| On Latin America |
From Countercurrents.org - 29 September 2007
Defending The Cuban Revolution: With Love Or Venom?
By James Petras
Defending the Cuban revolution demands unconditional defense against
imperialism and proposals to rectify its problems. These are acts of love.
Polemical invective and personal attacks against life-long defenders of the
revolution and revolutionary movements will further isolate Cuba and
opportunists like Gonzalez Casanova from reality and the coming social
transformations in Latin America and social changes in Cuba
Cuba: Continuing Revolution and Contemporary Contradictions
James Petras and Robin Eastman-Abaya - July 2007
Introduction
The Cuban revolution with its socialist economy has demonstrated tremendous resilience
in the face of enormous political obstacles and challenges. It successfully defied a US
orchestrated invasion, naval blockade, hundreds of terrorists’ attacks and half-century boycott.(1)
Cuba was able to withstand the fallout from the collapse of the USSR, the Eastern European
collectivist regimes, China and Indo-China’s transit to capitalism and to construct a new
development model.
As many scholars and political leaders – including adversaries – have noted, Cuba has
developed a very advanced and functioning social welfare program: free, universal, quality health
coverage and free education from kindergarten through advanced university education.(2)
In foreign, as well as domestic, policy Cuba has successfully developed economic and
diplomatic relations with the entire globe, despite US boycotts and pressures. (3)
In questions of national and personal security, Cuba is a world leader. Crime rates are
low and violent offenses are rare. Terrorist threats and acts, (most emanating from the US and its
Cuban exile proxies), have declined and are less a danger to the Cuban population than to the US
or Europe.
It is precisely the successes of the Cuban Revolution, its ability to withstand external
threats, which would have brought down most governments, that now has created a series of
major challenges, which require urgent attention if the revolution, as we know it, is to advance in
the 21st century. These challenges are a result of past external constraints as well as internal
political developments. Some problems were inevitable consequences of emergency measures
but are now pressing for immediate and radical solutions.
More articles here
|
E. Rozenwurcel - 2006
Why have all development strategies failed in Latin America?
After the Great Depression and throughout the rest of the twentieth century, Latin
American countries basically approached economic development following two
successive and quite opposed strategies. The first one was import substitution
industrialization. The second was the so-called Washington Consensus approach. While
the two views were founded on quite opposite premises, neither the import substitution
industrialization nor the Washington Consensus managed to deliver sustained economic
development to Latin American countries. Two domestic elements are crucial to
understand this outcome. One is the failure of the state. The second is the inability to
achieve mature integration into the world economy.
|
Vanderbilt University
- 2006
The Latin American Public Opinion Project
(LAPOP)
"LAPOP's research efforts to date
have produced more than 60 surveys analyzing major topics of great interest to
political and social scientists, Latin Americanists, government officials, and
interested citizens. LAPOP surveys analyzing citizen views on system support,
political tolerance, citizen participation, local government, corruption, and
views on authoritarianism have been conducted and are now being archived for:
Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru,
Venezuela as well as for Madagascar, Israel and Albania. Complete
datasets available."
---------------- |
From The World Bank
Group
31 August 2005
Infrastructure
in Latin America & the Caribbean: Recent Developments and Key Challenges
------------------------ |
From SciDev.Net -
May 2004
Latin
America: brain drain largest for Argentina
Andrés Solimano, an economist at Cepal, told a
meeting of the Foreign Knowledge Networks for Employment and Development last month (27
April) that for every thousand Argentineans who emigrate to the United States, 191 are
qualified professionals, scientists or technicians In Chile the number drops to 156, in
Peru to 100, and in Mexico to 26.
----------------------- |
8 December 2004
The South American Community of Nations
The South American Community of Nations (Spanish :
Comunidad Sudamericana de Naciones, Portuguese : Comunidade Sul-Americana de Nações) or
SACN will be a continent-wide free trade zone that will unite two existing free-trade
organizations — Mercosur and the Andean Community — eliminating...
--- |
NAFTA's
promise and reality. Lessons from Mexico for the Hemisphere
J. Audley, S. Polaski, D.G. Papademetriou, and S.
Vaughan
(November 2003)
What can Latin America learn from Mexico's attempt to use trade
liberalisation for ecomomic development?
Publisher:Carnegie Endowment for International Peace , 2003
The report has two objectives:
to determine how quality of life in Mexico has been affected by trade
liberalisation in North America. It focuses on the microlevel of people and
their communities, on changes in household income, paychecks, rural employment
and agricultural production. It explores the implications of these for migration
and environmental quality and asks about the role of NAFTA in promoting these
changes
to offer insights for other countries, especially in Latin America, that
wish to strengthen their economic ties within the region.
The report's conclusions include:
while jobs in manufacturing have increased, there is still a growing problem
of unemployment in Mexico
since joining NAFTA Mexico has seen an increase in the number of poor
migrants to the USA
NAFTA has not created the necessary conditions for public and private
sectors to respond to the economic, social and envronmental shocks of trading
with the USA and Canada.
The report's recommendations include:
there is a need for longer, more gradual tariff reduction schedules fo
agricultural products from rich countries to mitigate the problems of dumping
developing countries should distribute gains from trade more equitably
trade agreements should promote the development of domestic
suppliers.
Other chapters in this document include:
"Jobs, wages and household income", by S. Polaski
"Shifting expectations of free trade and migration", by D. Papademetriou
"The greenest trade agreement ever? Measuring the environmental impacts of
agricultural liberalisation", by S. Vaughan.
