Latin America

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• Abya Yala Net-- Information on indigenous peoples in Mexico, Central, and South America.

• Americas Center-- From the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, with a lot of staff papers, economic analyses, statistics, and speeches online, plus links on Latin American macroeconomic and financial topics.

• Americas Program-- From the International Relations Center, a progressive "nonprofit policy studies center whose overarching goal is to help forge a new global affairs agenda for the U.S. government and people--one that makes the United States a more responsible global leader and partner." Articles, commentaries, and reports on Latin American issues are posted online.

• Andanzas al Web Latino-- New Mexico State University Library provides many well-annotated sources in various languages, a first-rate site for the purpose.

• Andean Community-- In English and Spanish, information on the economic and social integration process among Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

• Border and Latin American Information-- Another first-class site from New Mexico State University Library, especially good on U.S.-Mexican border issues.

• Borderlands Encyclopedia-- From the University of Texas at El Paso, a full set of resources on current U.S.-Mexican border issues.

• Free Trade Area of the Americas-- "Official home page of the Free Trade Area of the Americas process or FTAA. This site follows the process initiated in the 1994 Summit of the Americas to integrate the economies of the Western Hemisphere into a single free trade arrangement."

• Handbook of Latin American Studies-- From the Hispanic Division of the United States Library of Congress, this is an annual multidisciplinary bibliography on Latin America, consisting of works selected and annotated by scholars. It is now online as a thoroughly searchable database, from Volume 1 (1935) to date. An excellent resource.

• Hispanic Reading Room-- This section of the U. S. Library of Congress serves as the primary access point for research relating to those parts of the world encompassing the geographical areas of the Caribbean, Latin America, and Iberia; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S., and peoples of Portuguese or Spanish heritage in Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

• H-Caribbean-- Member of the H-Net Humanities & Social Sciences Online initiative, "sponsored by the Association of Caribbean Historians," aiming to overcome "fragmentation that has traditionally characterized the field and region... provide access to debates and discussions on Caribbean studies, act as a resource to academics teaching and researching in associated fields [and] serve to reinforce the growing awareness of the region as an important and rich area for further research and study."

• H-LatAm Discussion Network-- "International forum for the scholarly discussion of Latin American History. It is a member of the H-Net Humanities & Social Sciences Online initiative and affiliated with the Conference On Latin American History."

• Inter-American Commission on Human Rights-- From "one of two bodies in the inter-American system for the promotion and protection of human rights," information on the Commission and about human rights issues in the Western Hemisphere, published as yearly reports, country reports, and in other formats.

• Inter-American Development Bank-- Many excellent and authoritative working papers, reports, statistics, and databases online concerning a wide range of social, economic, and political matters in specific countries and in the whole region of Latin America and the Caribbean.
    Main Index Page-- Overview of all site contents. The searchable Publications page is another starting point.
    Countries Page-- Searchable starting point for information, statistics, and studies by country.
    Felipe Herrera Library-- Search the IDB site and beyond for information and analysis on Latin America.
    Research Department-- Note especially their Publications page, with many high quality studies online.
    Recommended: the excellent annual survey Economic and Social Progress in Latin America.

• Inter-American Dialogue-- "The leading U.S. center for policy analysis, exchange, and communication on issues in Western Hemisphere affairs. The Dialogue brings together public and private leaders from across the Americas to address hemispheric problems and opportunities." Various types of publications online.

• Inter-American Press Association-- Prestigious "non-profit organization dedicated to defending freedom of expression and of the press throughout the Americas." Reports, press releases, and news on press freedom in the countries of the Western Hemisphere and related information. Also has a directory for online access to well over 1000 newspapers in the Americas.

• Internet Resources for Latin America-- Another excellent compilation of  annotated links from the New Mexico State University Library.

• Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas--  At the University of Texas at Austin, this Center posts news and analysis on journalism in Latin America and the Caribbean and offers a weekly newsletter.

• Latin America Working Group-- "Coalition of over sixty [U.S.] religious, human rights, policy, grassroots and development organizations... striving for U.S. policies that promote peace, justice and sustainable development in the region." Online news, policy analysis reports, and general studies.

• Latin American Databank-- From the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, "locates, acquires, processes and archives public opinion surveys conducted by the survey research community in Latin America, including universities, institutes, individual scholars, private polling and public opinion research firms." Results of most of the studies are posted cost-free.

• Latin American Economic System (SELA)-- Regional, economic integration-focused IGO, with searchable reports, bulletins, articles, database, and other publications online, mainly in Spanish.

