Latin America Bureau – författare

Most Latin American countries are characterised by social injustice, economic repression and widespread violations of human rights. Relations between Britain and Latin America. Although longstanding, are largely unquestioned by policy-makers and are rarely the subject of public debate. In publishing this review of British-Latin America relations, the intention of Latin America Bureau is to inform, to question and to recommend. This 1978 review, opens up the debate with articles which look at the nature of British aid, trade, investment and foreign policy in Latin America as well as the character of the Latin America regimes with which Britain deals.

Underdevelopment, poverty, dictatorship and repression in Latin America are persistent and interrelated problems. Many Latin American governments pursue economic policies which deepen social inequalities and conflict and which are frequently implemented through the violent suppression of civil and political rights. The conduct of European governments and companies towards Latin America often implicitly support dictatorial regimes and reinforces the causes of underdevelopment. Europe and Latin America aims to make European involvement in Latin America the subject of critical debate with a view to promoting a more equitable distribution of wealth and respect for human rights in the region.

Guyana is on the verge of economic collapse and a profound social crisis. The socialist rhetoric of President Forbes Burnham''s regime contrasts strikingly with the ugly details of his personalist and authoritarian rule. Burnham supports progressive third world views internationally, yet his party is responsible for the murder and harassment of its opponents at home. His policy to ''feed, clothe and house'' the population has resulted in endemic food shortages, 40% unemployment and falling living standards for the great majority of people. Far from living up to the ''cooperative socialist'' principles on which the PNC regime is supposedly based, Burnham''s party has been responsible for massively rigging every election that has occured since the country gained independence. Guyana: Fraudulent Revolution analyses these contradictions in the context of the country''s history from its days as a slave colony, through the violent era that preceeded independence in the 1960s, to the present situation of economic collapse and political repression. It tells the story of the racial manipulation, violence and political fraud that have become the hallmarks of the Burnham regime.

Nicaragua: Dictatorship and Revolution traces the history of one of the longest lasting and most repugnant dictatorships in Latin America and describes the popular insurrection which finally overthrew the 43 year old Somoza dynasty. It also chronicles the history of support for the dynasty by the US and the ambiguous attitude they and other countries adopted as the dictatorship was being swept away.

Since 1954 Paraguay has been ruled by the dictator Alfredo Stroessner, the longest surviving head of state in the world. His regime has been characterized by extreme brutality, corruption and economic stagnation. However, in 1973 Paraguay began to experience dramatic economic and social changes as a result of the construction of Itaipu - the largest hydroelectric dam in the world - and massive Brazilian colonization. Paraguay: Power Game chronicle''s Paraguay''s tragic history and analyzes the nature of the Stroessner regime. It look critically at the country''s explosive economic development, in particular the threat to Paraguayan autonomy from Brazil, and shows how this process is deepening the exploitation and impoverishment of the Paraguayan people. The terms of the Itaiou treaty, which gurantee Brazil cheap electric power at Paraguay''s expense, have already become a focus for opposition to Stroessner''s iron control of the country, marking the beginning of a new power game in Paraguay.