Regional Threats to Western Security

Abstract

The proximity of Latin America is the obvious basis for US interest in the region. Economic and political ties between individual Latin American countries and the United States are rather close and the United States has traditionally assumed the existence of a ‘special relationship’ with the countries of the Western Hemisphere. In view of this, developments in 1983 aroused much concern. Both the security situation in Central America, and the economic situations in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and several other countries have deteriorated sharply, presenting clear long-term dangers to American security. The one favorable development was a trend towards civilian constitutional rule in several Latin American countries; if sustained, such political progress could create a more stable basis for mutually beneficial relations between the United States and its neighbors to the south.