U.S.-Cuban Relations in the 1990s by Jorge I Dominguez

Author:Jorge I Dominguez [Dominguez, Jorge I]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Political Science, General, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9780367212384
Google: 5KybDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 46180144
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

New Realities in U.S.-Latin American Relations

Latin America has changed enormously in the last twenty-five years. With only a few exceptions, the countries of the area are far more developed, industrialized, modern, and sophisticated than before. Per capita income in many countries, despite their recent economic troubles, has quadrupled since the 1950s; the rates of social modernization (literacy, urbanization, life expectancy) have been similarly impressive. In this same interval, Latin America has become much more assertive, nationalistic, and independent, with a greater diversity of international connections and relations. This new assertiveness, however, has not prevented prudent Latin American leaders from working out realistic, new, and at the same time necessary relationships with the United States.

While these and other vast changes have been under way in Latin America,5 the United States has changed a great deal. These changes also provide a basis for significantly improved and more mature U.S.-Latin American relations. Here we list only some of the major "sea changes" in the United States and its policy that have contributed to the new relationship with Latin America,

The United States has itself become something of a Caribbean country.6 In this regard, one need only look at the demographics and ethnic makeup of Florida, Louisiana, or the Southwest (Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and California), or the fact that New York City is the second largest Puerto Rican city in the world, the second largest Haitian city, and so on. The Latin American immigrant communities are now spilling out of these historic enclaves to other states and cities as well. In the 1990s, Hispanics will replace blacks as the largest ethnic minority in the United States.

Not only are Hispanics growing in numbers, but the cultural influence of the Hispanic communities are now—for the first time—reaching out to influence the broader American culture as well, in the form of music, theater, restaurants, arts—even language. Moreover, the political power of the Hispanic communities is also growing as more and more Hispanics vote, become organized, and mobilize to influence the political process. It is no coincidence that in 1988, several of the presidential candidates sought to showcase their Spanish-speaking abilities and their knowledge of Latin America, thus courting the Latin vote. The Hispanic community is not of one mind in terms of its political goals, but its members do maintain an intense interest in the countries of their birth, and want to promote democracy, human rights, and national dignity and respect for their own native lands. These changes have profound implications in the long term for U.S.-Latin American relations and for U.S. policy in the region.

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