Latin American Studies Commons^™

Long Live Democracy: The Determinants Of Political Instability In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Robin Grier

Luisa Blanco

In this paper, we investigate the determinants of political instability in Latin America. In a panel of 18 Latin American countries from 1971 to 2000, we find that democratic countries experience less average instability in the region, indicating that the move to increased democracy in the last couple decades may alleviate the persistent problem of instability in the area. We also find that income inequality and ethnic fractionalization are important determinants of instability. Countries with low levels of inequality also suffer less instability on average, while ethnic diversity has a non-linear effect on instability. Many macroeconomic variables commonly thought to …

Explaining The Rise Of The Left In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Robin Grier

Luisa Blanco

Latin American politics has taken a left-hand turn in the last decade, with an increasing number of chief executives hailing from left-of-center parties. We investigate the political and socio-economic factors explaining political ideology of the chief executive in a sample of 100 elections taking place between 1975 and 2007 in eighteen Latin American countries. We find that the commodity booms in agricultural, mining and oil are positively and significantly related to the probability that a country will have a chief executive from a left-of-center political party. However, for oil exports, we observe that this effect only holds for Venezuela. We …

The Finance–Growth Link Revisited And The Role Of Institutions As A Source Of Finance In Latin America, Luisa Blanco

Luisa Blanco

In a panel framework that includes 18 countries, this paper studies the short and long run effect of financial development on economic growth and the determinants of financial development in Latin America. Financial development shows a positive effect on economic growth in the long run, but a negative effect in the short run for the full sample. When the sample is divided by income levels, this result holds only for the high income group. For the low income group, financial development has no significant effect on economic growth in the short run or in the long run. In the analysis …

The Impact Of Fdi On Co₂ Emissions In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Fidel Gonzalez, Isabel Ruiz

Luisa Blanco

This paper uses panel Granger causality tests to study the relationship between sector specific FDI and CO2 emissions. Using a sample of 18 Latin American countries for the 1980-2007 period, we find causality running from FDI in polluting intensive industries (“the dirty sector”) to CO2 emissions per capita. This result is robust to controlling for other factors associated with CO2 emissions and using the ratio of CO2 emissions to GDP. For other sectors, we find no robust evidence that FDI causes CO2 emissions.

The (Non) Effect Of Natural Resource Dependence On Capital Accumulation In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Robin Grier

Luisa Blanco

In a simultaneous model of human and physical capital accumulation for 17 Latin American countries from 1975 to 2004, we show that overall resource dependence is not significantly related to physical and human capital. Disaggregating the natural resource variable into subcategories, we find that petroleum export dependence is associated with higher physical capital and lower human capital, while agricultural export dependence is often associated with lower levels of physical capital. All of these effects are quantitatively small, however, casting doubt on the idea that natural resource dependence has stifled the accumulation of capital in the region.

The Finance–Growth Link In Latin America, Luisa Blanco

Luisa Blanco

This paper analyzes the relationship between financial development and economic growth in Latin America with a Granger causality test and impulse response functions in a panel vector autoregression model. Using annual observations from a sample of 18 countries from 1962 to 2005, it is shown that while economic growth causes financial development, financial development does not cause economic growth. This finding is robust to different model specifications and different financial indicators. Interestingly, when the sample is divided according to different income levels and institutional quality, there is two way causality between financial development and economic growth only for the middle …

The Impact Of Spatial Interdependence On Fdi In Latin America, Luisa Blanco

Luisa Blanco

This analysis considers whether spatial interdependence is an important determinant of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Latin America. Two types of spatial interdependence are explored: 1) surrounding market potential and 2) spatial autocorrelation of FDI. Using a sample of 17 Latin American countries, with observations from 1986 to 2006, we find that spatial interdependence matters for world net FDI in the region. Surrounding market potential has a positive effect on FDI of significant magnitude, but there is no evidence that FDI is spatially autocorrelated. Other contributors to FDI in this analysis include governance, specifically control of corruption, and exports of …

Dimensions Of Legislative Conflict: Coalitions, Obstructionism, And Lawmaking In Multiparty Presidential Regimes, Taeko Hiroi, Lucio Renno

Taeko Hiroi

This article addresses central issues in multiparty presidential systems: the functioning of legislative coalitions and the dynamics of legislative conflict. Since electoral competition has elements of both positive-sum (increase in common support) and zero-sum (exact division of the support) qualities, lawmaking in coalitional systems presents unique challenges. Using legislative data from Brazil, we examine how coalition management and unity affect legislative delay and obstructionism. We find, among others, that: (1) coalition management is pivotal for both faster legislative approval and less obstructionism, but its effect depends on coalition size; and (2) cohesive opposition impedes the legislative process.

