ABSTRACT
Latin America is changing in the 1990s; in some countries the transformation is substantial and possibly a distinctive departure from the past. After an almost decade-long period of recession, many of Latin America’s economies have returned to the growth track: stock markets are revitalized, functioning as a source of domestic and foreign funds, and flight capital is finding its way back into local investment. Latin America in the mid-1980s was at risk of becoming irrelevant in the international system—its economies, with few exceptions, had stagnated, reform seemed impossible, and the region as a whole appeared to be falling behind other parts of the world, most notably the dynamically-growing Asia/Pacific region. In a shifting post-cold war environment, Latin America represents a key region where a remarkable adjustment is taking a more pragmatic track than the troubles of the 1980s would have suggested.
