Few outsiders are fully aware of the complex relationship between the ostensibly independent news media in Mexico and the governing Institutional Revolutionary Party—a relationship enforced by subsidies, bribery, fear of violence, and mutual political convenience. This groundbreaking collection of analytical essays by leading Mexican and U.S. journalists examines the culture of collusion and    More >

This near-definitive study sets a new standard for the kind of meticulous scholarship that Nobel laureate Derek Walcott's poetry deserves.

Another Life, Walcott's masterpiece of autobiography in verse is an ideal point of entry into Walcott's work. The 200 pages of detailed notes and commentary offered in this annotated edition—drawing to a great extent on unpublished    More >

The post-Cold War world has presented Latin American militaries with new, unsettling realities: diminished threats from insurgencies, governments' inability to control the flow of information, the necessity of operating within a global economic system, and a lost ability by weaker states to manipulate external actors. These conditions are placing military institutions under pressure to support    More >

This work of compelling lyrical unity tells the story of growing up black in the colonial world of Martinique.

Not only does the young hero, José, have to fight the ignorance and poverty of plantation life, but he must also learn to survive the all-pervasive French cultural saturation—to remain true to himself, proud of his race and his family. His ally in this struggle is    More >

The third edition of this historically and theoretically grounded analysis of the democratic experience in Latin America reflects important developments both in the region and in the comparative politics literature.

Placing the subject in a normative context, John Peeler gives significant attention to the adequacy of a purely electoral concept of democracy. He also addresses the problems that    More >

Though its national life often has been characterized by violence, Haiti has not been victim of a full-fledged internal conflict, or civil war. Why, then, is the international community conducting "postconflict peacebuilding" operations there? Addressing that question, Chetan Kumar examines the course of international involvement in Haiti through the prism of the country's unique past    More >

As Latin America's new democratic regimes have decentralized, the region's capital cities—and their elected mayors—have gained increasing importance. Capital City Politics in Latin America tells the story of these cities: how they are changing operationally, how the the empowerment of mayors and other municipal institutions is exacerbating political tensions between local    More >

Over the past ten years, most Latin American countries have experienced dramatic economic changes as a result of their enormous debt burden, with a diminished economic role for the state and a consequent drastic cut in state social expenditures. The authors of this provocative book explore the clearly negative impact of these changes on the middle class in Chile, where the military government    More >

Patricia Verdugo's narrative offers compelling evidence of the mass execution of 75 political prisoners that began General Augusto Pinochet's 20-year dictatorship. The "caravan of death" killings—carried out by Sergio Arellano Stark, the high-ranking general appointed by Pinochet to head the operation—terrorized Chile and crushed the country's long-standing tradition of    More >

With China on the minds of many in Latin America—from politicians and union leaders to people on the street, from business students to senior bankers—a number of important questions arise. Why, for example, is China so rapidly expanding its ties with the region? What is the nature of the new connection, and how will it affect institutions, economic structures, politics, and society? R.    More >

Is democracy in Latin America in trouble, as many now argue? Or is the increasingly overt political participation of both "average" and marginalized citizens evidence to the contrary? This important collection focuses on citizenship to shed light on the dynamics and obstacles that the region's democracies now face.

The authors place citizenship in the context of    More >

The Summit of the Americas process, which began at the Miami Summit in 1994, has created unprecedented opportunities for the involvement of civil society actors in decisionmaking and the implementation of important initiatives in the social, economic, and political life of the Western Hemisphere. This volume documents the wide-ranging involvement of non-governmental and other sectors in the    More >

Private capital flows to Latin America have increased dramatically since 1989, approximately doubling in volume each year. This book examines the possible causes and consequences of the new—and unforeseen—wave of investment, from both the borrower and the lender perspectives.

The authors first analyze foreign direct investment, securities, and bank lending, considering the    More >

Exploring the difficulties of inducing meaningful political reform in Brazil's "bureaucratic-authoritarian" era, this volume examines the impact of the fall of Fernando Collor de Mello. The authors, representing historical, constitutional, and institutional perspectives, focus on themes related to the linkages between corruption and political reform: the range of corrupt activities by    More >

Derek Walcott, winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize for literature, has risen from obscure colonial origins to lay claim to a rich cultural heritage. The progeny of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas come together in his work as they populate his native Caribbean islands; his poetry and plays record their struggles to overcome the ironies of their lives, to establish their authentic "new    More >

