This edition of the Inter-American Yearbook on Human Rights , like the volumes that precede it, includes information concerning the activities of the Organization of American States in the promotion & protection of human rights. It begins with the composition of the Commission & Court, including the biographies of the members, 1988 activities of each body, reproductions of resolutions & reports by the Commission & historic correspondences & decisions by the Court. Also included is an update on the status of the American Convention on Human Rights, which reports the relation of each country to that instrument, followed by resolutions adopted in 1988 by the OAS General Assembly. The year 1988 distinguished itself particularly because the Inter-American Court of Human Rights made its first decision on a contentious case, the Velásquez Rodríguez case (Honduras). This historic decision is reproduced in Part Three of this volume. Another important 1988 development in the Inter-American system was the Protocol of San Salvador, or Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights for Economic, Social & Cultural Rights, reproduced in Part Four. Also included, in its entirety, is a report on the human rights situation in Haiti, a report requested by the Organization of American States Permanent Council in Resolution 502. The Inter-American Yearbook on Human Rights is completely bilingual (English & Spanish).

This paper examines monetary concepts and definitions. It notes that approaches to monetary analysis, and the concept of money itself, have been undergoing substantial change in many countries due in large part to recent innovation, which has affected financial markets, financial instruments, and financial institutions. As a result, many countries increasingly tend to focus on multiple creators and instruments of money as opposed to just currency and transferable demand deposits. This fact is borne out by the paper’s survey of national practices in the selection and grouping of instruments in money measures. The paper concludes that the emerging trend towards broader concepts of money implies the need for some rethinking of traditional notion of money measures.