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Spain and the Hispanics: A Strategic Project WP63-2004 - 28.12.2004 (Translation from Spanish) Emilio Cassinello This report provides specific suggestions as to how the various Spanish institutions can proceed in their dealings with the diverse, dynamic, growing and ever-changing Hispanic community in the US. The presence of Hispanics is growing at an accelerating pace on the political, cultural, artistic, media and economic scenes of the –for now– sole global superpower. The tightening of ties between Spain and the US Hispanic community can take place at several levels, including the political, the educational-cultural and the economic
Spain and Latin America: global vs. bilateral relations WP58-2004 - 1.12.2004 (Translation from Spanish) Carlos Malamud Traditionally, Spanish foreign policy on Latin America has put global relations before bilateral ones, especially with the most important countries in the region. The philosophy behind this is that we are part of the Ibero-American Community of Nations, a theoretically supranational body made up of fraternal and equal nations. This bias in our diplomacy has affected bilateral relations which, though not inexistent, have not been developed systematically. Preference has been given to good, acceptable relations with Ibero-American nations as a group, rather than stable ties with the main Latin American countries
The Future of Latino Politics WP59-2004 - 30.11.2004 Rodolfo O. de la Garza The promise of Latino politics is greater today than ever before. In part this reflects the extent to which Latinos have become responsible for their own well-being, and in part it reflects changes in their political environment. Where once the issue was how to gain access to the political process, now it is how to best capitalise on the dramatic increase in the size of the population and the electorate, on the electoral access resulting from the VRA, and on the interest that both parties claim to have in the Latino vote
Poverty, Sustainable Development and the Environment WP38-2004 - 5.7.2004 José Antonio Alonso For Latin America, the year 2002 marked the end of a half-decade of negative economic results, characterised by a slowdown in growth, pressures from international financial and currency markets and domestic challenges stemming from political crises of governance in a number of the countries in the region. Accompanying these developments has been the popular disappointment with the scant progress achieved in social well-being during this period. The decade of the 1990s –which had been heralded from the start as the coming decade of recovery- turned out to be, by the turn of the century, in the words of the ECLAC, just another lost decade.
Latin America’s Seven Mortal Sins: Myth, Reality and Consequences WP33-2004 - 4.6.2004 José Juan Ruiz The heavy investments of important Spanish companies in Latin America in recent years have significantly increased Spain’s concern with the region’s macroeconomic developments. Unfortunately, most analyses of the region’s complex social and economic realities have unrealistically attempted to offer a brief yet conclusive evaluation of Latin America in its entirety, feeding one or another preconceived generalization, depending on the political agenda of the author in question. Indeed, either “Latin America is the region of the future” or it is a place that will continue to be so for a long time to come
The impact of the Argentine crisis on the Spanish economy WP32-2004 - 1.4.2004 Jorge Blázquez and Miguel Sebastián This report undertakes the first quantitative assessment of the impact of the Argentine crisis on the Spanish economy in terms of gross domestic product. The conclusion reached is that in the period 1999-–2002 Spain’s GDP would have risen an additional 0.8% were it not for the crisis
An Assessment of Latin America's Elections in 2002 WP31-2004 - 4.6.2004 Daniel Zovatto and Julio Burdman Although the last two decades have seen the end of authoritarian regimes and the spread of democracy was an extraordinary event that brought about extremely important benefits for the population, at the start of the new millennium joy for the inexorable spread of democracy has given way to a more sober prospect, focused on the major challenges facing Latin America on the economic, social, and political fronts.
Democracy and Trade: US Foreign Policy Towards Latin America WP30-2004 - 4.6.2004 Arturo Valenzuela Current relations between Latin America and the US are marked by the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations, which are expected to be completed by 2005. However, it will first be necessary to remove a large number of obstacles, although the final signing of the accord should have highly significant consequences throughout the hemisphere
Spanish Policy on Latin America in 2002 WP23-2004 - 4.5.2004 Celestino del Arenal The relationship between Spain and Latin America is unique, complex and multidimensional. It runs deeper than diplomacy, politics and economics, and involves not only governments, but also a wide range of other, non-official players. In the final analysis, the relationship is not so much based on geo-strategy or security needs, or even economic reasons –although these factors are of increasing importance– but rather on linguistic, cultural and historical ties, as well as an affinity with Latin America at all levels
Hispanics in the United States (1) WP22-2004 - 4.5.2004 María Jesús Criado The sustained growth of the Hispanic population of the United States that is to say, people of Latin American origin- now makes it the country's largest minority, prompting considerable debate as to the capacity of the United States to assimilate, as well as on the way this group itself has developed
The Spanish Economic Experience: Lessons and Warnings for Latin America WP20-2004 - 3.5.2004 Paul Isbell Ever since the collapse of the communist system, Spain has become a frequent point of reference for societies engaged in a transition to market democracy. Countries from the former ‘second’ and ‘third’ worlds have increasingly pointed to Spain as a possible model for their own democratic and market reforms
Challenges for the New Administration WP14-2004 - 1.4.2004 Carlos Pío Brazil’s president, Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, was elected in October 2002 with more than 60% of the vote. After three unsuccessful attempts to win the Presidency (1989, 1994 and 1998), when Mr da Silva and his Worker’s Party (PT) advocated a platform of ‘radical change’ (democratic-socialism), in 2002 they ran on a somewhat more moderate version of the typical left-wing discourse in Latin America
Macroeconomic Instability and Contagion in Latin America (WP) WP 13/2004 - 1/04/2004 Sebastian Edwards This paper deals with a number of issues related to macroeconomic instability in Latin America. First discuss some of the most important policy issues faced by the Latin American nations. These include the effectiveness of controls on capital inflows, contagion from external crises, the effect of exchange rate depreciation on output, the international transmission of the business cycle. Second, argues that the economic research agenda on Latin America should not ignore history. In Latin America, more so than in any other region in the world, there has been a self-destructing tendency for repeating historical
The long road to peace in Colombia (part 2). Colombia’s difficult relations with its neighbours: Venezuela WP5-2004 - 3.3.2004 (Translation from Spanish) Carlos Malamud Of all Colombia’s borders with its neighbours, the one it shares with Venezuela is the most active and troublesome. This 2,219 kilometre-long border has its daily ration of criminal activities, such as terrorist actions by paramilitary and guerrilla fighters, the comings and goings of drug traffickers and all kinds of rustlers and smugglers. The border is also a kind of privileged vantage point from which to witness the on-going deterioration of the relations between Presidents Chavez and Uribe
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