Covering a wide range of issues involving Cuba and the United States—from an even wider range of perspectives—this book is the result of a Wilson Center conference convened to discuss the future of relations between the two countries. The contributors focus on the political dynamics in each country and consider how those dynamics might be affected by the rapidly shifting    More >

Though few observers dispute that change is coming to Cuba, there is a notable lack of consensus regarding the pace and direction of that change. The authors of this collection offer a range of views on the growing political and economic challenges facing the Castro regime, how those challenges will be met, and Cuba's prospects for a peaceful transition to democracy. The book also includes two    More >

Arguing that a people's own cultural heritage is the foundation on which equitable and sustainable development can best be built, this book presents an innovative, culture-based approach to grassroots development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The approach seeks to retain a population's special cultural strengths and contributions while enabling them to achieve necessary changes in their    More >

Has Mexico, twenty years after beginning the process of decentralizing its health system, realized the anticipated benefits of increased community participation and improvements in efficiency and quality? Addressing this question, Decentralizing Health Services in Mexico presents a thorough historical and theoretical grounding, as well as representative case studies of decentralization at    More >

Guyana-born poet-novelist Dathorne’s powerful work, set against the background of a revolution, both political and spiritual, is a compelling account of the search for ancestry and legacy. The reader learns about the past, present, and future of the chief protagonists—Dele, the saintly whore; Pietro, the impotent medical practitioner; Ianty, the corrupt politician; and Stephan, who    More >

Severe political and economic problems challenge the civilian governments that have emerged in Latin America over the past decade. While achieving a degree of stability, these governments remain threatened by serious obstacles to the democratic process. This volume addresses the problematic relationship between neoliberal strategies of economic restructuring and the process of democratic    More >

The Brazilian economy has long been characterized by rapid growth—but equally by high inflation and an extreme maldistribution of wealth, despite the strong international reputation of the country's economists. Seeking to explain this, Chaffee links political interest with economic policy, showing how short-term political needs have dominated over long-term economic values.

The    More >

After the 1994 Real Plan ended fourteen years of high inflation in Brazil, the country’s economy was expected—mistakenly—to grow quickly. Luiz Carlos Bresser-Pereira discusses Brazil’s economic trajectory from the mid-1990s to the present Lula administration, critically appraising the neoliberal reforms that have curtailed growth and proposing a national development    More >

Profound cultural and political differences exist between Latin America and the Caribbean, despite their geographical proximity. Recent transformations in the global politico-economic system have brought about closer cooperation between the two areas, and this volume provides useful insights into their changing relationship. Contributors represent diverse academic backgrounds and provide a    More >

In the years since the first edition of Driven by Drugs was published, there have been dramatic changes in US policy toward Colombia, as well as in domestic Colombian politics. This new edition traces developments in both arenas, bringing the story current through the administrations of George W. Bush and Álvaro Uribe.     More >

The authors analyze the political economy of drug trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean and its effects on U.S.-Latin American relations. Special attention is given to both U.S. drug policy with respect to the region and multilateral efforts at drug control. Case studies include Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Central America, and the Caribbean.

This volume provides a guide to the ever expanding drug-related literature, concentrating on the most important, relevant sources chosen by a collection of scholars, analysts, and practitioners from a variety of disciplines. This multidisciplinary, multinational approach critically assesses the current social science literature on a complex and highly contentious issue in U.S.-Latin American    More >

Although the US has spent more than $25 billion on international drug-control programs over the last two decades, it has failed to reduce the supply of cocaine and heroin entering the country. It has, however, succeeded in generating widespread, often profoundly damaging, consequences, most notably in Latin America and the Caribbean. The authors of Drugs and Democracy in Latin America    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book

From his vantage point as both an academic economist and a political insider, Bresser Pereira    More >

This collection of original pieces addresses the need to reconcile economic growth and environmental protection in Latin America. The contributors—among them scholars, government officials, and development practitioners—provide a theoretical and practical discussion of sustainable development practices, explore alternatives to deforestation, consider the pros and cons of    More >

Although the 1995 Cenepa war between Ecuador and Peru was the first military conflict in South America in more than five decades, the Ecuador-Peru relationship might be characterized as one of enduring rivalry—punctuated by the threat of armed combat. In the context of this history of recurrent crises, Herz and Nogueira analyze the mediation process that followed the 1995    More >

What impact has electoral observation had on transitions to democracy in Latin America, and what direction should it take in the future? In addressing these and related questions, the contributors to this volume examine the evolution of electoral observation strategies since the 1980s, the relative contributions that foreign and domestic observers can make to free and fair elections and to the    More >

Elusive Reform explores one of the Latin American countries' biggest challenges: establishing a rule of law. Based on a close examination of historical patterns, it demonstrates how executive power and judicial disarray thwart progress toward judicial independence, state accountability, and citizen access to effective means of conflict resolution.

Ungar critiques the wide spectrum of    More >

William Stanley tells the absorbing story of the UN peace operation in Guatemala’s ten-year endeavor (1994-2004) to build conditions that would sustain a lasting peace in the country.

Unusual among UN peace efforts because of its largely civilian nature, its General Assembly mandate, and its heavy reliance on UN volunteers to staff field offices, the mission (MINUGUA) focused    More >

The deterioration of the environment in the Americas exacts urgent and decisive action—a diagnosis shared by all 34 member countries of the Organization of American States. Consequently, in 1990 the OAS began a process of diplomatic debates oriented toward creating an inter-American system of nature conservation. This effort culminated at the June 1991 General Assembly in Santiago de Chile,    More >

In light of the power strategies in play in the new geopolitics of economic and ecological globalization, there is a need for critical analysis of how the agenda of sustainable development is being conceived, shaped, and implemented. This volume considers issues of equity and development in the US-Mexico border regionand highlights the fact that regions at the juncture of the    More >

Ethnopolitics in Ecuador explores the rise of a vigorous contemporary indigenous movement in Ecuador, tracking the political and social transformations it has generated. Funding for bilingual literacy programs, participation in local and national politics after centuries of exclusion, and expanded protection for the rights of a growing number of self-identified members are among the    More >

Although Latin American and Caribbean countries have assigned a high priority to increasing exports in recent years—substantially transforming their economies in the process—export performance in most cases remains deficient. This book investigates why this is so, identifying the policies that determine successes and failures in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico.

Each country    More >

The Pentecostal Poor offers a rich and powerful perspective on evangelicalism in the barrios of Latin America, exploring conversion and subsequent commitments to faith in an unstable environment of poverty and violence.

Bomann’s study, based on extensive fieldwork, is unique in that it reveals the evangelical Protestant movement through the eyes of the believers    More >

A Choice Outstanding Academic Book

Concerns about democratization in Latin America today center not on the threat of authoritarian regression, but on the depth, quality, fairness, and completeness of democratization thus far. Large-scale economic and social reforms, stronger and more complex civil societies, and processes of integration and globalization call    More >

Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s personal trajectory is unquestionably intertwined with the main intellectual and political debates in Brazil (and Latin America) in the second half of the twentieth century.

Cardoso began his career struggling to apply Marxist ideas to political realities, and he continues to acknowledge the Marxist element that persists in his thinking. Nevertheless, since    More >

This is the first time that the literary works of contemporary Afro-Brazilian women have been compiled presenting a comprehensive vision of what it means to be both black and female in Brazil.

Though the canon of Brazilian literature is rich in Afro-Brazilian female characters, until recently it has included only a handful of Afro-Brazilian women writers, sprinkled across the centuries.    More >

This comparative analysis of foreign policy behavior in the Americas focuses on the emerging trend toward regionalism.

Following a discussion of the phenomenon of regionalism in general, chapters on the countries of North America, the Caribbean, and South America address three questions fundamental to the relationship between national foreign policy and hemispheric cooperation and integration:    More >

Drawing on decades of fieldwork in a high-emigration town in central Mexico, as well as a thousand recent interviews, the authors chart the town's evolution from a source of short-term contract laborers during World War II to a present-day exporter of undocumented and legal migrants, many of whom now settle permanently in the US and have US-born children. They investigate how people-smuggling    More >

How can savings be generated and mobilized to support Latin American development into the 21st century? This underlying question is analyzed in detail for the region and for several individual countries. The volume's authors examine the contribution of savings to the process of capital formation, the relationship between domestic savings and domestic investment, and the effects of foreign    More >

Despite new opportunities arising from transformations in the global economic and political arenas in the 1990s, Latin American states have become more vulnerable to transnational capital movements and market shifts. Without the implementation of vigorous, innovative policies to promote social equality and upgrade national infrastructures, economic growth will yield widening inequalities both    More >

The collapse of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986 gave rise to optimism among Haitians in all walks of life—to hopes for a democratic journey leading to economic development, political renewal, and social peace. The reality of the subsequent years, however, has not been so sanguine. Robert Fatton analyzes the vicissitudes of politics in Haiti from the demise of Duvalier through the events of    More >

Reflecting the trend of the state's diminishing role in Latin America, collaborative projects between nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and governments have emerged as important strategies for health reforms that increase the role of the private sector. Health Care Reform in Central America explores how health policies in El Salvador and Guatemala have created new types of NGOs and new    More >

This important new book reveals how the stricter US border-control activities of the past decade have affected the behavior of migrants and potential migrants in rural Mexico.

