The Central American Common Market (CACM) was once described as “the most successful example of economic integration in the Third World.” Today the CACM is nearly defunct, a victim of the smoldering crisis that erupted in Central America in 1979 following the second oil shock and the Nicaraguan Revolution. Various arguments may be found in the literature on the economics of the region that purport to explain this collapse.

This article examines the emergence of a synergy that allowed the early development of what was once considered the best anti-AIDS program in the developing world. Initial responses to AIDS in Brazil during the 1980s and early 1990s were marked by a confrontation between activists concerned with human rights, and a government focusing on biomedical management of the epidemic. After 1992, activists, medical researchers, government officials, international donors like the Ford Foundation, health officers, and multilateral agencies like the World Bank were galvanized to cooperate. This was a complex process of braiding knowledge and practices related to activism, science, public health, governance and philanthropy in which each constituency maintained its independence. The result was a complex, holistic, and nuanced AIDS program. The process helped bridge the gap between knowledge and advocacy, generated public awareness, and was instrumental to reducing AIDS mortality developing local human resources and comprehensive policies.

This essay reviews the following works:

Sports and Nationalism in Latin/o America. Edited by Héctor Fernández L’Hoeste, Robert McKee Irwin, and Juan Poblete. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. Pp. xiii + 307. $95.00 cloth. ISBN: 9781137487186.

Muscling in on New Worlds: Jews, Sport, and the Making of the Americas. Edited by Raanan Rein and David M. K. Sheinin. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers, 2014. Pp. x + 196. $135.00 cloth. ISBN: 9789004284487.

Sports Culture in Latin American History. Edited by David M. K. Sheinin. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015. Pp. ix + 239. $25.95 paper. ISBN: 9780822963370.

The Sovereign Colony: Olympic Sport, National Identity, and International Politics in Puerto Rico. By Antonio Sotomayor. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. xix + 360. $60.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780803278813.

Same-sex marriage has risen to the top of political agendas across Latin America, but it is still illegal in many countries. Public support about the issue varies greatly, and the roles of the courts, presidents, and legislatures have also differed. This article focuses on legislators because they are charged with representing the public and converting demands into policy. Although many legislatures have now voted on the issue, the literature has not intensively examined the policy makers’ attitudes toward same-sex marriage. This study applies a theoretical framework that extends theories considering context and social contact and uses a survey of the region’s legislators to study the correlates of support for same-sex marriage. Although the study also tests for individual-level variables (e.g., gender and ideology), the models focus on the contextual role of religiosity. The results show that having more secular colleagues encourages even pious legislators to support same-sex marriage.

As reflexões sobre música popular com frequência enfatizam os casos de experiência musical voluntários, motivados por adesões identitárias, afetivas e simbólicas que os indivíduos e grupos sociais realizam com as músicas que gostam. Mas nem sempre é assim. Este texto tem como objetivo discutir as situações nas quais a experiência musical compulsória gera incomodo nos ouvintes, irritando e intimidando aqueles que não compartilham do prazer de ouvir determinado repertório. O exemplo debatido aqui é o caso do funk, gênero musical brasileiro com histórica vinculação com o contexto das periferias, morros e favelas e que volta a surgir como tema privilegiado na mídia a partir de seu uso nos fenômenos dos rolezinhos, causando incômodo e rechaço. Pensar sobre o incômodo do popular-funkeiro-periférico significa reprocessar ideias sobre a desigualdade social, num contexto de grandes transformações sociais, políticas e comportamentais no Brasil e no mundo.

La investigación que se presenta analiza la incidencia del trabajo infantil fuera del hogar en el desempeño académico de los estudiantes de tercer y sexto grado de primaria en América Latina, en las áreas de lectura y matemáticas. Para ello, se utilizan modelos multinivel de cuatro niveles con los datos del Segundo Estudio Regional Comparativo y Explicativo de la UNESCO, analizándose algo más de noventa y cinco mil estudiantes de tercer grado de educación primaria y de noventaiún mil alumnos de sexto grado de dieciséis países latinoamericanos. Los resultados muestran que los estudiantes que trabajan fuera del hogar tanto de tercero como de sexto grado, obtienen menores desempeños en lectura y matemáticas que quienes no lo hacen. Tal rendimiento se ve además negativamente afectado, en función de las horas de dedicación diaria y días trabajados en la semana.

El estudio de las atribuciones de pobreza y riqueza ha tenido un rol central en la literatura sobre la justificación de las desigualdades sociales. La investigación en esta área ha explorado en qué medida se usan razones individualistas versus estructuralistas para explicar por qué ciertas personas logran posiciones más precarias o aventajadas que el resto. En esa línea, este artículo busca dar cuenta de cómo cambian en el tiempo estas razones, en el contexto de una sociedad que ha tenido grandes transformaciones estructurales en las últimas décadas, donde además se mantiene una alta desigualdad de ingresos, como es el caso de la sociedad chilena. Tomando dos encuestas con representatividad nacional de los años 1996 y 2015, los resultados indican en un primer nivel descriptivo que han aumentado las atribuciones individualistas sobre el origen de la pobreza y la riqueza —tales como la falta de esfuerzo y la iniciativa personal— y que han bajado las razones de carácter estructural —como el desempleo o las políticas económicas—. No obstante, a través de un análisis de clases latentes (LCA), se ofrece una segunda aproximación más matizada a este fenómeno, mostrando que la baja de atribuciones estructurales se asocia al aumento de personas que atribuyen tanto razones individualistas como estructurales a la pobreza y riqueza, predominando una combinación de ambas a la hora de significar estos hechos. Estos cambios en los patrones de atribución se discuten en el marco de las transformaciones económicas y culturales de la sociedad chilena.

