Highlights of the third edition of this well-regarded text include discussions of the resolution of conflict in Central America, the tenuous trend to redemocratization in South America, and the traumatic impact of drugs and debt throughout the hemisphere. Contributors carefully examine developments in the 1990s, such as spurts of economic growth, emphasis on the export sector, a trend to privatization, general retrenchment with regard to social welfare programs, and the recognition that distinctive ecological zones are threatened. Also given special attention is the expanding influence of Latin American intellectual, literary, and artistic contributions.