• Latin American Network Information Center-- The University of Texas at Austin maintains one of the major sites in the world for Latin American information, which serves as the WWW Virtual Library of Latin American Studies. The site is organized by country, subject, region, and LANIC projects and hosted databases, including a full-text database of Fidel Castro's speeches. Note the Latin American Government Documents Archive, which "seeks to preserve and facilitate access to a wide range of ministerial and presidential documents from 18 Latin American and Caribbean countries. The Archive contains copies of the Web sites of approximately 300 government ministries and presidencies."

• Latin American Pamphlet Digital Collection-- From Harvard's Widener Library, posts over 5000 "scarce and unique Latin American pamphlets published during the 19th and the early 20th centuries... valuable primary resources for students and researchers working on Latin American history."

• Latin American Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars-- A "nonpartisan forum in Washington, D.C. to discuss Latin American and Caribbean issues and to bring these issues to the attention of opinion leaders and policy makers throughout the hemisphere" through "public forums...independent research and...residential fellowships to distinguished scholars and senior policymakers." Site posts information on the Program, many of its publications, event summaries, and media files.

• Latin American Public Opinion Project-- From Vanderbilt University, "databases of public opinion information about political viewpoints across Latin America," collected over decades on topics related to democracy, such as "system support, political tolerance, citizen participation, local government, corruption, and views on authoritarianism." This large site posts and links to many analytical studies from the polls and makes data sets available.

• Latin American Studies Association--  LASA is the largest professional association in the world for individuals and institutions engaged in the study of Latin America, and offers (to members only) hundreds of downloadable papers from its most recent International Congresses. Note that some of the specialized country and topic study sections have their own web sites.

• Latin-Focus--  Latest available data and news on Latin America "from government sources, economic forecasts, market analysis covering economic performance, political risk assessments and financial market developments."

• Latinobarómetro-- "Non-profit NGO based in Santiago, Chile [that] researches the development of democracy and economies as well as societies, using indicators of opinion, attitudes, behaviour and values. Its results are used by social and political actors, international organizations, governments and the media." Posts cost-free online its excellent annual surveys and reports about democracy in Latin America, as well as some other analytical products.

• MercoPress-- "Independent news agency [based in Montevideo] which focuses on delivering news related to Mercosur-member countries, covering an area of influence which includes the South Atlantic and insular territories."

• NetAmericas-- "The Research Network on Trade in the Americas is an open forum for discussion and dissemination of research results and ideas on trade policy and economic integration. This website has been designed to facilitate and encourage the exchange of information on existing trade-related research projects and their findings among the academic communities from different countries in the Americas." Posts information on the topic and on network members, research papers, and links to trade research tools.

• NuevaMayoría-- In English and Spanish, "The Socio-Political Gate to Latin America," with news, commentary, analysis, research-- free and for-fee content, from the Argentine think tank Centro de Estudios Nueva Mayoría.

• Organization of American States-- This principal international organization of the Western Hemisphere posts many documents and much information, analysis, and statistical data. Extensive resources are found in the Foreign Trade Information System, with  information, statistics, and documents about hemispheric integration, trade trends in the Western Hemisphere, and links to further data.

• Pew Hispanic Center-- "Non-partisan research organization supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Its mission is to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos’ growing impact on the entire nation." Excellent and authoritatative source for online data and public opinion surveys about the demography, economics, education, and identity of the U.S. Hispanic population. Based at the the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.

• Political Database of the Americas-- This large searchable database at Georgetown University provides documentary and statistical political information on Latin America, including constitutions, electoral laws, parties, legislative, judicial, and executive branch information, public opinion, and election data.

• QUIPUSTAT-- "Bilingual application for public use intended for users and producers of labour statistics of Latin America and the Caribbean.  It was developed with the aim of contributing to improve the quality and availability of labour statistics and analysis from the region." In cooperation with the ILO's Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Labour Information and Analysis System.

• Resource Center of the Americas-- "Informs, educates and organizes to promote human rights, democratic participation, economic justice and cross-cultural understanding in the context of globalization in the Americas." Content oriented toward justice, democracy, and human rights issues.

• ReVista-- From the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University, a free analytical and themed magazine in PDF about the region, published three times yearly, with archives back to Fall 1998.

• United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean-- News, information, many statistics, and many online reports are available free in full-text from this United Nations regional organization. Great source for authoritative online economic information about Latin America.

• Washington Office on Latin America-- A leading advocate for human rights, democracy, and social and economic justice in Latin America and the Caribbean. Coverage and analysis of topics including U.S. legislation and policy, country and regional situations, military aid, and key current issues, with online publications.

• World Bank Latin American and Caribbean Information-- Full-text papers, discussion notes, and reports on economic, environmental, and social issues in Latin America and the Caribbean today.