite a good measure of early and sustained success in Costa Rica (Ebel 1972, 1984; Rosenberg 1987). Nevertheless, over the years 1984–1996, “transitions to democracy” have been realized throughout the region. Given the extremely negative economic conditions of the 1980s and 1990s and the extent and historical intractability of political violence in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, these transitions via peace processes and “elections of the century” are remarkable achievements. Still, the fullness and consolidation of democracy remain very much up in the air, as is widely the case among countries that have experienced some degree of democratic transition during the last two decades (the so-called “third wave”). This situation raises the prospect of a historical era in which the poorer provinces of the globe are populated largely by “hybrid regimes” that are, at best, highly incomplete democracies.
Towards an Association of Caribbean States: Raising Some Awkward Questions
Authors: Serbín Andrés
Published: March 2007

Despite its manifest heterogeneity—linguistic, ethnic and political—and the significant imbalances between nations, the Caribbean Basin has gradually come to be viewed as a distinctive subregion within the Western Hemisphere. This process began during the Cold War when a number of extraregional actors with interests in the region considered it of strategic importance. As in previous phases of its history, the Caribbean found itself defined geopolitically, not only in terms of its potential for conflict but for its significance to external (North American or European) actors as well (Serbín, 1989 and 1991a).

More recently, changes on the international scene (the end of the Cold War and recognition of the increasing interdependence of the world economy) have begun to alter these old perceptions and ways of dealing with the region.
Poverty in Latin America: Back to the Abyss?
Authors: Helwege Ann
Published: March 2007

During the early 1990s, many Latin American countries enjoyed exceptionally strong economic growth, which has been credited with making possible substantial reductions in their rates of poverty. However, the collapse of capital flows to Latin America that began in 1995 portends a decline in the region's economic growth. If these countries now register growth rates that are only modestly positive (on the order of 1-3%), the question then arises as to whether this progress in overcoming poverty is bound to stall.

Despite new rhetoric to the contrary, Latin Americans have relied on growth almost exclusively as the way to overcome poverty. The distribution of income has changed very little over the past decade and, where change did occur, in many cases it has been for the worse.
Entrepreneurship, Microenterprise, and Public Policy in Cuba: Promotion, Containment, or Asphyxiation?
Authors: Ritter Archibald R. M.
Published: March 2007

And thus it was with many things that I’m not going to repeat: commerce, market-determined prices in certain sectors, for certain activities; a proliferation of self-employment.…

And these are the opinions we have had about these things over the years,
never imagining that we would have to learn to live with them for a period
of time that is very difficult to predict, and that depends on many factors.

Fidel Castro, 23 April 1997

During the approximately 30 years in which the exercise of entrepreneurship in a market-oriented setting was effectively prohibited, Cuba actually created a nation of entrepreneurs. Although the intention was to convert Cuba into a “school for socialism,” the reality is that Cuba has also been, in part, a school for market-oriented entrepreneurship. This, indeed, is one of the more surprising and significant paradoxes of the Cuban Revolution. The nature of Cuba’s planned economy itself has inadvertently promoted widespread entrepreneurial values, attitudes, behavior, and savoir-faire, as citizens of necessity have had to buy and sell, truck and barter, hustle and “network” to improvise solutions to their personal economic problems. While entrepreneurial talents have developed broadly among the population, their exercise, until 1993, was restricted to the important but low-level everyday tasks of sustenance and survival, often carried out in the shadow or underground economy or on the black market. But when the space available for entrepreneurial activity was increased with the liberalization of microenterprise beginning in September 1993, the expansion and diversification of microentrepreneurial activity was impressive.
US Defense Policy for the Western Hemisphere: New Wine in Old Bottles, Old Wine in New Bottles, or Something Completely Different?
Authors: Buchanan Paul G.
Published: March 2007

The modern US defense role in the Western Hemisphere is framed by the terms of the 1947 Rio Treaty, the 1948 Charter of the Organization of America States (OAS), and subsequent bilateral and multilateral protocols like that creating the 1982 Regional Security System (RSS) in the Eastern Caribbean. As components of a collective security system that was explicitly anti-communist in design and intention, the Rio Treaty and its successor documents were established to combat threats posed either by direct aggression on the part of the Soviet Union and/or of Soviet-sponsored, Marxist-Leninist infiltration in the region. These represented the mainstay of the US-Latin American strategic alliance for over 40 years. Most importantly, the orientation of the Inter-American Defense System (IADS) fostered the notion that, within the embrace of the US strategic nuclear and conventional umbrella, military threats to the Western Hemisphere would originate primarily from within, aided and abetted from abroad by the communist alliance. This belief in, and fear of, internal enemies became an enduring theme in modern Latin American geopolitical thought, even when sharing space with traditional external defense concerns (Child, 1985).
Laying the Groundwork: The Struggle for Civil Society in El Salvador
Authors: Foley Michael W.
Published: March 2007