Introduction
in English or Spanish
Chapter 1: Jobs,
Wages, and Household Income
Chapter 2: The
Shifting Expectations of Free Trade and Migration
Chapter 3: The
Greenest Trade Agreement Ever? Measuring the Environmental Impacts of Agricultural
Liberalization |
Argentina in crisis
Argentina: life after bankruptcy (2002) |
July 28, 2004
Report on the evaluation of the role of the IMF in
Argentina, 1991-2001
|
ARGENTINA
In the hands of the oligopoly of
foreign capital. During the 1990s, economic policies
were characterised by a strengthening of the neo-liberal model, promoted by multilateral
credit institutions. Thus the public and financial services, following a process of
privatisations, were monopolised by an oligarchy of private companies with foreign
capital. Devaluation was mainly due to the «Convertibility Law», which was supported
until the bitter end by the IMF and the «financial community». The massive capital
flight during 2001 sealed Argentina’s fate. |
BOLIVIA
Water and privatisation: doubtful
benefits, concrete threats. The Bolivian experience of
privatisation of the companies that manage and distribute water is a good window on the
conflicts triggered by the privatisation of basic services. It also shows the enormous
difficulty – some say the impossibility – of making the search for profit
compatible with an equitable and sustainable supply of basic services; that is, making
privatisation benefit the poor. TOM KRUSE - CECILIA RAMOS |
BRAZIL
The implicit agenda of a conservative
patrimonial reform. 1 Although it was argued that the
proceeds from privatisation would be invested in social reforms, from 1995 it became clear
that those revenues generated an important inflow of international capital, to be used not
for social investment, but rather to finance trade deficits and debt service. The economic
results of privatisation were mixed, while in social terms they have been a failure. LUIZ
CARLOS DELORME PRADO - LEONARDO WELLER |
CHILE
The brutal rationale of privatisation. «Beyond euphemisms, privatisation of health, social security and
education operated by neo-liberals has imposed a brutal rationale: depending on the amount
of money you have, you will have so much health care, quality of education for your
children and pension upon retirement. If you are privileged, you will have access to
privileged services. If you are poor, you will have to make do with what the public system
is able to give you.» ANA MARÍA ARTEAGA |
COLOMBIA
The violation of social rights within
market rationale. Privatisation of social services is
being imposed by the international funding institutions through severe and never-ending
structural adjustment programmes. In these programmes pressure is put on the government to
change social policies to make social services profitable; thus health, education, social
security and access to water, energy, telecommunications and environmental sanitation
services can be operated by private agents, guaranteeing them high profit margins. ALBERTO
YEPES P. |
COSTA RICA
Selling our grandparents’
inheritance. Within the context of the economic crisis,
the rapid loss of mechanisms of social mobility and economic, political and cultural break
down, a real and symbolic rupture is occurring, under progressive and unorthodox
procedures, in various fields of the State’s monopolistic of the provision of
services, such as electricity, health care and education. Attempts at privatising a public
institution or a complete sector have faced strong opposition among the people. ANA
FELICIA TORRES REDONDO - CARLOS PENTZKE PIERSON |
ECUADOR
Adjustments, debt and privatisations:
what will become of our rights?. The sale of state
companies required by the IMF, the scaling down of the State through mass dismissal of
workers, reduction in government spending, the elimination of subsidies to basic services
and fuel, cutbacks in wages and salaries, the protection of international creditors
through FEIREP and the intensification of the extractive model of overexploiting
resources—these are characteristics of the public policy implemented by the national
government, following the guidelines of international bodies. SUSANA CHU YEP - JORGE
ACOSTA ARIAS - PATRICIO PAZMIÑO FREIRE |
EL SALVADOR
Privatisation: a process with cracks. The privatisation discourse promised to reduce the size of the
State, reduce the deficit, provide better services and supply the State with immediate
resources, which would be used to cancel the short-term debt and be invested in
infrastructure or social expenditure. However, even the private sector has recognised that
there has been a lack of transparency in decision making. In fact, the implementation of
privatisation has involved many sacrifices, including privatisation of banking and
de-nationalisation of the public assets. JEANNETTE ALVARADO - ROSARLIN HERNÁNDEZ - GLORIA
GUZMÁN - MARIO ANTONIO PANIAGUA |
HONDURAS
The invisible price women have to pay
for privatisation. Within the framework of the free
trade treaties progress is being made in the process of public service privatisation in
Honduras. The disappearance of State responsibility for maintaining public services has
led to women having to double or treble their workday to take on a greater workload at
home, with more hours of voluntary work in the communities and in activities generating
income, to the detriment of their health, quality of life and leisure. ANA MARÍA FERRERA
- SUYAPA MARTÍNEZ - FILADELFO MARTÍNEZ - MIRTA KENNEDY - MARÍA ELENA MÉNDEZ |
MEXICO
Now the responsibility lies with the
individuals. Stabilisation and structural adjustment
programmes adopted following the foreign debt crisis in 1982 have included the total or
partial privatisation of many state companies and activities in various sectors:
industrial, financial, agriculture and stock-raising, mining, infrastructure,
communications, petro-chemical and even social security. Along with cutbacks in social
expenditure associated with trends to privatise public and basic services, the «novelty»
lies with the transfer of State responsibility to private companies. ARELI SANDOVAL TERÁN |
NICARAGUA
A nation in the dark. Privatisation has not resulted in any social benefit for the
poorest people. The energy and telephone companies have not only raised the already
«dollarised» price of services, but also increased requirements for access to these
services and decreased quality. In addition to being a country of poor people, today
Nicaragua is also a nation in the dark. RUTH SELMA HERRERA M |
PANAMA
The neo-liberal State: debt,
inequality and poverty. The faithful compliance with
the economic recipes imposed by international financial bodies has been carried out
through the transformation of the State’s role. The result has been more expensive
services, weakened agricultural, livestock and industrial productive sectors, the
deterioration of living conditions, a widening inequality gap and the acceleration of the
debt spiral. CARLOS MARCELO CASTILLO |
PARAGUAY
Social mobilisation against
privatisation. Privatisation in the 1990s was marked by
state de-capitalisation, the absence of benefits for the people, high rates and
insufficient coverage. In the year 2000 the promotion of privatising was reactivated
through promulgation of the Law for Privatisation of State Companies. The attempt at
privatising telecommunications within this legal framework was carried out in a context of
swindles and corruption. Social mobilisation managed to have the law repealed, but it is
feared that the privatising agenda will be taken up once again. JUAN CARLOS YUSTE - DIEGO
BROM |
PERU
The people halt privatisation. The privatisation of electric energy services guaranteed the
buyers that they would obtain large profits on their operation at the expense of the State
and consumers. The State delivered captive consumer markets and converted a public
monopoly into private ones. This process has nothing to do with a market economy, but
rather with profitable commercialism, which the present government has maintained under
pressure from the International Monetary Fund and other financial bodies. HÉCTOR BÉJAR |
SURINAME
Shape up or ship out!. Surinamese society is moving towards privatisation and
liberalisation among heated debates. Bad quality and high costs of public services make
consumers demand the government to either shape up or ship out and give private initiative
the chance to do it better. On the other hand, there is fear for the consequences to
employment and the accessibility of quality services for the poor, and benefits from
concessions to multinationals are questionable. MAGGIE SCHMEITZ |
URUGUAY
The reform of the social sector:
statism, inequality and privatisation by default. The
Uruguayan case shows the benefits of state perseverance and public assets and the adverse
effects of privatisation by default. Although an attempt has been made to attribute the
crisis to this statist emphasis, the present collapse of the economy and its social
effects are basically the result of a financial system that lacks adequate monitoring, a
marked deterioration of industry, a foreign exchange rate that damages the country’s
competitiveness, and the vision of a country regarded as a financial and service market.
