ABSTRACT
The term 'foreign aid' is at best ambiguous, disguising more than it reveals. Even if interest rates on international financial institutions (IFI) loans are lower than those of the commercial banks, the onerous repayment conditions have had a devastating impact on policy-making in developing countries. The trade limitations explicit in the US neomercantilist relations to Latin America is evident in the controls and quotas imposed on the importation of beef, textiles, steel, sugar, and a host of other commodities from Latin America that compete with US producers. To the publicists and promoters of free markets in Europe and the US, effective government and good governance is measured by the ability of client regimes to implement 'unpopular' pro-corporate policies while limiting political protest. Despite occasional official rhetoric, foreign aid has never financed a comprehensive land reform programme in Latin America.
