in 1982 the U.S. sided with Great Britain, rather than Latin American ally Argentina, during the South Atlantic War (Middlebrook, 1986, p. 20).
U.S. interests began to change by 1990, with the decline of Soviet power and the breakup of the Warsaw Pact; any doubt about these changing interests were erased in 1991 with the demise of the Soviet Union. As a result, strict security interests have declined in importance: direct military attack on the U.S. from the Western Hemisphere is now quite unlikely, U.S. military facilities in the region are no longer vital, and the threat from Cuba upon sea lanes is negligible without Soviet support. In addition, expanded U.S. trade and the development of synthetic technology has reduced the demand for strategic raw materials found in Latin America. Finally, unrestricted access to the Panama Canal is no longer vital since the share of U.S. shipping passing through the Canal has diminished to less than 17% of U.S. ocean-bound trade (Lowenthal, 1990, pp. 53-56).
In many respects, U.S. political interests have also changed. Ideological harmony is no longer important with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the virtual invalidation of communism (Lowenthal, 1990, pp.56-57). On the other hand, the U.S. has always maintained an interest in preserving the core values of American society, namely individual human rights and democratic processes (Lowenthal, Fall 1990, p.34); the prospects of this interest se
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