FERNANDO FILGUEIRA |
VENEZUELA
The social programme of the Bolivarian
Republic. Going against the current of predominant
trends, the 1999 Bolivarian Constitution consecrates rights of citizens to health and
medical care, as well as other social rights, while increasing state responsibility. In
the context of social development, the new Republic promotes enhancing the standard of
living through common and supportive action, and encourages people to have a sense of
inclusion and belonging through political, economic and social participation. FRENTE
CONTINENTAL DE MUJERES |
D. Johnstone (1 May 2003):
What about Guantanamo? About Cuba
---
S. Landau (2 May 2003):
The Cuba Conundrum
|
| J. F. Wilson, 1993: Liberation Theology: is there a future
for it? |
G. O'Donnell, 1996: Poverty and inequality in
Latin America, some political reflections
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O. Sunkel, 1985: The transnational corporate system
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T. Dos Santos: The Structure of Dependence
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F.H. Cardoso/E. Faletto: Capitalist development and
the State
---
F.H.Cardoso: Dependency and Development in
Latin America
---
M. A. Garretón, 1998: Popular
Mobilization and the Military Regime in Chile: the complexities of the invisible
transition |
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean:
Cepal Review-------Papers
---
Structural Reforms
Series
---
Research and
studies
---
The political context and the role of the State
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Social Change in Latin America in the Early 1970s
---
Statistical Yearbook
Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean
Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean
Foreign Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean
Social Panorama of Latin America
Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy
---
Preliminary Overview of the Economy of
Latin America and the Caribbean 1997
---
1998 Report on Foreign Investment in Latin
America and the Caribbean
---
Economic Survey of Latin America and the
Caribbean 1997-1998. Summary
---
J. A. Ocampo (1998): Income distribution, poverty and social expenditure in Latin America
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On industrialization in
Latin America
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ECLAC books:
|
LANIC University of Texas -Austin
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Academic Research Resources
ARL - Latin Americanist
Research Resources Pilot Project
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Cuba in Transition-Association
for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE)
---
Fármacos
---
Internet Resources for
Latin America "The Guide",M. Molloy, V. 4.0
---
Search
Internet Resources for Latin America
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Latin American Jewish
Studies Association LAJSA
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Latin American Studies
Association: LASA95 Papers
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Latin American Economic System
SELA
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SME Forum/Foro PYME Joint
IDB-LANIC Site
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Southern Labor Studies
Conference: Abstracts
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Texas Papers on Latin America
UT-ILAS Working Papers
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Zapatistas!
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Arts & Culture
---
Latin American
Collection of the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art
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The Brazil Center of ILAS
The Brazil Center
---
Calendar of
Brazilianist Activities at UT-Austin
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Social Policy in Brazil
Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade
---
Trade Center Home Page
---
International Trade
Information System IT-IS
---
Data Bases
---
Castro Speech
Data Base
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ENLACE - Electronic Network for
Latin American Careers and Employment
---
Granma Archives Index
---
USAID: Latin America and the Caribbean Economic & Social Data
1994 Data Base
---
1996 Data Base
---
Latin American Information Base
(LAIB) PC binary files
---
The AMDH's Boletin
Especial Chiapas in English and Spanish
---
Latin
American Studies Network LASNET
---
New Federalism,
State and Local Government in Mexico October 1996
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Mexico City's
Water Supply
---
Sustainable Development
Reporting Project John Burnett |
|
The EU's relations with Latin America
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Latin
America: the European Commission adopts a strategy for regional cooperation 2002-2006 |
Latin America
and the Caribbean in the next Millenium
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Latin America in the International Financial
Crisis
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Options in light of the Crisis
---
L.Brooks: Army Unit investigated in Colombia. Death
Squads
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Joseph Kennedy on The School of the Americas
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R.Rojas: U.S. imperialism in Latin America
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R.Rojas: Notes on the doctrine of national security
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R.Rojas: Latin America: a failed industrial
revolution
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R.Rojas: Latin America: the making of a fractured
society
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R.Rojas: Latin America: a dependent mode of production
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R.Rojas: Latin America: on the effects of colonization
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R.Rojas: Theoretical notes about colonization
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R.Rojas: Latin America: structural changes in the
economy. 1950-70
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R.Rojas: 15 years of monetarism in Latin America:
time to scream
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R.Rojas: Notes on development and dependency
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R.Rojas: Notes on ECLAC's structuralism and
dependency theory
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L. Andersen, 2000: Social mobility
in Latin America
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In defence of Marxism: Latin America
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EUFORIC: European Union cooperation
with Africa, Asia and Latin America
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R.A.Pastor: U.S. foreign policy: the Caribbean
Basin
---
E. Galeano: Latin America and the Theory of
Imperialism
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Latin
American Economic System
---
NAFTA: North
America Free Trade Association
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FTIS: Foreign Trade
Information System
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Latin World
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| |
World Bank:
Latin America: Securing our future in a global economy. 2000
Background papers:
- Economic Insecurity,
Individual Behavior and Social Policy, by
Indermit Gill and Nadeem Ilahi.
- Income Support Programs
for the Unemployed in Latin America, by
Martin Rama and William Maloney.
- Unemployment Dynamics in
Latin America: Estimates of Continuous Time
Markov Models in Mexico and Argentina, by William Maloney and Carlos Arango.
