This thoroughly updated edition should be welcomed by all who teach Latin American politics or US-Latin American relations. While he has maintained the strengths of previous editions, Kryzanek provides provocative discussions of current issues, especially immigration, globalization, and the so-called Pink Tide. The book provides a great deal of information without burying the reader in extraneous details, thereby making it pedagogically very useful indeed. -Henry Dietz, Professor, Dept. of Government University of Texas, Austin