The authors establish direct links between changes in immigration-control policies and changes in the decision to migrate, choice of destination, mode of entry, and inclination to participate in a temporary worker    More >

The multiple pasts and futures of the Mexican nation can be seen in the faces of the tens of thousands of indigenous people who each year set out on their voyages to the north, and of the many others who decide to settle in countless communities within the United States. This collection explores these migration processes and their social, cultural, and civic impacts in both the United States and    More >

This volume explores the complex processes of institutional transformation that were unleashed in rural Mexico by the government's massive program of market-oriented economic reforms in the 1990s, creating new pressures for campesinos to make their production choices individually.

Instead of paving the way for the triumph of free market forces, neoliberal reforms in rural Mexico    More >

Based on previously untapped primary sources, this book examines the social forces that were released and shaped by the Cuban revolutionary war and, not least, the actions of real men and women attempting to forge a new future.

García's focus on Matanzas province—an area highly representative of Cuba in demographics, racial patterns, economy, and education—allows a    More >

This major compendium identifies the approximately three hundred key institutional resources on international political and economic affairs available throughout the Pacific Basin—in East and Southeast Asia, Australia, Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the Pacific–oriented countries of South America.

Organized by country/region, the Directory highlights each    More >

Countless studies of citizen participation in public decisionmaking point out the limitations of direct democracy when it is transported from the realm of political theory into the "real world." In contrast, this book examines a case where an innovative city government gave major decisionmaking power to ordinary citizens on a large scale—and managed to survive and    More >

This timely book explores to what degree democracy has taken root in El Salvador, and to what extent the country can strengthen democratic, civilian-controlled government institutions.

The authors highlight a number of key questions: Does the electoral process allow for a fair and impartial reflection of the popular will? Is U.S. policy aiding the cause of democracy—or    More >

Antoine’s biography portrays nearly a hundred years of Haiti’s history as it was lived by Price- Mars in his many roles—politician, diplomat, ethnologist, teacher, philosopher, and moral commentator on Haitian events. Includes a preface by Jean F. Brierre.

This three-volume set presents in their entirety the speeches, interviews, and documents of the late Jorge Mas Canosa (1939-1997), political leader, activist, and founder of the Miami-based Cuban American National Foundation (CANF).

Gathered from archives, newspapers, U.S. Congressional records, and other primary sources (including Mas Canosa family papers), these Spanish-language    More >

This unusual analysis of the Falkland/Malvinas dispute relies almost entirely on British sources to refute British claims to the islands.

Oliveri López draws on official government documents, speeches, works of scholarship, and statements by residents of the islands themselves to substantiate his conclusion of "admission" by the U.K. of Argentine sovereignty over the Malvinas.    More >

Considering Latin America's emerging challenges and opportunities in the first decade of the twenty-first century, the authors examine key political, economic, and security concerns in the region. They focus both on the changing dynamics within the Western Hemisphere and on Latin America's evolving relationships with international actors and institutions.

Placing Latin America in the context of debates on economic globalization and the dramatically changing nature of the international system, this volume offers the perspectives of scholars and policymakers from across the Americas.

The authors argue that the ongoing diversification of economic and strategic ties presents Latin American nations with new options—and also with dangers. A    More >

The myriad changes affecting contemporary Latin America in the context of a globalizing world are so far reaching, argue the authors of Latin America in the Twenty-First Century, that understanding them requires both new conceptual tools and multidisciplinary analysis. In response to this need, they explore developments in the region in terms of four central processes: the construction of    More >

This revised edition of Latin America's Economic Development continues to provide a heterodox perspective on Latin America's economic problems, with institutional and neostructuralist views dominating. The selections richly convey that there are viable alternatives to the neoliberal approach dominating so much of policymaking, as well as academic debate, since the 1980s.