- The Impact of Firing
Costs on Turnover and Unemployment: Evidence from the Colombian Labor Market, by Adriana Kugler
- Mandatory Severance Pay in
Peru: An Assessment of its Coverage and Effects
Using Panel Data, by Donna MacIsaac and Martin Rama
- Can Public Work Programs
Protect the Vulnerable During Economic Downturns? Evidence from Argentina, by Martin Ravallion
- Unemployment Insurance in
Brazil: Unemployment Duration, Wages, and
Sectoral Choice, by Wendy Cunningham
- Training for the Urban
Unemployed: A Reevaluation of Mexico's Probecat, by Quentin Wodon and Mari Minowa
- Weathering Storms:
Households, Governments, and Aggregate Income Shocks in Latin America, by Francisco Ferreira and Indermit Gill
- Are Governments
Pro-poor? A Test Based on Targeted & Social Spending During Booms and Busts, by Quentin Wodon, Norman Hicks et.al.
- Political and Economic
Determinants of Government Spending on Social Protection Programs, by James Snyder and Irene Yackovlev
- The Quality of Social
Services: The Case of Chile, by Alejandra
Mizala and Pilar Romaguera
- The Evolution of Health
Insurance Institutions: Theory and Four Examples from Latin America, by William Jack
- Household Responses to
Labor Market Shocks in Brazil: 1982-1999,
by Marcelo Neri and Mark Thomas
- Measuring Vulnerability:
Who Suffered in the 1995 Mexican Crisis?,
by Wendy Cunningham and William Maloney
- Managing Economic
Insecurity in Rural El Salvador, by
Jonathan Conning, Pedro Olinto, et.al.
---
W. B.: Clasification of economies by income,
1997-1998
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The World Bank: regions
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|
Latin American
Economies (1997):
Total gross domestic product
Per capita gross domestic product
Consumer price index
Urban unemployment
Average real wages
Public-sector deficit (-) or surplus at current
prices
Index of the real effective exchange rate for
imports
Exports of goods, FOB
Imports of goods, FOB
Terms of trade (goods), FOB/FOB
Balance of payments (1)
Balance of payments (concluded)
Net foreign direct investment
International bond issues
Stock exchange price index, in dollars
Total disbursed external debt
Net resource transfers
Ratio of total accrued interest to exports of
goods and services
Ratio of profits paid to exports of goods and
services
------
Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 1997-1998
Figures
Latin America and the Caribbean: overall effects of
the Asian crisis
Latin America and the Caribbean: changes in real value
of local currencies Latin America and the Caribbean: changes in nominal interest rates
Latin America and the Caribbean: gross domestic product
Latin America and the Caribbean: consumer prices
Latin America and the Caribbean: employment rates
Latin America and the Caribbean: urban unemployment
Latin America and the Caribbean: current account
balance Latin America and the Caribbean: exports to
Asia
Latin America and the Caribbean: stock market
quotations
Latin America and the Caribbean: international bond
issues
Latin America and the Caribbean: savings and
investment ratios
------
Economic Survey of Latin
America and the Caribbean 1997-1998. Statistical Appendix
Latin America and the Caribbean: main economic
indicators
Latin America and the Caribbean: gross domestic
product
Latin America and the Caribbean: per capita
gross domestic product
Latin America and the Caribbean: financing of
gross capital formation
Latin America and the Caribbean: gross fixed
investment
Latin America and the Caribbean: urban
unemployment
Latin America and the Caribbean: consumer prices
Latin America and the Caribbean: non-financial public sector balance
Latin America and the Caribbean: exports and
imports of goods
Latin America and the Caribbean: exports of
goods
Latin America and the Caribbean: imports of goods
Latin America and the Caribbean: terms of trade
Latin America and the Caribbean: balance of
payments
|
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| J. M. Villasuso: Economic Encounters |
Journal of The
Latinamerican Economic System
Capitulos
Nº 67
Democratic Governance and Human Development in LAC
January-June 2003Capitulos
Nº 66
Trade and Development
September-December 2002
Capitulos Nº 65
International Migrations in Latin America and the Caribbean
May-August 2002
Capitulos
Nº 64
The New Paradigms of International Cooperation
January - April 2002
Capitulos
Nº 63
WTO and FTAA: Priorities on the LAC Trade Agenda
September - December 2001
Capitulos
Nº 62
The FTAA: Opportunities and Risks
May - August 2001
Capitulos
Nº 61
Integration Now or Never
January - April 2001
Capítulos Nº 60.
"Twenty-five Years of SELA: An Assessment"
September - December 2000
Capítulos Nº 59.
"Finance, Investment and Growth"
May - August 2000
Capítulos Nº 58.
"From the Ghost of Seattle to the Spirit of Bangkok"
January - April 2000
Capítulos Nº 57.
"Options in Light of the Crisis"
September - December 1999
Capítulos Nº 56.
"Latin America in the International Financial Crisis"
May - August 1999
Capítulos Nº 55.
"Latin America and the Caribbean in the Next Millennium"
January - April 1999
Capítulos Nº 54.
"The Impact of
the Euro on
Latin America"
July - September 1998
Capítulos Nº 53.
"Globalization and the External Relations of Latin America and the Caribbean"
January - June 1998
Capítulos Nº 52.
"Growth and Employment"
Octubre - Diciembre 1997
Capítulos Nº 51.
"Strategic Industrial Policies Changes"
July - September 1997
Capítulos Nº 50.
"Trade in the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean"
April - June 1997
Capítulos Nº 49.
"Trends in Latin American and Caribbean Integration"
Enero - Marzo 1997
Capítulos
- Special Edition 1996.
"Globalization, trade and integration"
January - December 1996
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Education for
Sustainability
Postgraduate courses on Environment and Development
Education at London South Bank University |
 |
- Part time distance
learning
- Full time at the University
Come visit us at
www.lsbu.ac.uk/efs..... |
|
Chronological index of CEPAL Review articles
1990-2006
|
From Foreign Policy In Focus
Cleaving a false divide in Latin America
By Juan Antonio Montecino |
September 28, 2006
As Latin America shifts further left on the political spectrum, U.S. pundits
are frantically struggling to artificially partition the continent’s leftist
leaders between so-called populist demagogues and sound pragmatists.
