Leaders, Leadership, and U.S. Policy in Latin America

Because the governing framework in many Latin American countries is weak or unstable, the United States has often resorted to formulating and implementing policy based on its ability to deal with a wide array of national leaders, from military dictators to civilian politicians to Marxist revolutionaries. Leaders and leadership style are therefore important factors in U.S. perception of the region and in the development of policies that affect Latin American countries. In this book Michael Kryzanek examines the ways in which the critical interaction between individual leaders and the U.S. policy community affects the substance and direction of hemispheric relations. Throughout, the author uses case studies to illustrate how individual heads of state respond to the issues of drugs, debt, trade, and regional security. Such leaders as Salinas of Mexico, Gaviria of Colombia, Chamorro of Nicaragua, Endara of Panama, Cristiani of El Salvador, and Menem of Argentina are examined at close range to analyze their mode of operation and to assess their ability to attain national objectives in a region in which U.S. influence is substantial.