The Effects of Globalization and Neoliberalism in Central América: Nicaragua and Costa Rica

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2002

Keywords

External Debt, Human Development Report, Social Spending, International Financial Institution, Caribbean Basin

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230107434_8

Abstract

Central America is a region not known for strong states or independent foreign policy. Geopolítically, it is in the Caribbean Basin and has been seen as part of the U.S. backyard. The region’s proximity to the United States and the enormous difference in size and power between the United States and the countries in this region suggests a very unequal relationship. An early nineteenth-century attempt to unite the Central American nations as a federation was never successful either. Thereafter, the five original Spanish-speaking nations (Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Costa Rica) and the northern part of Colombia that broke off to form the nation of Panama in 1903 have been small, weak states in the Interamerican and world system (the smallest of the sardines in Juan José Arévalo’s fable El Tiberón y las Sardinas). As such, their sovereignty has often been compromised by the hegemonic influence of the United States and other larger states.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

Yes

Citation / Publisher Attribution

The Effects of Globalization and Neoliberalism in Central América: Nicaragua and Costa Rica, in G. Prevost & C. O. Campos (Eds.), Neoliberalism and Neopanamericanism, Palgrave Macmillan, p. 161-174

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