ABSTRACT
The approach that seeks to make enemies out of people, parties, or even countries with dissenting views, however, distorts what America is all about. America is a land of democracy, opportunity, inclusiveness, and fairness. The Latin American continent is complex and evolving. In the beginning most Latin American countries' constitutions were patterned after interpretations of the United States Constitution—as federated republics with a centralized representative body and an independent central executive power. The European influence of social-democratic political thought is common for most political tendencies in Latin America, with the usual variations to the right and to the left of this basic foundation of state intervention-ism—ranging from radical communism to Christian-democracy. The political landscape in Latin America would be quite different if the Colonel Hugo Chavez-supported Humala had won the presidency of Peru in 2006. This chapter focuses on countries that can and should be part of a concerted effort for active and positive engagement by the next administration.
