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The US crime rate has continued to rise, & efforts by the government to combat it have not been successful. The wars against drugs, the mob, police brutality, & corporate crime have each been ineffective. This article argues that the roots of the problems have not been properly identified. Corporate investment decisions have exacerbated the social problems that create crime. The accumulation of capital, class relations, & imperialism are the root causes of much crime. The money thrown at crime prevention has been wasted & prisons have become brutal places. An alliance between different groups must push for a new anticrime policy that recognizes the influence of corporate power on crime in America. R. Larsen

THE PARADE OF FORMER MILITARY MEN GALLOPING INTO THE ARENA CONTINUED TO DOMINATE DEMOCRATIC POLITICS IN LATIN AMERICA DURING 1998. CIVILIANS ARE ALSO TAKING A FIRMER GRIP ON THE RUDDER OF THE SHIP OF STATE. RE-ELECTION HAS ALSO MADE STEADY PROGRESS. IN ADDITION, LATIN AMERICA BRACED ITSELF WITH RELATIVE SUCCESS FOR THE AFTERSHOCKS OF THE ASIAN FINANCIAL CRISIS. HOWEVER, LATIN AMERICA IS STILL STRUGGLING TO FIND SOME STABILITY WITHIN THE WHIRLPOOL UNLEASHED AT THE END OF THE COLD WAR. DEVELOPMENTS DURING 1998-99 GIVE CAUSE FOR BOTH HOPE AND CONCERN AS LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS CONTINUE TO EVOLVE.

The Inter-American Development Bank's (1998/99) monograph on economic & social development in Latin American nations is reviewed to illustrate the extent of economic inequality in the region. It is stated that the monograph has underestimated the problem of income distribution in Latin American nations; ie, the lack of adequate education for poor people & the relatively large size of poor families has exacerbated the effects of economic inequality. The monograph's assertions concerning the spread of economic inequality across Latin America -- such nations are experiencing the effects of early stages of development, & abundant natural resources increase inequality -- are rejected. Rather, it is asserted that the Washington Consensus's support for & the Latin American governments' acceptance of neoliberal economic policies has intensified the inequality problem. Despite nations' calls for education, health care, & income reform, it is maintained that such social policies are not imminent for Latin America. J. W. Parker

IN AN ATTEMPT TO BUILD ON AND REFINE PUTNAM'S THESIS THAT PARTICIPATION IN ASSOCIATIONS PRODUCES BETTER DEMOCRACY, THIS ARTICLE DETERMINES TWO THINGS. FIRST, ARE HIS FINDINGS REPLICABLE IN CENTRAL AMERICA? SECOND, IS PARTICIPATION IN ALL FORMS OF ASSOCIATIONS EQUALLY GENERATIVE OF DEMOCRACY? PUTNAM'S THESIS IS TESTED WITH SURVEY SAMPLES FROM ALL OF THE SIX SPANISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES IN CENTRAL AMERICA. THE AUTHOR FINDS THAT ALTHOUGH PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS IS A CONSISTENT PREDICTOR OF DEMOCRATIC BEHAVIOR AT AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL, PARTICIPATION IN OTHER KINDS OF ASSOCIATIONS IS NOT.

Discusses the role of El Consejo de Educacion de Adultos de America Latina ([CEAAL] the Latin American Council of Adult Education) in popular education. A historical review of CEAAL shows its relationship to popular history & educational philosophers such as Paulo Freire. A review of James Petras & Morris Morley's (eg, 1992) thesis indicates that intellectuals have retreated from the scene of popular education, no longer playing an important role in its construction & implementation. CEAAL's conference discourse relating to feminist projects is discussed, demonstrating a paradox between gender equality & class struggle. The autonomy of CEAAL is addressed in relation to state power structures; political regimes in flux have a limited influence, but more durable state apparatuses create an obstacle for change. It is concluded that CEAAL has made important contributions to liberation politics in Latin America. 1 Table, 113 References. T. Noland

This text is the protocol to the Frame Treaty on Central America Electric Market; it introduces certain modifications to be made in order to facilitate improved interpretation and application of the treaty, whose content defines the parameters of electric energy exchanges between the following Central American countries: Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Panamá.

Minimization of the loss of life, property damage, and social and economic disruption due to earthquakes depends on reliable estimates of seismic hazard. National, state, and local governments, decision makers, engineers, planners, emergency response organizations, builders, universities, and the general public require seismic hazard estimates for land use planning, improved building design and construction (including adoption of building construction codes), emergency response preparedness plans, economic forecasts, housing and employment decisions, and many more types of risk mitigation. The seismic hazard map of North and Central America and the Caribbean is the concatenation of various national and regional maps, involving a suite of approaches. The combined maps and documentation provide a useful regional seismic hazard framework and serve as a resource for any national or regional agency for further detailed studies applicable to their needs. This seismic hazard map depicts Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) with a 10% chance of exceedance in 50 years. PGA, a short-period ground motion parameter that is proportional to force, is the most commonly mapped ground motion parameter because current building codes that include seismic provisions specify the horizontal force a building should be able to withstand during an earthquake. This seismic hazard map of North and Central America and the Caribbean depicts the likely level of short-period ground motion from earthquakes in a fifty-year window. Short-period ground motions effect short-period structures (e.g., one-to-two story buildings). The highest seismic hazard values in the region generally occur in areas that have been, or are likely to be, the sites of the largest plate boundary earthquakes.