Remarks By Winston Langley, Provost And Vice Chancellor For Academic Affairs At Umass Boston, Winston Langley

Winston E. Langley

Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UMass Boston, Winston Langley, discusses Rita Arditti, human rights, and the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo.

Living Among Guatemalan Mayans Is Fascinating Experience, Irene Scharf

Irene Scharf

I have just lived a dream. Five years ago I learned of a school where students of all ages could study Spanish intensively while living among the Guatemalan Mayans. Peace Accords had been signed in 1996, the government was encouraging tourism, and it was, finally, safe to visit.

Why a dream? Because, 25 years ago, when I traveled through Central and South America, I promised my family I would avoid Guatemala because of the perceived was dangers. During that trip, as I met my Europeans and other who had visited, remained safe, and found it a fascinating country, I vowed …

The Memory Boom In Putumayo, Colombia, Winifred Tate

Winifred L. Tate

No abstract provided.

Confronting The Juggernaut: Establishing Pro-Diversity Initiatives At Institutions Of Higher Learning, Norman Powell

Norman W. Powell

As general and student populations become increasingly multicultural, institutions of higher learning have taken steps to implement diversity initiatives and programs. Regional and national accrediting bodies and councils have included requirements calling for the implementation of diversity initiatives at universities and colleges. In response, these institutions have established offices, created high-level administrative positions, and have developed campus centers that focus on diversity and intercultural issues. Based on previous and current experience, the author describes several diversity programs and strategies that have been implemented at post-secondary institutions. Much of the impetus for these institutions to develop diversity programs comes from the …

Challenges Of The Cooperative Movement In Addressing Issues Of Human Security In The Context Of A Neoliberal World: The Case Of Argentina, Stefan Ivanovski

Stefan Ivanovski

The response of some Argentine workers to the 2001 crisis of neoliberalism gave rise to a movement of worker-recovered enterprises (empresas recuperadas por sus trabajadores or ERTs). The ERTs have emerged as former employees took over the control of generally fraudulently bankrupt factories and enterprises. The analysis of the ERT movement within the neoliberal global capitalist order will draw from William Robinson’s (2004) neo-Gramscian concept of hegemony. The theoretical framework of neo-Gramscian hegemony will be used in exposing the contradictions of capitalism on the global, national, organizational and individual scales and the effects they have on the ERT movement. The …

Human Rights-Based Sustainable Development Practical And Theoretical Reflection On The Strategic Centrality Of Human Rights In Pursuing Sustainable International Development, Marco Tavanti

Marco Tavanti

As sustainability is linked to social responsibility, sustainable development is inherently linked to human rights. The social, economic, cultural and environmental struggles among indigenous communities of Chiapas, Mexico, speak of the centrality of human rights in achieving sustainable development. This paper addresses the theoretical and practical implication that human rights have if placed at the center of sustainable development models. Through an examination of the Sustain-Able Chiapas Program (among Maya and Zapatista communities) and the insights of Dr. Alfredo Sfeir Younis (the first environmental economist of the World Bank) the paper offers innovative insights into a right-based model for achieving …

The Impact Of Insecurity On Democracy And Trust In Institutions In Mexico, Luisa Blanco

Luisa Blanco

Using survey data from the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) and Encuesta Nacional Sobre la Inseguridad (ENSI) for Mexico during the period 2004-2010, this paper analyses the impact of insecurity and crime victimization on support and satisfaction with democracy and trust in institutions. With the LAPOP data, perceptions about higher insecurity decrease support and satisfaction with democracy. Perceptions of insecurity and crime victimization have a negative significant effect on trust in institutions, and this finding is robust to using LAPOP and ENSI data. Perceptions of insecurity and crime victimization have a larger negative effect on trust in institutions that …

The Putumayo Women’S Alliance: “Here We Are Still Fighting” (Part One), Winifred Tate

Winifred L. Tate

No abstract provided.