While most analysts wrongly see a Latin America torn between Venezuela’s Hugo
Chávez and Chile’s Michelle Bachelet—between ideological and pragmatic
governance—the new wave of leftist leaders all blame the last 20 years of
neo-liberal “reforms” for the continent’s present ills and agree on the need for
new and alternative development models. What is surprising is that for all the
praise of pragmatic thinking present in the debate, this dichotomy is itself
ideological to the core.
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|
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From ECLAC:
Gender Statistics
Governments, researchers, and people interested in
knowing about the situation of women and men in Latin America and The Caribbean will find
on this site all the information available for each country, disaggregated by sex, and a
compared overview of the whole region.
Country profiles - Regional indicators - Millennium Summit indicators - Beijing indicators
- Inventory of gender indicators - Related information
-------------------
ECLAC - 2005
Latin America and the Caribbean 10 years after the social summit: a regional overview
J. L. Machinea
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ECLAC - 2004
Latin America and the Caribbean: integration and strategies for social cohesion
J. L. Machinea
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ECLAC - 2005
Foreign Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2004
-------------------- |
M. Benjamin, 18
August 2004
Why
Hugo Chávez won a landslide victory
Go to the barrios of Caracas, and it becomes obvious
why the recall effort against Hugo Chavez failed: providing people with free health care,
education, small business loans and job training is a good way to win the hearts and minds
of the people. |
The Economist, 12
August 2004:
The Latinobarómetro poll
Democracy's low-level equilibrium
Latin Americans believe their democracies benefit a
privileged few, not the many-but they don't want a return to dictatorship |
Latin American
Centre for Development Administration (1998)
A New Public Management for Latin America |
United Nations
Development Program (2004)
Democracy in Latin America
Towards a citizen's democracy |
| ZNet: Latin America Watch |
| Interamerican Development Bank |
School of the Americas
Watch
---
Center for Latin American
Capital Markets Research
---
Latin American and Caribbean Center
(LACC)
---
Handbook of Latin American
Studies Online (U.S. govt.)
---
O. Altimir: Growth, Human
Development in Latin American countries-Long-term Trends, 1996
---
Decent work and protection
for all. Priority of the Americas. ILO. 1999
---
AMARC (World Association of Community
Radio Broadcasters)
---
Tom Blanton (2000):The CIA in Latin America |
| |
The Helen Kellogg Institute Working Papers
Copyright
© 2006 Kellogg Institute for
International Studies
University of Notre Dame
130 Hesburgh Center Phone: 574.631.6580 Fax:
574.631.6717
¿Crisis
en el Sindicalismo en América Latina?
Francisco Zapata
Working Paper #302 - January 2003
Abstract
Economic adjustment policies, trade liberalization, privatization of
State enterprise and transformation of labor markets and labor market
institutions relate to a process of transition between a model of import
substitution industrialization and a “new economic model”
characterized by the transnationalization of Latin American internal
markets. All these elements contribute to change the premises of the
organization of unions and to weaken their role in the negotiation of
salaries and working conditions, their intervention in the regulation of
employment and their participation in the administration of social
security and health benefits. On the basis of the cases of Brazil, Chile
and Mexico, the presentation will provide a context in which to pose the
question of the crisis of Latin American labor and examine some of the
alternatives that are available for trade unions in the new economic
conditions.
When
Capital Cities Move: The Political Geography of Nation and State Building
Edward Schatz
Working Paper #303 - February 2003
Abstract
Capital relocation (i.e., the physical move of the central state
apparatus from one location to another) is an unusual tool for nation and
state building. Yet, it is used more frequently than we might expect.
Thus, when Kazakhstan shifted its capital city in 1997 from Almaty to
Astana the move was unique in that post-Soviet region, but not as uncommon
in other post-colonial cases. This paper examines the move of the capital
in Kazakhstan suggests that this move was designed to address particularly
acute nation-and state-building challenges. If the Kazakhstan experience
seems strange in de-Sovietization, this tells us much about the different
nature of post-Soviet space versus other post-colonial contexts. The
relative in frequency of capital moves implies that the challenges of
nation and state building in the ex-USSR—as daunting as they have proved
to be—are generally not as acute as in those of other post-colonial
contexts.
Policy
Making Under Divided Government in Mexico
Benito Nacif
Working Paper #305 - March 2003
Abstract
Without a majority in the Congress, the president’s party looses the
ability to direct policy change. With only one-third of the vote, the
president’s party can prevent any initiative from turning into law.
Individual opposition parties gain influence under divided government but
lack the power to veto policy change. Contrary to what critics of
Presidentialism have argued, political parties in presidential regimes do
not lack in incentives to cooperate and build policymaking coalitions.
Coalition building depends on the potential gains of cooperation that both
the president’s party and the opposition parties can capture if they
modify the status quo. Two sufficient conditions for coalition building
can be identified: an extreme position of the status quo, and the location
of the president’s party at the median position. This explains law
change and the size of lawmaking coalitions under divided government in
Mexico.
La
Posguerra Colombiana: Divagaciones Sobre la Venganza, La Justicia y la
Reconciliación
Iván Orozco
Working Paper #306 - May 2003
Abstract
This essay explores the relationships between vengeance, justice and
reconciliation in contexts of war and transitions towards democracy, with
a special emphasis and interest on the Colombian situation. It aims at
easing, at least partly, the tensions facing peace makers and human rights
activists who deal with the issue of “impunity” for atrocious crimes
perpetrated by the state and other political organizations. It does so by
distinguishing between vertical and horizontal processes of victimization
and by distributing functions between peace makers and human rights
activists in accord with this distinction. Based upon the premise that
transitional Justice always entails a compromise between punishment, truth
and reconciliation, the paper argues for a certain priority of punishment
in contexts of vertical victimization and for a partial precedence of
reconciliation in contexts of horizontal victimization. The notion of
“gray areas” where the distinction between victims and perpetrators,
best represented by certain kinds of “collaborators” and,
“avengers” collapses, lies at the heart of the logics of forgiveness
and reconciliation. After characterizing the Colombian conflict as a case
of horizontal
victimization—i.e., symmetric barbarism—the paper proposes a model of
transitional justice for Colombia built on the primacy of truth and
forgiveness for the inhabitants of gray zones and punishment for the
engineers and managers of barbarism.