The present work discusses the problems of atmospheric pollution of three Megacities of Latin America (Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Santiago). The environmental pollution control programs implemented by the Government are revised and the evolution of pollution levels during the period of 1988-1995 at Santiago de Chile and Sao Paulo, but until 1997 at Mexico City, in order to evaluate the impact of these programs. During this period, a decreasing trend is observed in the three cities in the levels of PTS, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO and O3, although most of these contaminants still exceed the air quality standards. It must be emphasized that the largest impact has been on the levels of SO2. We recommend the development of sustainable transport policies; in this context, various strategies were proposed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in the European Conference of Ministers of Transport. Additionally, public participation is important when decisions are taken on transport policies. ; En este trabajo se discute la problemática de la contaminación del aire en tres megaciudades de América Latina (Ciudad de México, São Paulo y Santiago); en particular se revisan los programas de control de la contaminación atmosférica que han puesto en marcha los gobiernos de esas ciudades y la evolución de los niveles de contaminantes durante el periodo 1988-1995 en Santiago de Chile y São Paulo, y hasta 1997 en la Ciudad de México, con el objeto de evaluar el impacto de esos programas. En las tres megaciudades se observó un descenso en las concentraciones de PTS, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO y O3 durante el periodo mencionado, aunque la mayoría de los contaminantes siguen rebasando la norma de calidad del aire. Cabe destacar que el mayor impacto de los programas ha sido sobre los niveles de SO2. Se recomienda el desarrollo de políticas de transporte sostenible; en ese sentido, en la Conferencia Europea de Ministros del Transporte la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE) propuso distintas ...

Just as Edward Tanjore Corwin was the principal historian of the Reformed Church in America (RCA) during the nineteenth century, Donald J. Bruggink is its principal historian in the twentieth century. Corwin made his contribution by producing four editions of the Manual of the Reformed Church in America, a mother lode of Reformed Church history, and A Digest of Constitutional and Synodical Legislation of the Reformed Church in America, an invaluable source on the work of the General Synod. Bruggink made his noteworthy contribution by founding and editing the Historical Series of the RCA and bringing forth thirty volumes between 1967 and 1999. The impact of Corwin's work can be readily attested to; we must now take note of the impact and success of Bruggink's prodigious labors as general editor of the series which have contributed so much to a better understanding of many segments of RCA history.

Focus on the Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Roman Catholic churches, as well as Afro-Brazilian spiritism, in Latin America today; 7 articles. Topics include the Comunidades Eclesiais de Base (CEBs) in Brazil and why the women activists who worked in them have now withdrawn from politics, participation in religious and social life in war-torn areas of El Salvador, political participation of Evangelicals in Peru, and perceptions of the identity of a Peruvian Catholic religious brotherhood in Paterson, New Jersey, US.

What is the distinctive trait of the Latin American pattern of modernization? In contrast to Western societies, where the debate on modernization has been dominated by the Weberian thematic of bureaucratization, the most salient feature of the Latin American developmental path is the chronic frailty of legal-constitutional arrangements. In Latin America, the process of modernization & social differentiation has not been followed by the legal stabilization of social complexity, but is characterized by a low degree of juridification & institutional precariousness. Drawing on theoretical insights from both Niklas Luhmann & Jurgen Habermas, a critical theoretical framework is offered for the study of the peculiarities of the Latin American modernizing path. 58 References. Adapted from the source document.

An introduction to a special journal issue maintains that the historical evolution of markets in Latin America demonstrates the complex nature of the process, the role of state actors, & sites of both economic & noneconomic conflicts. Classical, neoclassical, anthropological, & developmental perspectives of the processes of market formation are described. Examination of development policy, the banking system, land/labor laws, & the moral economy of consumers exposes the symbiotic relationship between the market & the state, as well as between the public & private spheres, & reveals the influence of cultural values on market development. Also investigated is how humans deal with markets across time & space in Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, & Nicaragua, demonstrating how responses differ in light of varied traditions, political struggles, & geography. These essays question some of the central tenets of neoclassical liberalism & open up new fields of inquiry in areas usually reserved for economics. 33 References. J. Lindroth

THE VIGOROUS REACTIVATION OF RELIGION IN LATIN AMERICA IS CLOSELY TIED TO THE CURRENT WAVE OF DEMOCRATIZATION THERE. IN THE 1980'S THE INCREASED CIVIL LIBERTIES THAT ACCOMPANIED THE TRANSITION TO DEMOCRACY FACILITATED A DRAMATIC PERIOD OF RELIGIOUS INNOVATION. THE NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS THAT APPEARED DURING THAT ERA ARE NOW IN A POSITION TO PUSH FOR INCREASED CIVIL LIBERTIES IN THE ERA OF DEMOCRATIC CONSOLIDATION.