Mixed Signals: U.S. Human Rights Policy and Latin America

Extract

Mixed Signals: U.S. Human Rights Policy and Latin America. By Kathryn Sikkink. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004. 288p. $29.95.

Kathryn Sikkink argues that the United States government has sent mixed signals to the governments of Latin American countries about the importance of respect for human rights. The book provides detailed descriptions of U.S. policies that promoted better and worse human rights practices in particular countries over the past 30 years. She notes several cases where the U.S. government sent mixed signals by being strong on general human rights rhetoric, but by not pressing human rights concerns when dealing with Latin American governments facing domestic rebellions. The willingness of the U.S. government to support anticommunist, counterrevolutionary and antiterrorist policies has been much stronger than any desire to promote good human rights practices in the region. In the author's view, these were the wrong priorities.