United States-Latin American Relations in the Post-Cold War, Post-9-11 Years

This paper reviews and assesses some of the key trends in recent United States-Latin American policy with particular focus on trade and investment liberalization and security issues pertaining to the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas. The paper looks in particular at the extent to which the terrorist attacks on 9/11 contributed to a sharpening of American policy on internal subversion in the region, with particular attention to FARC (The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), the ELN (National Liberation Army) and the main paramilitary organization in Colombia. Such groups, the paper, notes, have constituted a twin threat, since they both threaten civil society within Colombia and have contributed to serious border problems with neighbouring countries. At the same time they have been closely tied to the narcotics industry and as such are perceived by American officials to contribute both the organized criminal activities in the United States as well as political and destabilization in the region