Human rights considerations and U.S. foreign policy: The Latin American experience

Abstract

The question of the nature of the relationship between U.S. foreign policy and international human rights remains unanswered. While research exists, there is little consensus on the matter. Moreover, most of the research is limited in scope and methodology to case studies, analyses of a single year, or focusses solely on economic aid allocations as a proxy for U.S. foreign policy. This study comprehensively conceptualizes U.S. foreign policy by analyzing U.S. trade, investment, military arms sales, and various categories of foreign aid with the human rights practices of recipient nations in Latin America over a three year period. It was found that human rights tended not to be a consideration in allocating foreign aid and that it was linked to foreign investments and arms sales during only one of the three years studied. However, a strong relationship existed between human rights and bilateral trade with Latin America, in that the United States traded with nations having the best human rights records.