Informal
Institutions and Comparative Politics: A Research Agenda
Gretchen Helmke and Steven Levitsky
Working Paper #307 - September 2003
Abstract
During the 1990s, comparative research on political institutions
focused primarily on formal rules. Yet recent studies suggest that an
exclusive focus on formal rules is often insufficient, and that informal
institutions, ranging from bureaucratic and legislative norms to
clientelism and patrimonialism, often have a profound - and systematic -
effect on political outcomes. Neglecting these informal institutions thus
risks missing many of the “real” incentives and constraints that
underlie political behavior. This article seeks to move informal
institutions from the margins to the mainstream of comparative politics
research. It develops an initial framework for studying informal
institutions and, importantly, integrating them into comparative
institutional analysis. In the conceptual realm, the article attempts to
clarify what is meant by “informal institution” and then develops a
typology of four patterns of formal-informal institutional interaction:
complementary, accommodating, competing, and substitutive. In the
theoretical realm, the article examines two issues that have been largely
unexplored in the literature on informal institutions: the question of why
and how informal institutions emerge, and the sources of informal
institutions stability and change. A final section explores some of the
practical challenges inherent in research on informal institutions,
including issues of identification, measurement, and comparison
Political
Disaffection and Democratization History in New Democracies
Mariano Torcal
Working Paper #308
Abstract
This paper focuses on the analysis of political disaffection. After
discussing and defining this notion, the article shows that disaffection
affects more widely, though not exclusively, third-wave democracies. The
close link between levels of disaffection and the history of
democratization in each country explains its higher incidence among new
democracies. For this very reason, political disaffection could also run
high among more established democracies. However, regardless of its
incidence in each particular country, political disaffection reveals a
distinctive nature in new democracies because of the absence of a
democratic past in many of these cases. Thus, disaffection constitutes a
key element to explain the lower propensity of citizens of new democracies
to participate in every dimension of political activity.
Unemployment,
Macroeconomic Policy and Labor Market Flexibility: Argentina and Mexico in
the 1990s
Roberto Frenkel and Jaime Ros
Working Paper #309 - February 2004
Abstract
This paper compares the divergent unemployment experiences in Argentina
and Mexico in the 1990s, examining in detail the remarkable contrasts in
the adjustment of the labor market in these two countries that occur
despite equally striking similarities in the evolution of a number of
macroeconomic variables and external economic shocks. The paper focuses on
the role of macroeconomic policies and the type of industrial
restructuring in these developments and considers to what extent the
divergent unemployment experiences can be explained by differences in the
institutional characteristics of the labor market.
The
Violence of "Religion": Examining a Prevalent Myth
William T. Cavanaugh
Working Paper #310 - March 2004
Abstract
This essay examines arguments that religion is prone to violence and
finds them incoherent. They are incoherent because they can find no way
consistently to differentiate the religious from the secular. After
exposing the arbitrariness of the arguments, the essay goes on to examine
why such arguments are so common. The hypothesis put forward is that such
arguments are so prevalent because, while they delegitimate certain kinds
of violence, they legitimate other kinds of violence, namely, violence
done in the name of secular, Western states and ideals. Such arguments
sanction a putative dichotomy between non-Western, especially Muslim,
forms of culture on the one hand, which - having not yet learned to
privatize matters of faith - are absolutist, divisive, irrational, and
Western culture on the other, which is supposedly modest in its claims to
truth, unitive, and rational. In short, their violence is fanatical and
uncontrolled; our violence is controlled, reasonable, and often
regrettably necessary to contain their violence.
On
the Role of Distance for Outward Foreign Direct Investment
Peter Egger
Working Paper #311 - June 2004
Abstract
This paper focuses on the estimation of three distance-related effects
on outward foreign direct investment (FDI). (i) Distance harms vertical
multinationals, since they engage in trade. (ii) It makes non-trading
multinationals better off than exporters. (iii) This positive effect on
horizontal FDI is expected to rise with bilateral country size due to the
home market effect. The use of panel data and related econometric methods
is highly recommended to avoid parameter bias from endogenous, unobserved,
time-invariant effects. A unified estimation approach to assess all three
hypotheses then has to rely on instrumental variable techniques for
generalized leastsquares methods. In the empirical analysis of 1989–1999
bilateral US outward FDI stocks at the industry level, it is shown that
testing and accounting for autocorrelation is extremely important for
parameter inference. In sum, the paper lends strong support to the theory
of horizontally organized multinationals as outlined in Markusen and
Venables (2000).
Does
Lootable Wealth Breed Disorder? A Political Economy of Extraction
Framework
Richard Snyder
Working Paper #312 - July 2004
Abstract
This article proposes a political economy of extraction framework that
accounts for political order and state collapse as alternative outcomes in
the face of lootable wealth. Different types of institutions of extraction
can be built around lootable resources--with divergent effects on
political stability. If rulers are able to forge institutions of
extraction that give them control over the revenues generated by lootable
resources, then these resources can contribute to the maintenance of
political order by providing the income with which to govern. In contrast,
the breakdown or absence of such institutions increases the risk of civil
war by making it easier for rebels to get income. The framework is used to
explain two puzzling cases that experienced sharply contrasting political
trajectories in the face of lootable resources: Sierra Leone and Burma. A
focus on institutions of extraction provides a stronger understanding of
the wide range of political possibilities--from chaos, through
dictatorship, to democracy--in resource-rich countries.
Myths
of the Enemy: Castro, Cuba and Herbert L. Matthews of The New York Times
Anthony DePalma
Working Paper #313 - July 2004
Abstract
Fidel Castro was given up for dead, and his would-be revolution written
off, in the months after his disastrous invasion of the Cuban coast in
late 1956. Then a New York Times editorial writer named Herbert L.
Matthews published one of the great scoops of the 20th century, reporting
that not only was Castro alive, but that he was backed by a large and
powerful army that was waging a successful guerrilla war against dictator
Fulgencio Batista. Matthews, clearly taken by the young rebel’s charms,
and sympathetic to his cause, presented a skewed picture. He called Castro
a defender of the Cuban constitution, a lover of democracy, and a friend
of the American people: the truth as he saw it.
