Beginning from the premise that Mexico's economic strength will depend largely on its ability to produce, manage, and export energy, energy experts in this book analyze energy planning in Mexico in the 1970s and possible strategies for the future. They focus on the potential for diversifying the country's energy economy--now based almost exclusively on oil--by examining alternative sources, particularly natural gas, coal, and geothermal and solar resources. The extent to which Mexico's energy base is diversified, they assert, will determine the country's ability both to meet internal energy needs and to prolong its export of oil and gas. find, diversification will not only increase Mexico's economic strength, but will also expand the global supply of energy resources and have profound impact on the United States, Mexico's major trading partner.

In recent years the powerful and long-standing influence of the United States in the Caribbean and Central America has been challenged directly by Cuba, Mexico, and Venezuela and--many think--indirectly by the USSR. This struggle for dominance, which has altered and still is significantly changing the power configuration in the Caribbean Basin, is examined in detail in Colossus Challenged. The book contains seven chapters by prominent area specialists. Five of the chapters focus on the Caribbean policies of the major contenders for power, analyzing the evolution of each country's policies, the main variables affecting its definition of interests and its decision making, and its prospects for exerting regional influence in the foreseeable future. The other two chapters look at the rivalry for Caribbean influence from the perspectives of eastern Caribbean and Central American governments.

It was from Argentina, in the years 1976 to 1983, that the world heard the cries of the families of los desaparecidos, the disappeared--20,000 to 30,000 people made to vanish forever by official sleight of hand. In the years since, the scope and range of governmentally sanctioned kidnappings has spread exponentially, making enforced disappearances a truly global problem. This volume provides an in-depth legal investigation of involuntary disappearances as defined by national and international law. Beginning with a detailed discussion of what constitutes an enforced disappearance, it goes on to consider how various international organizations such as the United Nations view this problem. Using the Multiple Rights Approach, enforced disappearances are examined as a violation of internationally defined basic rights such as the right to personal freedom, the right to protection against torture and the right to a judicial remedy. Viewpoints of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the European System of Protection are scrutinized with special consideration regarding the international laws applicable to the problem. The availability (or lack thereof) of restitution and compensation for material damage, mental and physical anguish, and loss of opportunity is also addressed. Finally, the work considers the need for a comprehensive and coherent framework when dealing with enforced disappearances.

Analyzing the effects of Mexico's newly flourishing petroleum industry, Dr. Millor first traces the evolution of Mexico's oil development and provides a detailed assessment of its socioeconomic, political, and ecological consequences and of the Mexican government's current energy policies. In his subsequent examination of U.S.-Mexican relations, he emphasizes that, aside from the issues directly related to Mexico's petroleum, a complex assortment of concerns remain unresolved between the two nations—illegal immigration, drug traffic, terms of technical and scientific cooperation, restrictions on Mexican exports in the U.S. market, and the more assertive foreign policy stance recently taken by Mexico. Dr. Millor argues that, far from representing a clear case of positive growth for Mexico, petroleum could bring about distorted development and increased dependency, as well as a difficult period of relations with the U.S. If a stable association between the two governments is to emerge, he concludes, U.S. policymakers must understand the changes taking place in Mexico and accept its emergence as a middle power with autonomous goals. Representing both the Mexican and the U.S. point of view, this study contributes much to a better understanding of the significance of oil for Mexican development and to a balanced assessment of present and future U.S.-Mexican relations.