Mónica Toussaint - Böcker

This book is a collective work published as part of a larger project titled "Mexico-Guatemala cross-border region; regional dimensions and bases for integrated development," the purpose of which is to introduce a series of issues relative to the geopolitical dimension of Mexico’s actions in Central America and its stance on conflicts in the region between 1959 and 2019.The most widely published texts up until now have been written by Mexican authors, and we have less insight into how these processes have been viewed from Central America. With that in mind, we brought together a group of specialists, each highly renowned in their own country, some of them academics and others whose accounts are worth hearing because of their participation in social and political movements that are closely bound up in this issue. The following questions guided the drafting of this book: How have Central Americans viewed Mexican policies toward their countries? What do they think of Mexico’s influence in various spheres of life in the region? Has Central America’s past view of Mexico as their Latin American "big brother" changed? What do they consider to be the most salient issues in relations between our countries? What were the strategic interests of Cuba and the United States in the region? How did these processes develop during the Cold War, and what elements began to change in the 1990s? The purpose of the chapters in this book is to answer these questions and to bring together and share knowledge and perspectives.This book will appeal to students and researchers alike interested in the politics and history of 20th-century Mexico and Central America, as well as the involvement of such states during the Cold War and thereafter.

This book is a collective work published as part of a larger project titled "Mexico-Guatemala cross-border region; regional dimensions and bases for integrated development," the purpose of which is to introduce a series of issues relative to the geopolitical dimension of Mexico’s actions in Central America and its stance on conflicts in the region between 1959 and 2019.The most widely published texts up until now have been written by Mexican authors, and we have less insight into how these processes have been viewed from Central America. With that in mind, we brought together a group of specialists, each highly renowned in their own country, some of them academics and others whose accounts are worth hearing because of their participation in social and political movements that are closely bound up in this issue. The following questions guided the drafting of this book: How have Central Americans viewed Mexican policies toward their countries? What do they think of Mexico’s influence in various spheres of life in the region? Has Central America’s past view of Mexico as their Latin American "big brother" changed? What do they consider to be the most salient issues in relations between our countries? What were the strategic interests of Cuba and the United States in the region? How did these processes develop during the Cold War, and what elements began to change in the 1990s? The purpose of the chapters in this book is to answer these questions and to bring together and share knowledge and perspectives.This book will appeal to students and researchers alike interested in the politics and history of 20th-century Mexico and Central America, as well as the involvement of such states during the Cold War and thereafter.

This volume explores several issues pertinent to the history of the cross-border region between Mexico, Guatemala and Belize from new explanatory approaches in order to reflect on a history and a reality that are shared by three neighbouring societies, emphasizing the actors and local practices that shape cross-border dynamics.This analysis is contributed by eight specialists who study aspects that are fundamental to our understanding of a process involving various persons and institutions in a specific space. Dynamics and Conflicts in a Cross-Border Region addresses an issue of current relevance through studies that focus on the problems inhabitants of the region have faced over the years: the realities of a porous border; the existence of family, trade and cultural ties that surpass the administrative limits negotiated by the states late in the 19th century; the impact of the internal conflicts of neighbour countries in the border space; experiences of exile and refuge at the border and the violence they entail; the role of local authorities in managing regional problems; the pending task of cross-border territorial organization; the efforts of local institutions to promote regional development; and the presence of phenomena like contraband, drug trafficking, organized crime and human trafficking in an increasingly complex and challenging space. This provides a way to use the region’s history as a springboard for conceiving of mechanisms by which we can together face the challenges presented today to the inhabitants of the cross-border region between Mexico, Guatemala and Belize.This book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Latin American history and Social History.