ABSTRACT
This article focuses on the contradictory position of the United States in its economic policies towards Latin America. By pressuring the region to maintain its debt service, the U.S. government left Latin American countries with little choice but to produce large trade surpluses, as voluntary capital flows to the region dried up in the 1980s. Simultaneous U.S. insistence, however, that Latin American countries curtail their export incentive programs and liberalize their imports, makes debt servicing even more difficult and imposes heavy burdens on Latin American societies.
KEYWORDS:
Debt crisis; external debt; trade policy