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"In a century of horrors, Guatemala from 1954 to the present has been a bloody scene of some of the worst horrors—and the United States has been deeply involved. Drawing upon 30 years of experience in Central America, hundreds of interviews, and analyses of the vast documentary materials, Susanne Jonas masterfully explains not only how the Guatemalan tragedies, the U.S. involvement, and the stumbling 1990s peace process developed. She also raises fundamental questions about the badly misunderstood and much over-hyped 'democratic transition' supposedly occurring in Guatemala and elsewhere in the region." —Walter LaFeber Cornell University, author of Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America
Intended to fill a gap in the literature on immigration, this work provides a variety of perspectives among those who agree that immigrants have rights, but may differ in how to assert those rights. The contributions challenge the historic and ongoing struggle of migrants rights.
For Central America, the last third of the 20th century was a time of dramatic change in which most countries shifted from dictatorships to formal political democracy. This study demonstrates how revolt and revolution served as the motors of political change in Central America. The book examines the various ways in which democratic transition has taken place - all of which have been distinct from countries in South America, where democratization was relatively sudden and peaceful. It analyzes the major forces shaping change in the region and provides the recent political history of all six Central American countries: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama. Each country's particular transition should add to the reader's understanding of democratization.
This powerful study makes a compelling case about the key U.S. role in state terrorism in Latin America during the Cold War. Long hidden from public view, Operation Condor was a military network created in the 1970s to eliminate political opponents of Latin American regimes. Its key members were the anticommunist dictatorships of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil, later joined by Peru and Ecuador, with covert support from the U.S. government. Drawing on a wealth of testimonies, declassified files, and Latin American primary sources, J. Patrice McSherry examines Operation Condor from numerous vantage points: its secret structures, intelligence networks, covert operation...
The presence and impact of Hispanics/Latinos in the United States cannot be ignored. Already the largest minority group, by 2050 their numbers will exceed all the other minority groups in the United States combined. The diversity of this population is often understated, but the people differ in terms of their origin, race. language, custom, religion, political affiliation, education and economic status. The heterogeneity of the Hispanic/Latino population raises questions about their identity and their rights: do they really constitute a group? That is, do they have rights as a group, or just as individuals? This volume, addresses these concerns through a varied and interdisciplinary approach.
The Eisenhower administration's intervention in Guatemala is one of the most closely studied covert operations in the history of the Cold War. Yet we know far more about the 1954 coup itself than its aftermath. This book uses the concept of "counterrevolution" to trace the Eisenhower administration's efforts to restore U.S. hegemony in a nation whose reform governments had antagonized U.S. economic interests and the local elite. Comparing the Guatemalan case to U.S.-sponsored counterrevolutions in Iran, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Chile reveals that Washington's efforts to roll back "communism" in Latin America and elsewhere during the Cold War represented in reality a short-term strategy to protect core American interests from the rising tide of Third World nationalism.
A Companion to Ronald Reagan evaluates in unprecedented detail the events, policies, politics, and people of Reagan’s administration. It assesses the scope and influence of his various careers within the context of the times, providing wide-ranging coverage of his administration, and his legacy. Assesses Reagan and his impact on the development of the United States based on new documentary evidence and engagement with the most recent secondary literature Offers a mix of historiographic chapters devoted to foreign and domestic policy, with topics integrated thematically and chronologically Includes a section on key figures associated politically and personally with Reagan
A history and analysis of the United States’ involvement in the deposition of Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz and the consequences. Using documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, recently opened archival collections, and interviews with the actual participants, Immerman provides us with a definitive, powerfully written, and tension-packed account of the United States’ clandestine operations in Guatemala and their consequences in Latin America today. “A valuable study of what Immerman correctly portrays as a seminal event, not just in the annals of the Cold War, but in U.S.–Latin American relations.” —Washington Monthly “A damning indictment of American interference abroad.” —Pittsburgh Press “A masterpiece of analysis.” —Reviews in American History
Explores the processes of social healing and reconciliation in traumatised communities such as Sierra Leone, Somalia, Liberia, Colombia; Foreword by Judy Atkinson.
All fourteen major peacebuilding missions launched between 1989 and 1999 shared a common strategy for consolidating peace after internal conflicts: immediate democratization and marketization. Transforming war-shattered states into market democracies is basically sound, but pushing this process too quickly can have damaging and destabilizing effects. The process of liberalization is inherently tumultuous, and can undermine the prospects for stable peace. A more sensible approach to post-conflict peacebuilding would seek, first, to establish a system of domestic institutions that are capable of managing the destabilizing effects of democratization and marketization within peaceful bounds and only then phase in political and economic reforms slowly, as conditions warrant. Peacebuilders should establish the foundations of effective governmental institutions prior to launching wholesale liberalization programs. Avoiding the problems that marred many peacebuilding operations in the 1990s will require longer-lasting and, ultimately, more intrusive forms of intervention in the domestic affairs of these states. This book was first published in 2004.