This textbook gives a comprehensive overview of the human rights issues facing more than half of the Western Hemisphere. Cardenas synthesizes a large volume of research and incorporates primary documents, wide-ranging cases, images, and supplementary student resources, to explore basic themes of terror and hope.

For the last half century, Latin America has been plagued by civil wars, dictatorships, torture, legacies of colonialism and racism, and other evils. The region has also experienced dramatic—if uneven—human rights improvements. The accounts of how Latin America's people have dealt with the persistent threats to their fundamental rights offer lessons for people around the world.

Human Rights in Latin America: A Politics of Terror and Hope is the first textbook to provide a comprehensive introduction to the human rights issues facing an area that constitutes more than half of the Western Hemisphere. Leading human rights researcher and educator Sonia Cardenas brings together regional examples of both terror and hope, emphasizing the dualities inherent in human rights struggles. Organized by three pivotal topics—human rights violations, reform, and accountability—this book offers an authoritative synthesis of research on human rights on the continent. From historical accounts of abuse to successful transnational campaigns and legal battles, Human Rights in Latin America explores the tensions underlying a vast range of human rights initiatives. In addition to surveying the roles of the United States, relatives of the disappeared, and truth commissions, Cardenas covers newer ground in addressing the colonial and ideological underpinnings of human rights abuses, emerging campaigns for disability and sexuality rights, and regional dynamics relating to the International Criminal Court.

Engagingly written and fully illustrated, Human Rights in Latin America creates an important niche among human rights and Latin American textbooks. Ample supplementary resources—including discussion questions, interdisciplinary reading lists, filmographies, online resources, internship opportunities, and instructor assignments—make this an especially valuable text for use in human rights courses.

Introduction Terror and Hope

PT. I VIOLATING RIGHTS
Ch. 1 A Regional Survey
Ch. 2 Explaining Violations

PT. II PROMOTING REFORM
Ch. 3 Global Governance
Ch. 4 Transnational Networks
Ch. 5 Human Rights Change

PT. III SECURING JUSTICE
Ch. 6 Accountability Versus Impunity
Ch. 7 Never Again?

APPENDICES
1. American Convention on Human Rights, Part I
2. Human Rights Treaties: Regional Ratifiers
3. Human Development Indicators
4. Select Internship Opportunities
5. Suggested Assignments for Instructors

Index