The linkage between economic globalization and democratic consolidation in Central America

Economic globalization in the guise of neoliberalism has swept throughout Latin America in the form of structural adjustment policies geared to stabilize and reactivate moribund economies after the so-called "lost decade" of the 1980s. The end of the civil wars in Central America and the subsequent opening of political space have allowed for the reemergence of democratic institutions and practices. As the region begins to pull together, it is faced with the duel task of engineering economic growth and capitalizing on the political space created after years of repression and war. The danger lies in the pressure to integrate quickly into the global economy without protecting those sectors of society more susceptible to dislocations likely to occur with export-oriented growth. Without a concerted effort to address social inequality both politically and economically, many of the gains made thus far could be for naught if democracy does not provide a marked improvement in living conditions for the millions of marginalized citizens in Central America.