ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the course of this remarkable transition-from the 1990s, when United States (US) regional influence and leadership remained strong, through the mid 2000s, when both declined dramatically, to the post-2009 period, during which many Latin American governments simply stopped paying much attention to the United States. It argues that domestic factors in Latin America, broad changes in the global distribution of financial power, and regional reactions to US foreign policy explain much behind the reordering of regional relations. Complementing economic integration was the vision of a hemispheric community of democratic states. The prospects of a united hemisphere composed of integrated, market democracies offered a very positive vision of post-Cold War inter-American relations. Latin American governments also maintained different priorities than Washington with respect to the military coup that toppled Honduran president Manuel Zelaya in June 2009.
