Caribbean Basin Policy

Archive Report

Growing U.S. Activism

Regan's Boldness in ’Sphere of Influence’

During the past year the United States moved with uncharacteristic boldness to reassert its influence in the Caribbean Basin, a region that it has often treated with indifference and, at times, disdain. In doing so, the Reagan administration has seemingly affirmed its commitment to a “special relationship” between this country and its Latin American and Caribbean neighbors.1

It is subject to varying interpretations, however. For example, the Kissinger Commission, in its recommendations to President Reagan on framing policies toward Central America, sought to strike a balance between security concerns in a region engulfed in internecine warfare and the longer-term needs for economic development and redistribution of land. To many Latin Americans the phrase “special relationship” implies that the ...

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