ABSTRACT
In the Latin America of the 1990s the problems of debt and development have entered a new period of definition and policy prescription. In many instances, cooperation between the United States and Latin American countries forms the backbone of economic policy and national development and is a key ingredient in the political survival of democratic leaders. One of the many unfortunate results of the debt crisis in Latin America is the preoccupation with the dollar value of the outstanding obligations at the expense of attention to the social and political impact those obligations have created for the region. The Latin American debt crisis is more than just a matter of astronomical financial obligations or the interplay of powerful countries and institutions. With the arrival of the Bush administration in 1989 the Latin American leaders were given further encouragement as a new debt-relief plan was readied.