La Aplicación De Reconstrucciones Digitales Para La Conservación De Patrimonio: Aportes Preliminares Sobre El Caso De Chan Chan, Patricia Chirinos Ogata

Patricia Chirinos Ogata

Available informatic resources contribute to the archaeological process allowing to have a more detailed register of the evidence and leading to an efficient information management. Digital reconstruction of sites, as developed all over the world, can be helpful to iconographic research, data massification and especially for the preservation of cultural heritage. In this article, a proposal for a virtual reconstruction of Chan Chan in the peruvian North Coast is made. This paper presents a brief summary of the project development, giving the outlines, research phases and the possible contributions and perspectives.

War In Pieces: Amia And The Triple Frontier In Argentine And American Discourse On Terrorism, Nathaniel Greenberg

Nathaniel Greenberg

July 18, 2010 marked yet another anniversary of the still unsolved terrorist attack that shook Argentina some sixteen years ago. Prior to September 11, Argentina in fact suffered two deadly terrorist attacks. The second of these, the bombing of La Asociación Mutual Israeli-Argentina (AMIA) on July 18, 1994, was the single largest attack targeting Jews since WWII and the largest terrorist attack in Latin American history. While the group “Islamic Jihad [Organization]” described by the FBI as “a covername” used by Hizbollah, claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992, explanations for the AMIA …

La Demografía Hispánica En Suelo Norteamericano: Los Mexicanos; ‘Latinos’ E Hispanohablantes: Mexicanos, Carmen Silva-Corvalán, Andrew Lynch

Andrew Lynch

No abstract provided.

A Sociological Analysis Of The 2006 Mexican Elections, Joseph Klesner

Joseph Klesner

No abstract provided.

El Español En Contacto Con Otras Lenguas, Carol Klee, Andrew Lynch

Andrew Lynch

El español en contacto con otras lenguas is the first comprehensive historical, social, and linguistic overview of Spanish in contact with other languages in all of its major contexts—in Spain, the United States, and Latin America. This book explores the historical and social factors that have shaped contact varieties of the Spanish language, synthesizing the principle arguments and theories about language contact, and examining linguistic changes in Spanish phonology, morphology and syntax, and pragmatics.

Individual chapters analyze particular contact situations: in Spain, contact with Basque, Catalan, Valencian, and Galician; in Mexico, Central, and South America, contact with Nahuatl, Maya, Quechua, …

La Demografía Hispánica En Suelo Norteamericano: Otros Países De Ámbito Hispánico; ‘Latinos’ E Hispanohablantes: Otras Procedencias, Andrew Lynch

Andrew Lynch

No abstract provided.

Global Sustainable Values – Video Interviews To Selected Global Leaders, Marco Tavanti

Marco Tavanti

Dr. Tavanti's interviews to selected global leaders exemplifying teaching values on sustainability, human rights, international development, social responsibility and public service

The Janus-Faced Character Of Tourism In Cuba: Ideological Continuity And Change, Kathleen Adams

Kathleen M. Adams

No abstract provided.

Colombian State Human Rights Policies, Winifred Tate

Winifred L. Tate

No abstract provided.

Counting The Dead: The Politics And Culture Of Human Rights Activism In Colombia, Winifred Tate

Winifred L. Tate

At a time when a global consensus on human rights standards seems to be emerging, this rich study steps back to explore how the idea of human rights is actually employed by activists and human rights professionals. Winifred Tate, an anthropologist and activist with extensive experience in Colombia, finds that radically different ideas about human rights have shaped three groups of human rights professionals working there--nongovernmental activists, state representatives, and military officers. Drawing from the life stories of high-profile activists, pioneering interviews with military officials, and research at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Counting the Dead underscores …

La Imagen Del Imperio: Los Estudios Sobre Wari En La Arqueología Peruana, Patricia Chirinos Ogata

Patricia Chirinos Ogata

In Peru and in the rest of the world, a great part of the information that helps us to understand the past comes from the story of archaeological practice itself. This article presents some thoughts about how the story of archaeological research in Peru has defined the concept that we have now about Wari and the Middle Horizon, and the impact of this phenomenon in the academic, social, political and cultural spheres.

Debating Violence In Colombia, Winifred Tate

Winifred L. Tate

No abstract provided.

No Room For Peace: The U.S. Role In Colombian Peace Processes, Winifred Tate

Winifred L. Tate

No abstract provided.

Desert Of The Heart (Book Review), Linda Niemann

Linda G. Niemann

Reviews the book "Flying Sparks: Growing Up on the Edge of Las Vegas," by Odette Larson. New York: Verso, 2001.