From the Publisher: From border crime in Mexico to Chavez's revolution in Venezuela, this volume presents up-to-the-minute coverage of the key conflicts, corruption, and revolutionary movements simmering or raging in every region of Latin America. In-depth, comprehensive chapters explore drug wars, immigration issues, terrorism, youth gangs, government corruption, controversy over oil, and political instability. This is a must-have source for current coverage of trouble spots in Latin America, their origins, and subsequent development. Over 30 security-based hot spots are analyzed within these geographical regions. They vary in severity, background, and degree of threat to the United States, the nation itself, or its regional neighbors. Hot spots covered include: The Zapatista Rebellion, the Darien Gap controversy, Evo Morales, Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) and Tupac Amaru, the Falklands, and Guantanamo Bay.

Introduction: the meaning of hot spot terminology -- 1. Mexico -- Border crime and drug wars -- Governance and corruption -- Guerrilla conflict in Guerrero -- Immigration -- Oaxaca protest movement -- Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas -- 2. Central America -- Darién Gap controversy -- Drug wars, youth gangs, and terrorism -- Governance and corruption -- Panama's Canal: is the waterway at risk? -- Poverty and human development -- 3. Andean South America -- Bolivia's Salida al Mar controversy -- Border conflicts and ungoverned spaces -- Colombia's cival war -- Drug wars and terrorism -- Governance and corruption -- Magdalena Medio (Colombia) -- Morales and the multinationals -- Petropolitics and pipeline wars -- Shining path and Tupac Amaru movements -- Venezuela: Chávez's Bolivarian revolution -- 4. The Southern Cone and Brazil -- Amazon powder keg -- Beagle Channel dispute -- Falklands/Malvinas fracas -- Governance and corruption -- Mapuche power? -- Tri-border area terrorism -- 5. The Caribbean: Cuba and Haiti -- Cuba's long-distance civil war -- Drug trafficking and terrorism -- Governance: political instability and corruption -- Guantánamo Bay: is the U.S. naval base at risk? -- Haiti as a failed state -- 6. Non-Iberian South America: Guyana and Suriname -- Border conflicts -- Governance: political instability and corruption -- Caribbean--South American terrorism -- 7. Conclusion.