ABSTRACT

To treat US-Latin American relations in the context of "dependency" is to depart from the usual perspective of governmental or even national relationships. This approach looks beyond the nation-state paradigm to a broader explanation for Latin America's political and economic underdevelopment. Dependency is closely related to theories of imperialism and to Marxist analyses of underdevelopment, but some analysts have made a conscious effort to present this framework without relying entirely on those traditional concepts. Viewing US policy through the dependency prism shows how the policy is often perceived in many parts of Latin America, especially among university students and intellectuals. An illustration of the impact of dependency theory on an understanding of US foreign policy was provided in an analysis of Mexico's political and economic development by James D. Cockcroft. The dependency model argues that it is possible for a country to protect its foreign economic interests without direct intervention.