Kategoria BISAC: History >> Latin America - General

Few fans, however, know that Batista didn't join the profession until he was thirty years old -- an age at which many wrestlers are thinking about hanging up their boots. Nor do most fans know the tremendous toll the climb to the top has taken on Batista's...

Wooton makes a spirited, intelligent argument for the role of Latin American managers and entrepreneurs in formulating progressive economic and political change in Latin America. He argues for pragmatic, problem-solving approaches to public and private issues, for more decentralized institutions, and for an optimism about Latin America's prospects. None of this is new, but Wooton's work is one of the best, presenting a well-developed case that recognizes the complexities of social and political implications. . . . Wooton's writing is lively, easy to read, and serious. "Choice"

Wooton's...

This book describes six years of conflict management, involving much confrontation and selective diplomacy, during which Cuba was put progressively on the defensive by political (surrogate radio broadcasting and human rights), economic (strengthening the embargo) and military (Grenada) actions. After an overview to mid-1982, the book covers the Reagan-Shultz era chronologically, discussing major bilateral issues and focusing on migration and radio broadcasting, two issues that Cuba linked in 1985. As Coordinator of Cuban Affairs for the U.S. Department of State from 1982-88, Skoug brings...

The volume offers a rich synthesis of political science research on Latin America over the past 30 years and offers a wealth of information to anyone interested in the area--from the beginning student to the area specialist. . . . The volume is an impressive achievement and will not outdate soon. "Library Journal" (starred review)

This handbook offers the reader a rich synthesis of the political science research on the Latin American region over the past thirty years. It reviews published books, articles, and government documents in addition to a few select doctoral dissertations....

Lentner analyzes four basic components in the formation of states: the capacity to govern, security and freedom of action, economic development strategy, and citizenship and political participation. He focuses on five Central American countries--Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. His conceptual guidelines apply to the worldwide strivings today for autonomy, unity, economic development, and democracy. His extensive research into original and little-known secondary sources from the independence of these states to the present both in the United States and Central...

This edited collection explores how different dictators and authoritarian parties and factions have frequently succeeded in rising to power in modern Latin America, often retaining political and/or military control for long periods of time. The volume examines whether there are common factors within the Latin American sociopolitical, cultural, and historical context that have allowed authoritarianism to play such a fundamental and recurrent role in the continent's development. Including chapters on Mexico, Chile, Cuba, Paraguay, and Honduras, the work will be of interest to scholars and...

What makes for an ongoing, successful democracy in Latin America? The essays in this collection emphasize the inherent dynamicism needed to sustain democratic governance. Organized around analyses of political institutions, political parties, public administration and corruption, public opinion, and continuity and change in Venezuelan politics, the essays advance the proposition that Venezuelan democracy survived recent threats because of its capacity to reform institutions and absorb new actors.

The chapter authors include prominent scholars from both the United States and Venezuela,...

Latin Americans as sailors? This remark caused laughter among 19th-century foreign observers, particularly British observers. Yet, Latin Americans did struggle to create important merchant fleets, an effort largely ignored outside the region. This book rescues Latin American shipping from oblivion. In a chronological narrative, it presents the most important events in the emergence of Latin American shipping. While focusing on the shipping companies, the book also roams widely into governmental policy, foreign relations, and naval affairs.

Divided into two parts, the book opens with a...

As new democratic regimes take root in Latin America, two of the most striking developments have been a dramatic rise in crime rates and increased perception of insecurity among its citizens. The contributors to this book offer a collective assessment of some of the causes for the alarming rise in criminal activity in the region. They also explore the institutional obstacles that states confront in the effort to curb criminality and build a fairer and more efficient criminal justice system; the connections between those obstacles and larger sociopolitical patterns; and the challenges that...

The Roman Catholic Church in Latin America faces significant and unprecedented challenges. Most prominent among them are secularization, globalizing cultural trends, intensifying religious competition, and pluralism of many kinds within what were once hegemonic Catholic societies. The substantial and original essays in this volume assess the ways in which the Catholic Church in Latin America is dealing with these political, religious, and social changes. Most importantly, they explore how democracy has changed the Catholic Church and, in turn, how religious changes have influenced...