The book    More >

The efforts of Latin America's democracies to grapple with the forces of the new global economy, and at the same time to undertake domestic restructuring, have been a frustrating tangle of opportunities and setbacks. This collection addresses those efforts, concentrating on the effects of changes toward more open economies in the context of improving living conditions and democratic    More >

In the wake of the failure of neoliberal strategies aimed at market-oriented restructuring to achieve external adjustment, tame hyperinflation, and discipline public sector finance. However, more people are now poorer with only marginal opportunities for equality, and a few people still hold most of the wealth and control productive resources. Frequently, governments have implemented new    More >

Legislatures are indispensable parts of constitutional liberal democracies, controlling and criticizing the executive while voicing a wide range of opinions on public issues. This book examines the role of the legislature in the politics of democratic construction and consolidation in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Uruguay.

Analyzing the status and daily    More >

Blank and Haar examine how dynamic changes in the North American business environment, accelerated by NAFTA, have transformed corporate strategies and structures and affected patterns of U.S. investment in North America. Using a series of survey questionnaires and focused interviews with U.S. multinational-subsidiary executives in Mexico and Canada, the authors determine what firms hope to gain    More >

Manufacturing Insecurity provides a sobering analysis of an extraordinary boom and bust story: Nurtured by military rule and expanding international markets, Brazil's defense sector emerged as a Third World leader in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Within a decade, a country that had been almost totally dependent on outside suppliers became a significant manufacturer for the global    More >

Yucatán, an impoverished state in southern Mexico, has recently emerged as a significant source of US-bound migrants. Why did this state's indigenous population wait so long to enter the migration stream, and how do their experiences differ from those of earlier more traditional migrants?

Mayan Journeys explores how internal migration to southern Mexico's tourist resorts    More >

Arguing that economic policies in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico favor markets over institutions and the international economy over the domestic to the detriment of the workforce in those countries Meeting the Employment Challenge presents extensive evidence in support of placing employment concerns at the center of economic and social policies.

The authors discuss the    More >

For a century beginning in the 1750s, Europe and the Americas underwent a series of profound political, economic, and social changes, ushering in the modern era. This book examines the experience of Mexico during that "age of democratic revolutions."

Among the specific issues examined in the book are the policies of Jose de Galvez, political transformations in colonial Sonora and    More >

Mexico made a peaceful transition to democracy when it elected opposition candidate Vicente Fox president in July 2000—an event that has had a profound impact on the country's political system, its economic and social policy, and its international relationships. Mexico Under Fox examines the elements of continuity and change found in Mexico today.

The authors    More >

Painting a sober yet hopeful picture of current Mexican politics and economics, Mexico's Democracy at Work focuses on the country's still incomplete transformation from an authoritarian system, as well as the many challenges that exist within the new, more democratic context. The authors pay particular attention to both domestic and international economic dynamics and to Mexico's    More >

As electoral politics in Mexico have become more open and democratic, the country's economy also has been thoroughly restructured and new ideas about government, state-society relations, and Mexico's place in the international system have taken hold. Mexico's Politics and Society in Transition explores these interrelated trends. Offering fresh perspectives on the contemporary problems on    More >

Mexico’s private sector continues to confront challenges imposed not only by reforms in the country’s economic and political systems, but also by demands of the international economic community for transparent and fair business dealings. In this book, scholars and business leaders examine the responses to these challenges, weighing the goals of economic reform against its results,    More >

This volume provides a vivid portrait of a transnational migrant community anchored in both the remote Mixteca region of Oaxaca and the San Diego metropolitan area.

Drawing on surveys and interviews with migrants and potential migrants conducted by a binational research team in 2007-2008, the contributors show how the Oaxaca-based and the California-based natives of the town of San    More >

Edouard Glissant's Monsieur Toussaint tells the tragic story of Toussaint L'Ouverture, the charismatic leader of the revolution—the only successful slave revolt in history—that led to Haiti's independence more than two hundred years ago.

Translated by J. Michael Dash in collaboration with the author, this new edition captures the striking essence of the    More >

The role of music in the construction of cultural identity and ethnicity has received significant attention in recent anthropological and ethnomusicological literature. As one of the most highly structured human cultural expressions, music can encapsulate a social or ethnic group's beliefs and views with greater clarity than ideology. The complex mosaic of African-American-Latino musical    More >

Weaving together the influences of the media, academia, government, and society at large, Aguayo traces the evolution of U.S. perceptions toward Mexico and outlines how changing U.S. views have affected events in Mexico and the bilateral relationship itself. This meticulously crafted study of the intersection of perceptions, ideas, and consciousness in international relations constitutes nothing    More >

Do societal inequalities limit the effectiveness of democratic regimes? And if so, why? And how? Addressing this question, Bernd Reiter focuses on the role of societal dynamics in undermining democracy in Brazil.