The armed conflict that wracked El Salvador from 1980 to the signing of the Peace Accords in January 1992 began and ended in a still unresolved struggle over civil society: over what expression civil society would be allowed to take, over its influence in public debate, over who would control it, and how. If the Right fought to protect its own economic power, it fought first of all on the ground of civil society, attempting by all means available to subordinate, or subdue, the forces unleashedviathe wave of organizing by church groups, unions, and the Left in the 1960s (Baloyra, 1982; Lungo U., 1987; Montgomery, 1995). The targets of the famous “death squads,” which emerged well before the eruption of civil war in 1981, were preponderantly representatives of organized civil society: union leaders, teachers, community organizers, health workers, catechists. While political militants have been the most prominent among recent victims of the violence carried out by resurgent death squads, the struggle going on in El Salvador today is essentially a struggle over the character and direction of the new civil society that has arisen in the wake of the war and the Peace Accords.
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation and Environmental Management in the Americas
Authors: Mumme Stephen P. , Duncan Pamela
Published: March 2007

To what extent has the North American Free Trade Agreement contributed to strengthening and deepening international environmental management in the Americas? Should the system be broadened to incorporate other nations? While a complete answer to these queries is currently beyond reach, there should be little doubt that NAFTA has influenced and continues to influence the direction of environmental management in North America and the hemisphere at large. The agreement has spawned a series of new institutions that are already reshaping current practices and that have considerable promise for broadening the range of international commitments to environmental management in the Americas. The most prominent and most relevant of these is the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC).
The Brazilian Military Under Cardoso: Overcoming the Identity Crisis
Authors: Filho João R. Martins , Zirker Daniel
Published: March 2007

In Brazil, an era of military confusion and dissatisfaction that followed the end of the Cold War has largely dissipated since the mid-1990s. Despite scarce federal resources under current economic policies, the Cardoso government has managed to eliminate the most immediate budgetary causes of military unrest. Military authoritarian influence remains, moreover, in areas such as Amazônia. The military’s own efforts, the president’s moral and economic support, and the legislature’s traditional apathy toward relevant issues have fostered a new form of military influence in the Brazilian democracy.
U.S.-Cuban Relations: From the Cold War to the Colder War
Authors: Domínguez Jorge I.
Published: March 2007

Hundreds of thousands of Cuban troops deployed to nearly every corner of the globe—that seemed to be the nightmare of every US administration from the mid-1970s to the end of the 1980s. From its own perspective, President Fidel Castro’s government attempted to use its activist foreign policy first to protect itself from hostile US policies, and second to leverage support from the Soviet Union and other communist countries for Cuba’s own domestic development.
The Helms-Burton Law: Development, Consequences, and Legacy for Inter-American and European-US Relations
Authors: Roy Joaquín
Published: March 2007

On April 11, 1997, the European Commission, represented by its vice president and UK commissioner, Leon Brittan, responsible for foreign trade and relations with North-America; and the government of the United States, represented by Under Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Stuart Eizenstat, agreed on a compromise that in effect would temporarily neutralize the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996, better known as the Helms-Burton law, just a year after its approval. In the event that all the portions of the agreement are implemented, this accommodation will represent the end of one of the most serious episodes of disagreement between Washington and Brussels since the end of the Cold War, as well as between the United States and its partners in NAFTA.
US-Latin American Economic Relations
Authors: Weintraub Sidney
Published: March 2007

The United States, during the past several years, has squandered a heaven-sent opportunity to cement its already deep economic relations with Latin America. There is no certainty that the neglect will be altered in the near term.

A series of transformations made the 1990s an ideal time to consolidate improved economic relations with Latin America. The end of the Cold War meant that US dealings with Latin America could be based on mutual realities in the Hemisphere rather than be shaped through the one-way prism of East-West confrontation. There was a profound paradigm shift that swept just about all the countries of the Hemisphere, away from protectionism and toward open markets as the path to economic growth.
The Inter-American Security Agenda
Authors: Perry William , Primorac Max
Published: March 2007

The circumstances of the diverse nations of the Western Hemisphere have been dramatically transformed over the course of the past few years - as has the relationship among them. During the 1980s and early 1990s, a wave of democracy swept over most of Latin America and the Caribbean, placing almost all of the societies in the region under the rule of elected civilian governments. At the same time, the nationalist-statist development models of the past have been virtually abandoned and much more open, market-oriented lines of economic policy have been adopted. Moreover, many previously contentious issues that troubled relationships among the countries of the region and separated them from the United States appear to be in abeyance.