The image created by Matthews stuck, helping Castro consolidate his
power and gain international recognition. US attitudes toward the conflict
in Cuba changed, dooming Batista. But after the triumph of the revolution,
US views again abruptly shifted and Matthews was blamed for having helped
bring Castro to power. The perception that Washington had been hoodwinked
by Matthews and State Department officials sympathetic to Castro led to
the development of the hard line which still guides US–
Cuban relations.
A
Sequential Theory of Decentralization and its Effects on the
Intergovernmental Balance of Power: Latin American Cases in Comparative
Perspective
Tulia G. Falleti
Working Paper #314 - July 2004
Abstract
Both advocates and critics of decentralization assume that
decentralization invariably increases the power of subnational
governments. However, a closer examination of the consequences of
decentralization across countries reveals that the magnitude of such
change can range from substantial to insignificant. To explain this
variation, I propose a sequential theory of decentralization that has
three main characteristics: a) it defines decentralization as a process;
b) it takes into account the territorial interests of bargaining actors;
and c) it incorporates policy feedback effects in the analysis of
bargaining situations. I argue that the sequencing of different types of
decentralization (fiscal, administrative, and political) is a key
determinant of the evolution of intergovernmental balance of power. I
measure this evolution in the four largest Latin American countries and
apply the theory to the two extreme cases: Colombia and Argentina. I show
that, contrary to commonly held opinion, decentralization in Argentina did
not increase the power of governors and mayors relative to the president.
In contrast, in Colombia, a different sequence of decentralization reforms
led to higher degrees of autonomy of the governors and mayors relative to
the president.
Tax
Effort and Tax Potential of State Governments in Mexico: A Representative
Tax System
Horacio Sobarzo
Working Paper #315 - October 2004
Abstract
Over the last two decades, Mexico has modified its intergovernmental
fiscal structure from a very centralized system to a distorted scenario
where state governments have gained substantial expenditure functions and
most of the taxation responsibilities have remained in the federal
government. It is argued that to move towards a more fiscally responsible
scenario, some decentralization on the taxation side is needed. In this
context, by constructing a representative tax system (RTS), this paper
evaluates tax effort and tax potential in Mexico. The results are a useful
input for policy decision making, not only in the event of future tax
decentralization attempts but also in designing a new transfer scheme. The
results are also the first RTS constructed for the Mexican case, and show
that regional data in Mexico is gradually improving. Also, while the
results shed some light as to which taxes could potentially be
decentralized, the article warns about the fact that regional disparities
in the country may well be a limitation on the extent to which taxes can
be decentralized.
Rational
Learning and Bounded Learning in the Diffusion of Policy Innovations
Covadonga Meseguer
Working Paper #316 - January 2005
Abstract
In political science, rational learning and bounded learning are
commonly studied as two opposing theories of policy choice. In this paper,
I use a rational-learning approach to reach conclusions about bounded
learning, showing that the two theories are not necessarily incompatible.
By examining a rational-learning model and the decisions of a set of
developing countries to open up their trade regimes, I show that countries
are particularly influenced by the choices of neighbouring countries and
by particularly successful policy experiences. These are two typical
contentions of the bounded-learning literature. I argue that bounded
learning and rational learning yield the same results as soon as one drops
the rational-learning assumption that there are zero costs to gathering
new information. I use the discussion on rational learning versus bounded
learning as a basis for exploring more general issues concerning the
diffusion of policy innovations.
On
the Continuing Relevance of the Weberian Methodological Perspective (with
Applications to the Spanish Case of Elections in the Aftermath of
Terrorism)
Robert M. Fishman
Working Paper #317 - February 2005
Abstract
This paper argues for the continuing relevance of Max Weber’s
distinctive methodological perspective by first elaborating its
constitutive elements and then applying it to the analysis of an important
recent political episode: the Spanish case of elections in the aftermath
of terrorism in March 2004. The paper takes as the central feature of
Weberian methodology the embrace of both poles in a series of intellectual
tensions such as the seeming opposition between pursuing generalizing
theorization and case-specific nuance and specificity. The paper examines
the basis for this approach in Weber’s classic Objectivity Essay and
then builds a case for its continuing relevance by arguing that the impact
of the March 11, 2004 terrorist attack in Madrid on Spain’s March 14
elections cannot be understood without a thorough analysis of much that is
specific to the case’s political history, its pattern of conflict over
regional and national identities, and its distinctive nexus between
institutional and social movement forms of political engagement. Emphasis
is placed on the large shift of votes in the country’s plurinational
periphery and the electoral impact of micro-demonstrations. The paper
argues that this case shows the importance of using generalizing concepts
and theories without losing sight of case-specific dynamics that fail to
fit within the a priori assumptions of such generalizing approaches.
Class
Formation or Fragmentation? Allegiances and Divisions Among Managers and
Workers in State-Owned Enterprises
Kun-Chin Lin
Working Paper #318 - March 2005
Abstract
This essay argues that crosscutting allegiances between managers and
workers, and between existing workers and ex-workers, have formed strong
social and psychological bases for sustained collective action and
inaction during a period of organizational transformation in contemporary
China. This thesis challenges the conventional wisdom that implies either
class formation during marketization or the failure of such as an
explanation for the alleged limits of the working class in mobilizing to
defend its social contract against the central state. Through in-depth
case studies of Chinese oilfields and refineries, I identify patterns of
fragmentation deriving from intergenerational differences among the
workers, managerial incentive structures, and the continuing reworking of
patron-client relations between subgroups of workers and managers. I
conclude that managers’ and workers’ passive and active responses to
the state’s rapid dismantling of the socialist notion of “class” in
a self-sufficient work unit have placed a tangible social limit on
authoritarian institutional innovation.
Language
and Politics: on the Colombian “Establishment”
Eduardo Posada-Carbó
Working Paper #320 - October 2005
Abstract
During the last decade, the term “Establishment” has gained
currency among Colombian opinion makers—be they newspaper columnists,
politicians, or even academics. After surveying the ambiguities of the
concept in the United Kingdom and the United States—the countries where
it was first popularized in the 1950s and 1960s—this paper focuses on
the usages of the expression in the Colombian public debate. Based on a
variety of sources—including op-eds and newspaper reports, interviews
with leading public figures, and other political and academic
documents—I show how generalized the term has become. I examine how the
prevailing language gives the “Establishment” a central role in
shaping political developments in the past decades. It blames the
“Establishment” for the country’s most fundamental problems while
conferring on this same “Establishment” the power to solve them.
