ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the practice of US economic statecraft toward South America through the lenses of a "thick" economic statecraft approach; it is divided into three main sections, each corresponding to the sub-period established in the introduction (1971-1989, 1990-2000, 2001-2016), and a concluding section. The chapter reviews both regular and contentious, moments in the political economy of South America-U.S. economic relations. Among the instances examined are the United States' foreign economic policy toward Chile during the administration of Salvador Allende; Washington's response to the debt crisis of the 1980s, particularly its reaction to the challenge on the matter presented by Peruvian president Alan García; the passage of the Andean Trade Promotion Act; the establishment of the free trade agreement with Chile; the response to the Argentinian crisis of the early 2000's, and the relationship with Brazil in the context of the negotiation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The cases reviewed illustrate not only the fluid nature of US power over the South American countries, but also how its relational nature and authoritative components operate.
