ABSTRACT

Economic relations between the United States and Latin America changed significantly. Latin America diversified its foreign economic relations at the same time as it began coordinating its efforts in international economic policy through multilateral channels. A clear trend toward a relative decrease in US involvement in Latin American economic relations emerged in the sixties. In more global terms, Latin America increased in relative economic importance to the United States. The trade problems between the United States and Latin America are not new, but the critical international economic situation and its repercussions on the region have aggravated these problems. The impact of the economic policy of the principal industrialized countries—in particular that of the United States—could not have been more devastating, Latin America entered its worst economic crisis since the thirties, a crisis from which no speedy recovery is envisaged.