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Latin American Security Challenges, Paul D. Taylor

Newport Papers

Two major trends in recent years have altered the context of discussions of security issues in the Western Hemisphere and made new assessments imperative. The first trend is the erosion of the euphoria of the early 1990s, when the apparent success of elections in most countries of the Americas seemed to herald a new democratic era, and market-oriented economic reforms promised greater prosperity throughout the region. Regrettably, the past decade has seen a profound disillusionment, as the promises of freedom, prosperity, and greater social and economic progress have not been realized at a rate sufficient to convince citizens that their …