Reiter explores the ways in which race, class, and gender in Brazil structure a society that is deeply divided between the included and the excluded—and where much of    More >

The dominant nation-state model of citizenship, in which political identity and state territory are congruent, is increasingly unable to resolve the contradictions created by global mass migration. Fitzgerald's careful ethnographic fieldwork in Michoacán, Mexico, and Southern California supports a process-based model of extra-territorial citizenship, in which migrants claim citizenship in    More >

In 1990, Nicaraguans voted out the revolutionary Sandinista regime and replaced it with the conservative government of President Violeta Chamorro. Chamorro's term of office was marked by constitutional, economic, partisan, and social conflict, as her administration attempted to replace the revolutionary system with representative government and market economics.

Close examines these    More >

Sweeping changes in many Latin American nations have transformed business elites into key political and economic players. While organized business has become increasingly visible in the past decade, its role has been understudied. This volume analyzes the extent to which economic and political changes have convinced business elites to strengthen their employer associations and to use    More >

The contributors assess the role of the center-right National Action Party (PAN) in Mexico's transition to a democratic regime. A wave of local- and state-level PAN victories rolled over Mexico during the 1980s and 1990s as the party attracted prominent businessmen onto its candidate slates. Their successes paved the way for the July 2000 election of Vicente Fox, whose defeat of the PRI candidate    More >

This is the first comprehensive study of the multilateral political, electoral, and military peacemaking and peace-building missions in Latin America and the Caribbean. The authors cover electoral-observation missions in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, as well as diplomatic/military missions in Nicaragua and along the Peru-Ecuador border. Also included are    More >

When Peru's APRA—one of the oldest and most controversial political parties in Latin America—came to power in 1985, expectations were high for the new government, in part because a decade of economic decline and social crisis had discredited both the military and the right as alternatives. APRA did manage to maintain an unprecedented consensus for two years. But a sudden shift in    More >

Since the end of the 1980s, structural changes have profoundly altered Mexico's economy and society. But has the outcome been a positive one?

Dussel Peters argues that liberalization strategy in Mexico has been successful in achieving its stated, short-term aims. But in looking at fundamental issues of employment and income distribution, foreign trade, and industrial    More >

Has the fundamental shift in Mexico’s political system away from single-party authoritarian rule had any impact on the pattern of corruption that has plagued the country for years? Is there less or more corruption today? Have different types of corruption emerged? If so, why?

Stephen Morris addresses these questions, comprehensively exploring how the changes of  the past    More >

Intrigued with the question of how societies adopt norms, institutions, and rules associated with liberal democracy, the contributors to this volume examine how political actors in Latin America reorient their behavior and attitudes to support, adapt, or acquiesce to democracy. The authors offer case studies of change in political parties in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Venezuela—countries    More >

The premise of this book is, simply, that politicians matter—that an understanding of the role played by politicians in the way that politics is carried out in their countries is, far from constituting a resurrection of outdated elitist theories, of vital importance in present-day Latin America.

The authors consider politicians as both cause and effect. Drawing on    More >

The defeat of the attempted April 1961 invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs (Playa Giron) was one of the worst foreign–policy disasters in U.S. history. Since then, explanations of the event have emphasized betrayal by one U.S. agency or another, seeking to assign blame for the "loss" of Cuba. With the benefit of new documentation, however—from U.S. government and Cuban    More >

In just twenty years, popular movements have changed the face of Mexican politics, as organized groups of peasants, teachers, city dwellers, women, and students have crowded into the political arena to pose new challenges to the old order of political cooptation and control. Assessing the overall political significance of this effervescence, the contributors to this book focus on the interactions    More >

This landmark study traces economic development, social dynamics, and political processes in Cuba from the end of Spanish colonial rule to the triumph of the 1959 revolution.