However, any attempt to identify what is meant by the “Establishment”
soon reveals an extremely confusing picture. In the final part of the
paper, I highlight some of the implications of the general usage of such a
vague and contradictory concept for the quality of democratic debate, the
legitimacy of the political system, and the possible solution of the armed
conflict in Colombia.
With
Friends Like These: Protest Strategies and the Left in Brazil and Mexico
Kathleen Bruhn
Working Paper #321 - October 2005
Abstract
This paper looks at the impact of Left victory and Left party alliance on the
protest behavior of popular movements, based on an original dataset of protest
in Mexico City, Brasilia, and São Paulo. I ask, first, whether Left victories
reduce levels of protest, and second, whether party alliances constrain protest.
My findings suggest that neither hypothesis is systematically correct.
Organizations do not protest significantly less against their allies. Nor do
Left governments experience less protest in general. Indeed, in two of the three
cities analyzed, Left governments experienced more protest than conservative
governments, much of it directed by their own political allies. In all three
cities, Left party allies protest significantly more regardless of who is in
power. These results suggest, first, that the tactical repertoires of movements
reflect fairly stable characteristics of movement type, resources, and/or
culture, as some sociological work has argued. Indeed, these stable
characteristics trump changes in local political opportunity structures as
predictors of movement tactics. Second, political opportunity structures do
matter, but in inconsistent ways across cases. Therefore, my findings also
suggest the potential fruitfulness of further specifying the contextual
conditions under which Left victories result in increased or decreased
tendencies to protest.
External
Pressures and International Norms in Latin American Pension Reform
Kurt Weyland
Working Paper #323 - February 2006
Abstract
What accounts for the striking of wave of pension privatization that swept
across Latin America during the 1990s? Many authors argue that the international
financial institutions (IFIs) successfully promoted this drastic change, forcing
or persuading weak developing countries to enact their uniform blueprints. But
the present analysis, based on field research in Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Rica, El
Salvador, and Peru, shows that these claims are not convincing. The IFIs cannot
impose external models of social sector reform on Latin American countries; to a
greater or lesser extent, all five countries under investigation—even weak,
aid-dependent Bolivia— diverged from IFI recommendations. The diffusion of
Chilean-style pension privatization did not result from the spread of new norms
and values either; in fact, the IFIs promoted structural social security reform
with instrumental, not normative arguments. Instead of vertical imposition,
horizontal contagion among developing countries of equal status—especially
direct learning from Chilean pension specialists—accounts for the diffusion of
social security privatization. Even in the age of globalization, national
sovereignty is quite alive and surprisingly well.
Los
Sistemas de Partidos en los Países Andinos, 1980–2005: Reformismo
Institucional, Autoritarismos Competitivos y los Desafíos Actuales
Martín Tanaka
Working Paper #324 - March 2006
Abstract
Here I study the party systems in the Andean countries in the last
twenty-five years. Facing the challenges of the exhaustion of the statist
national-popular development model, these countries followed a path of intense
institutional reform, opening and democratizing the political systems. In the
middle of these attempts, the party system collapsed in Peru and Venezuela,
while in Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador, the party systems manage to evolve
despite significant crisis. The difference between the two paths is a
significant one: the collapse of the party systems led to the establishment of
competitive authoritarian regimes, while the gradual opening of the political
system allowed the emergence of new forces and the presence of sectors
previously excluded or subordinated under pluralistic schemes. In recent years,
the exhaustion of market reforms and an adverse international environment places
the region again in a new critical juncture, where the main options seem to be
to continue through a path of more reforms and opening of the political system,
which may lead to governability crisis, or attempt to organize and
institutionalize the disordered opening produced in recent years.
Sacred
Writings, Profane World: Notes on the History of Ideas in Brazil
Francisco C. Weffort∗
Working Paper #325 - April 2006
Abstract
Like other Ibero-American countries, Brazil is a country whose Catholic
origins would mark its cultural uniqueness for centuries to come. It was a new
country, born in the wake of the great discoveries of the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, and dependent in its first centuries on Portuguese
colonizing efforts that paved the way for the modern era, similar to the other
Iberian countries of America, which were dependent on Spain. Brazil was also
marked by the historical vicissitudes of the late Middle Ages, by the short
Renaissance experienced in the Iberian countries, and by the Counter-Reformation
and long decadence of the centuries that followed. After giving the world its
first glimpse of modernity, Portugal and Spain appeared for centuries to be
fortresses of tradition. Fruit of a history that was divided between seduction
by the past and fascination with the new, Brazilian culture still shows traces
of these origins.
In more recent times we have preferred to simplify the image of that past,
obeying the economic orientation that has become the dominant feature of our
intellectual life and the main current of a style of thinking. Even our memory
of the most distant past has been subordinated to the same one-dimensional logic
of economic interest that we generally apply to present situations. Yet by
relegating cultural and political passions to the margins, we are left with only
a partial view of history that ignores essential aspects. This paper attempts to
shed light on some of those forgotten truths.
Growth
and Transformation of the Workers’ Party in Brazil, 1989–2002
Wendy Hunter
Working Paper #326 - August 2006
Abstract
The Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) in Brazil, a once radical and
programmatic party whose impressive rise in Brazil’s patronage-oriented
political system appeared to defy institutionalist logic, has come to look
more like its catchall competitors. Rather than continuing to build upon its
earlier promise to shape the party system in a more programmatic direction and
induce higher standards of conduct among the country’s politicians, the
PT—once called an “anomaly” and the most likely case for continued
difference—has itself become more like a typical Brazilian party. This
evolution resulted from the increasing emphasis that party leaders placed on
immediate vote–maximization and the corresponding moves to bring the party
closer to the political center. While this shift expanded the party’s
electoral base, the pull to power rendered the PT more vulnerable to
institutional incentives and effectively compromised its political integrity.
Thus, rather than transforming the system, the PT became yet another of its
victims.
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