Failed US assistance to Latin America? The case of Bolivia

Abstract

Official Development Assistance (ODA) received a new boost at the start of the 21st century, but this did not translate into a meaningful decrease in poverty and inequality on the periphery. In Latin America, under the leadership of governments called progressive or post-neoliberal, significant advances were observed to this effect, with the Movement for Socialism (MAS) in Bolivia paradigmatic in terms of socioeconomice development and the political and cultural inclusion achieved. Beginning with a critique of US ODA to Latin America, and considering the case of Bolivia, this paper seeks to open up potential ways of underpinning a theoretical line in the political praxis of development that maintains a positive sense of this notion, and which is at the same time able to break with the neoliberal perspective and dispute the scepticism of post-structuralist radicalism.

Keywords

• ODA
• development
• state
• inter-American relations
• Bolivia
• United States