The political culture of Latin America is rooted in a history of border disputes and colonial practice reaching back into the last century. It has thrown up a number of authoritarian military regimes and a history of military coups, the result of competition between deeply entrenched vested and often economic, interests in Church and state. The 11 Conflict Studies which constitute the chapters of this book were originally published between 1983 and 1996 and assess the prospects for democracy in the wider context of international security. The problems of the different Latin American countries - including Brazil, Chile, Peru, the Caribbean, Mexico and Cuba - comprise urbanization and development, inflation and economic instability, regional security, global drug trafficking and terrorism and, in the case of Cuba, development in the post-Soviet phase. Above all, democratization in Latin America depends on the removal of the possibility of military intervention - a key theme throughout the volume.

Introduction by: William Gutteridge