War and peace in Central America

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

McNeil, who served as ambassador to Costa Rica during the Carter and Reagan administrations, charges that U.S. policy in Central America over the past decade has sought to block the tenuous democratic experiments in Central America. He warns that continuing disarray, incompetence and dishonesty in Washington's handling of Central American affairs threatens to wreck our relations with Latin America as a whole. His disdain for the Reagan administration's ``mean-spirited'' response to the Arias Peace Plan, which has led to a truce in Nicaragua, is blistering. McNeil reports on his talks with Costa Rican president Oscar Arias, conveying that statesman's ideas on how a better relationship can be achieved between the U.S. and Latin America. The post-Reagan administration will have to learn to listen, McNeil cautions: ``A United States government that listens and responds to its neighbors will find a much friendlier reception.'' (Jan.)

Library Journal

These three books do not give us the strikingly new interpretations of U.S. foreign policy that original research could offer, but they are distinguished from other books covering the area by approach and perspective. Like most available writing about Central America, they are critical of U.S. policy. The most general is Black's, a short, descriptive history of U.S. imperialism that takes in the entire region. Its most original features are the numerous illustrations taken from diverse sources, providing a critical, visual document of U.S. intervention. Adding to the recent historical record, but offering a contemporary policy perspective, is the interpretative and autobiographical work by McNeil. A career foreign service officer who was ambassador to Costa Rica from 1980 to 1983 and deputy assistant secretary of state for Intelligence and Research (INR), McNeil provides a stinging and insightful critique of U.S. policy from inside the State Department and from the viewpoint of neutral Costa Rica. His is a scathing indictment of the politicization of the foreign policy decision-making process, most notably the influence of Elliott Abrams, assistant secretary of Inter-American Affairs. McNeil documents how this influence distorts our policy toward Costa Rica, as it has done elsewhere in the region. He also correctly warns that a democratic Central America will not be easier for the United States to deal with. The book with the narrowest focus is Rolbein's account of Costa Rica, set within the larger context of Central America. Rolbein mixes personal narrative, descriptive history, and travelogue into a colorful, readable work, capturing the cultural flavor of the country and its people. His portraits of Jose Figueres, the founder of Costa Rica's modern democratic state, and Oscar Arias, the Nobel Prize-winning president who tried to negotiate peace for the region, are useful vehicles for interpretating this exceptional culture. Roderic A. Camp, Central Coll., Pella, Ia.