ABSTRACT
The influence which external relations exercise on national development policy derives from the fact that the Latin American countries are enmeshed in the system of international relations of the capitalist world. Dogmatic and anecdotical approaches to the problem of external dependence occupy much of the casual conversation of the same social scientists who refuse to be concerned with it as a topic of research. It was during 19th century that, on the basis of foreign investment, most of Latin America developed the production of primary materials for export which still characterizes its foreign trade. The increasing diversification of Latin American societies during these periods had important effects on the social and economic structure. The fundamental question, therefore, which a national development policy seeks to tackle, is not the viability of the traditional 'centre-periphery' model, but rather the reverse, the need to overcome it.
