Western Hemisphere
In this impassioned political memoir, the man who led the U.S. Agency for International Development's democracy-promotion programs during the 2006 presidential campaign in Nicaragua details just what political nation building means at the grass-roots level.
Easily the best scholarly treatment of Hugo Chávez's hybrid electoral autocracy, Corrales and Penfold's book courageously refutes orthodox explanations -- from the right and the left -- for this unique caudillo's rise and resilience.
Much of what is written on U.S.-Latin American relations relies on media reports or recycles other academic works. Crandall, in contrast, took the time to interview U.S. policymakers and career diplomats.
Essentially a reprint of that consulting report, this primer, loaded with clear snapshots of cutting-edge cases, focuses on five countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico.
This volume reveals that even today, a shockingly high percentage of impoverished Guatemalans suffer from stunted growth, whereas Mayan immigrant children living in California grow significantly taller -- suggesting that poverty, not genetics, is stunting their relatives back home.
