Latin America
February 1997

February Article Abstracts

Title: Mexico: Uneasy, Uncertain, Unpredictable
Author: Denise Dresser
"As Mexico slouches from economic meltdown to recalcitrant recovery, several questions loom large in the minds of pundits and investors, Mexicans and foreigners alike: Will President Ernesto Zedillo maintain current economic policy or will he succumb to political pressures and electoral cycles? Will the social fabric unravel or will it withstand the brunt of 'adjustment fatigue'? And is the predicted demise of the PRI likely, or will the party display its traditional resilience?"

Title: Panama: Tailoring a New Image
Author: Steve C. Ropp
Do Panama's preparations to assume control of the canal in 2000 constitute a new framework for democracy and ascension to membership in the global economy? Or, as evidence of its incremental movement toward authoritarianism suggests, are these efforts merely the dictator's new clothes?

Title: Constructing Democracy in El Salvador
Author: Tommie Sue Montgomery
"[T]he democratic process continues in El Salvador. The manner in which the upcoming elections are carried out will indicate just how firm the country's democratic foundation really is."

Title: Guatemala's Long Road to Peace
Author: David Holiday
"The obstacles to consolidating the peace in Guatemala are substantial, and success is not guaranteed. At best, the peace process has given Guatemala its last viable chance to create a national agenda for development and democratization."

Title: Nicaragua: Beyond the Revolution
Author: Jennifer L. McCoy and Shelley A. McConnell
"[W]hat do the October elections mean for Nicaraguan democracy and its revolutionary legacy? Were they the hoped-for 'consolidation elections'? Or is the country's path to democracy more circuitous?"

Title: Doubting Democracy in Honduras
Author: J. Mark Ruhl
"[D]emocratic consolidation requires that the mass public as well as the political elites accept the democratic process as legitimate. Unfortunately, ordinary Hondurans are beginning to lose faith in electoral democracy just as their political leaders are learning to function under its rules."

Title: The United States, World Trade, and the Helms-Burton Act
Author: Peter Morici
"It is time for President Clinton and Congress to recognize that threatening foreign companies that are using property confiscated from Americans in Cuba is creating more costs than benefits; the president should seek repeal of these provisions of Helms-Burton."