99.9 percent range; and "5" for those countries whose external debts were the equivalent of 100 per cent or more of GDP.
The significance of foreign trade to a country's economy was evaluated in the context of the total export/import trade as a proportion of gross national product (GNP). Five value ranges were employed, as follows: "1" for those countries whose total foreign trade was the equivalent of more than 25 percent of GDP; "2" for the 20 24.9 percent range; "3" for the 15 19.9 percent range; "4" for the 10 14.9 percent range; and "5" for those countries whose total foreign trade was the equivalent of less than ten percent of GNP.
Political stability was evaluated in the context of the experience with military government. No military government in the past 30 years was valued "1," while military government in the past 30 years, but not in the past 10 years was valued "2," and military government in the past 10 years was valued "3."
Copyright protection was valued "1," if a country pro vides international copyright protection to computer software products. If such protection has been abridged in the past 10 years, a value of "10" was assigned.
Economic and political assessments for Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico are presented in this section. Each country is con sidered separately.
Several military coup d'etats occurred in Argentina between 1955 and 1973. During that 18 year time period, the country had nine different presidents. In 1973, Juan Peron once again became president of Argentina. Following his death, he was succeeded by his second wife, Isabella, who was herself deposed in 1976. The one lasting and recognized positive fac tor related to the presidencies of both Juan and Isabel Peron was labor reform. Another lasting factor which not everyone recognizes as positive is the Peronista Party, of which the current President of Argentina, Carlos Menem, is a member.
From 1976 through 1983, the countr...