Although much has been written on civil society participation in the formulation and monitoring of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), very little systematic and scientific evidence exists on the kind of organizations that participate and the elements that explain their involvement in these processes. This article considers one country case, Honduras, for which survey data were gathered from 101 civil society organizations (CSOs) in 2006. This study examines the characteristics these organizations display which explain (non)participation in the next participatory round of the PRSPs. The findings challenge some of the by now widely accepted ideas relating to the kinds of organizations involved in PRSP processes. The idea that predominantly urban-based, highly professional, well-funded, donor-bred-and-fed nongovernmental organizations participate is too blunt. The Honduran case shows that the players in participative processes are more diversified than much of the current literature on PRSPs suggests.

This article addresses the way in which the Argentine Supreme Court has set out to redefine its own institutional role through its procedures and decisions, since its institutional reform in 2003. It shows that the Court has developed innovative ways of judicial intervention in public policy and rights issues, which include the participation of new kinds of actors and entail an emerging new relationship between the Court and civil society organizations in Argentina. The article argues that this change can be understood as a way for the Court to rebuild its institutional legitimacy, and that the reform is connected to the presence of strong nongovernmental organizations whose claims for a change in the Court's composition and procedures gained momentum in the aftermath of the social and political crisis of 2001-2002 in Argentina.

Nas últimas duas décadas, a quantidade de estudos dedicados a investigar questões raciais em Machado de Assis aumentou consideravelmente. Recentemente, os estudiosos começaram a abordar mais explicitamente suas opiniões sobre escravidão e raça. Considerando as, relativamente novas, abordagens que adotam a raça como elemento imprescindível para uma melhor compreensão das obras de Machado, este artigo amplia o escopo da discussão por meio de um exame de questões raciais em “Missa do galo” e “Teoria do medalhão”. Usando o conto “Recitatif” de Toni Morrison como ponto de partida, eu examino os contos de Machados a fim de revelar a, até o momento desprezada, importância da questão racial nesses dois contos.

Este artículo presenta los resultados de una investigación que analiza la sentencia T-622/14 de la Corte Constitucional Colombiana en torno a la reasignación de sexo de niños intersexuales. El análisis se centra en el estudio de las voces involucradas y en el examen de las estrategias discursivas utilizadas para construir el concepto de intersexualidad. El estudio —cuyo enfoque metodológico es el análisis crítico del discurso y la teoría queer— permite evidenciar cómo el discurso judicial se apropia de otras instancias discursivas para definir, moldear y construir los cuerpos y las vidas que son dignas de existir en una sociedad heterocentrada. Se concluye que para la Corte Constitucional la autonomía y la capacidad de decisión personal son aspectos fundamentales en los casos en los que los sujetos intersexuales desean modificar quirúrgicamente sus cuerpos; sin embargo, en la sentencia se omiten las relaciones de poder que la matriz heterosexual produce sobre estos sujetos.

This article explores oral histories about the foundation of the Mosetén Indigenous People’s Organization (OPIM) in Bolivia. In so doing it aims to add nuance to scholarship on Bolivian social movements from 1990 to 2010 by focusing on connections and continuities between indigenous organizations and the systems of political association that predate them. Efforts to organize Mosetén communities were spurred at least in part by indigenous desire to establish order within their communities and to resolve local problems. They adopted strategies associated with models of social organization that were already familiar to them, particularly the Franciscan missions and agrarian unions, and adapted them to meet their needs. This process involved ongoing interactions between Mosetén yearnings, a particular political and historical context, and the creative capacities of Mosetén leaders.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, restrictions on archives in Russia have diminished markedly. Some of the repositories have potential interest for Latin Americanists, including the Comintern Archive. This research note discusses the objectives of the archive and the types of material it contains. A list of the major collections relevant to Latin America is followed by comments on how to use the archive and websites that will facilitate research in Russia. Also provided are bibliographic references to academic studies on Latin America based on Comintern materials.

Este trabajo se propone analizar los principales cambios que el primer gobierno de izquierda que asume el gobierno en el año 2005, introdujo en los formatos de negociación colectiva ensayados en el país desde 1985 hasta 1990. La convocatoria a Consejos de Salarios retoma los procedimientos de negociación colectiva desmantelados luego de quince años de políticas de corte neoliberal, en el marco de un proceso de reforma laboral que el país nunca había experimentado en el plano de las relaciones colectivas de trabajo. La nueva normativa laboral establece un conjunto de reglas de juego que generan espacios de intermediación de intereses más estables y con mayores niveles de legitimidad que en épocas pasadas. El trabajo analiza estos cambios a partir de un censo realizado a los representantes del Estado, de los trabajadores y de los empresarios que participaron en la experiencia de negociación colectiva entre el año 2005 y el año 2009.

To think of Nicolás Guillén is to be immediately reminded of two observations. The first by José Martí, who, quite aptly argued: