ABSTRACT

The movement in the last 15 years of many Latin American and other countries towards democracy, and the impetus and applause that US policy has given to this movement, should not blind us to the very real difficulties accompanying a pro-democracy, pro-human rights policy. By this time there is near-universal, even bipartisan, support for a democratisationlhuman rights policy, but it has not always been so. Democracy and human rights are now right up there with God, apple pie, and motherhood (assuming that we still support all those institutions!); no one (and certainly not this author) could be opposed to them. But while the democracy/human rights agenda has provided a marvellous opportunity for US foreign policy, it also has the potential to be a trap as well. We need to explore how and why this may be so, and to be apprised of the pitfalls.