Ibarra explores the complex and compelling relationship between North American capital investment and the formation—and deformation—of Cuba's national institutions. Focusing especially on class structures,    More >

Protecting a Sacred Gift makes a strong case that culture, gender, place, politics, and history all shape Mexico's water resources policy, management strategies, and ultimately, its physical and cultural landscapes. This edited volume presents diverse disciplinary approaches—anthropology, development stduies, geography, history, political science, sociology, and women's    More >

The first of its kind, this major bibliography covers all aspects of Puerto Rican government and politics defined in the broadest manner. More than 5,000 entries identify books, articles, and reports not only on such traditional subjects as political parties and government institutions, but also dealing with culture and identity, gender, race relations, economic issues, the media and politics, and    More >

A Choice Outstanding Academic Book!

Though their presence in the United States is long standing, knowledge about Puerto Ricans—their culture, history, socioeconomic status, and contributions has been decidedly inadequate. Edna Acosta-Belén and Carlos Santiago change this status quo, presenting a nuanced portrait of both the community today and    More >

In the midst of significantly changing economic and political relations with the United States, Puerto Rico is struggling to find a new—and effective—development path. James Dietz examines the island's contemporary development trajectory, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis.

Dietz considers where Puerto Rico's economy is today, why, and how its    More >

This pioneering effort to conceptualize unforeseen—and nontraditional—security issues in Mexico confronts what went unaddressed in virtually the entire debate surrounding the NAFTA negotiations: the process of redefining security in Mexico within the context of increased economic integration with the U.S. and Canada.

Grappling with the question of what "security" means in    More >

Neoconservative proposals for a minimal state notwithstanding, it has become increasingly clear in Latin America (and elsewhere) that the state must in fact be strengthened and the civil service reformed. This book contributes to the debate about the optimum role of the state, advancing the managerial approach to improving state capacity as far more effective than the bureaucratic    More >

The extent to which the regulatory environment in developing countries influences the characteristics and growth potential of the urban informal sector is an issue much debated today, in large part because of its strong association with policy measures. Of particular concern is the effect of regulations on microenterprises, in terms of both "start up" and the capacity for expansion.    More >

Privatization policies have swept most of Latin America in recent years, but very little attention has been paid so far to the consequences that the withdrawal of the state in strategic economic sectors is going to entail. The fact that public utilities and financial services are now in private hands makes it imperative that the state redefine its role from that of an entrepreneur to one of an    More >

In this fresh look at Venezuelan politics, Steve Ellner emphasizes the central significance of the country's economic and social cleavages.  

Ellner's journey through modern Venezuelan history—observing popular masses and social actors as much as political elites and formal institutions fundamentally informs his analysis of Hugo Chávez's presidency and the    More >

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, president of Argentina from 1868 to 1874, is best known as an educator and as the author of Civilization and Barbarism, The Life of Juan Facundo Quiroga, generally referred to as El Facundo. The contributors to this volume call attention to other facets of Sarmiento's life and to the results of the programs he encouraged.

Each contributor    More >

Reaching an enduring solution to the historic dispute between Ecuador and Peru is no small challenge: two centuries of disagreements have spawned a culture that intimidates those favoring lasting peace. This volume provides analyses of the historical, political, diplomatic, military, and international dimensions of the search for peace in the aftermath of the two nations' 1995    More >

Since the end of the Cold War, the security environment of the Caribbean Basin has dramatically changed from the containment of communism to a series of transnational threats—drug trafficking, migratory flows, economic crises, natural disasters—that demand cooperative, multilateral policies. This in turn, argue the authors of Security in the Caribbean Basin, calls for a redefinition    More >

The end of the Cold War coincides with profound transformations in global geopolitics, and the nations of the Western Hemisphere must now adjust to new strategic conditions that have altered the meaning of the inter-American system. The very concept of "Latin America" is undergoing a redefinition, as the economies of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and, in the future, of some of    More >

While previous analyses of public-sector reform efforts in Latin America have focused largely on strategies to redefine the role of the state in the economy, there is a growing realization that social reform—addressing such issues as poverty, inequality, and unemployment—is a condition on which economic and political stability rest. This volume provides a wide-ranging analysis of    More >

During the Cuban Missle Crisis in 1962, Yuri Pavlov interpreted for Nikita Khrushchev. In 1982, he was appointed Soviet Ambassador to Costa Rica, and in 1987, he became head of the Foreign Ministry's Latin American Directorate and was responsible for Soviet-Cuban bilateral relations. Pavlov draws upon these experiences to give both a personal and a political account of the history of the    More >

The authors explore the varied strategies for resource management, production, and marketing that Mexico's campesinos have pursued in response to the dramatic changes in rural Mexico in the 1990s. A program of market-oriented economic reforms resulted in the dismantling of state-owned enterprises and the withdrawal of government subsidies from the countryside. A constitutional amendment    More >

Drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, terrorism, regional conflicts, failed states, controlled flows of refugees, and the rise of regional economic blocs have led Mexico and the United States to reconsider their strategic and security interests. The contributors examine possible sources of future bilateral conflicts and the appropriateness of bilateral/multilateral resoultion of    More >

This volume highlights the growing disjuncture between Mexico's recently accelerated transition to democracy at the national level and what is occurring at the state and local levels in many parts of the country. Subnational political regimes controlled by hard-line antidemocratic elements linked to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) remain important in late-twentieth-century Mexico, even    More >

The FTA, MERCOSUR, the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative, NAFTA, the Summit of the Americas—do these constitute building blocs in the construction of a new regional system? This book explores that question, offering an assessment of the state of regionalism in the Americas.

The authors first outline the regionalist project—which they view as essentially a U.S.    More >

How can a region roiled by political strife, civil war, illicit drug trafficking, and dismal economic performance achieve political stability and support economic growth? The Andes in Focus addresses this question with an in-depth look at the complex factors underlying the present volatile situation.

The authors offer detailed analyses of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador,    More >

In this thorough description and analysis of Latin America's largest economy, Werner Baer traces the trajectory of Brazil's economic development from the colonial period through the current Lula administration.

The sixth edition includes vast amounts of new statistical and institutional information, as well as a detailed assessment of the country's economic performance over the    More >

Despite the current global focus on prospects for the integrated European market, there are many in the policymaking and business communities who believe that the next century will be a Pacific, rather than a European, one. Not only does U.S. trade with East Asia far exceed its trans-Atlantic commerce, but recent figures show that the countries of Asia Pacific account for more than 40 percent of    More >

The nations of Latin America and the Caribbean experienced far-reaching change in the decade of the 1990s, as the region's democracies shifted toward new economic models based on increased openness and market principles.

Addressing the challenges that subsequently emerged, this collection explores issues ranging from globalization, democratization, and economic change, to the environment and    More >

The Salinas administration's reforms in Mexico generated both widespread attention and a host of questions. This book addresses those questions, examining the impact of the recent reforms on the state's relations with key social and political actors—labor, the peasantry, business, political parties, and the church—and assessing reform initiatives in the areas of education, human    More >

Choice Outstanding Academic Book
Honorable Mention, 1992 Sprout Award

Equally a study of the ecological foundations of political systems and a detailed analysis of how a particular Third World political system, Brazil's, addresses environmental issues, this unusually engaging book explores the institutional and political dimensions of environmental problems    More >

This volume explores how recent reforms to Mexico's agrarian legislation changed the ejido's traditional role as the principal economic and political agent in the countryside. Based on field studies in Chiapas, Jalisco, Oaxaca, and Yucatán, the authors demonstrate how variations in historical contexts and local sociocultural conditions have had a major impact on the efficacy of agrarian    More >

Privatization, the centerpiece of neoliberal reform policies, reflects the preeminent role of market forces and the diminished role of the state in Latin America's political economy. While it is far too early to evaluate privatization's long-term performance in achieving the objectives of reform, this volume assesses its initial effects and suggests directions for future change. Eight country    More >

Reappraising the Mexican agrarian reform—the most comprehensive transformation of a land tenure system achieved under capitalism in Latin America—this book discredits orthodox history and explains why an apparently radical movement produced only limited gains for agricultural workers and the peasantry.

Markiewicz shows that the reform, begun as an attempt to quell the revolution of    More >

The multilateral banks are powerful forces in the international community, providing loans of more than $250 billion to developing countries over the last half-century. The best-known of these, the World Bank, has been studied extensively, but the "regional development banks" are little understood, even within their own geographic regions.

This book looks specifically at the    More >

The multilateral banks are powerful forces in the international community, providing loans of more than $250 billion to developing countries over the last half-century. The best-known of these, the World Bank, has been studied extensively, but the "regional development banks" are little understood, even within their own geographic regions.

This book looks specifically at the    More >

Exploring the contradictory nature of Mexican statehood, Erfani explains how a weak national state became a symbol of great domestic strength and, although failing in its domestic economic endeavors, supported a long and stable political regime.

Erfani focuses on the concept of sovereignty as not only a legal status, but also a political myth. She traces the struggles of Mexico's federal    More >