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The purpose of this study is to deepen the understanding of cultural implications in the trade of telenovelas within Latin America. After performing a literature review on the trade of TV products, it was founded that Chile has been buying the format of Argentinean telenovelas in order to reproduce them for the Chilean audience. From the perspective of cultural proximity (Straubhaar, 1991), it could be expected to see Chile broadcasting the original version of the Argentinean telenovelas, as these countries share a similar cultural background, language, et cetera. However, that is not the case. Additionally, it was found that the Argentinean accent is not welcomed in countries north to Ecuador (Waisbord, 2004) because of cultural reasons. In order to grasp the role of accents and other cultural factors in these situations, 4 focus groups were organized with participants of 12 Latin American countries, who were inquired about the accents and cultural contents of the Argentinean telenovela “LaLola”, which’s format was bought by Chile. However, its original canned version reached markets beyond Ecuador. Besides Spanish accents, other variables were introduced to the study to assess if they influence audiences’ perception of foreign telenovelas. These variables are political, historical and territorial quarrels between countries, national images about the country of origin of the telenovela, and discrimination by nationality. The results showed that the perception of accents is connected to national images, which are constructed both on historical political quarrels and ethnic chauvinism based on nationality. Indeed, historical and political problems, as well as discrimination on the basis of nationality are, in the case of Bolivia and Chile, sources of negative images that affect how viewers interpret the Argentinean intonation. Moreover, it was found that a country with a good reputation, as well as a positive image and perception within the region, seem to improve the reception of that country’s accent and its chances of selling its telenovelas abroad. The findings also indicated that local culture is of great importance for audiences. In this scenario, the concept of geo-linguistic region as the primary factor in predicting viewing preferences appears to be over-simplistic.

This thesis examines the crisis of the Argentinian state during the period of the 1983-1989 democratic government. It suggests that the 1976 military dictatorship attempted to resolve the crisis of the Argentinian state by implementing an economic structural reform and State Terrorism. The consequences of the economic structural reform and State Terrorism constrained the margin of manoeuvre of the 1983 democratic government. The main economic constraints were the huge external debt and the impoverishment of the working class. The main political constraint was the need to bring the military to trial while avoiding a direct confrontation with the Armed Forces. The huge external debt constrained not only Argentina's economic growth but also the Radical government's economic strategies. A 'monetarist' restructuring of the state was imposed on debtor countries through IMF 'conditionality' loans. While the Radical government initially opposed such a restructuring, it later gradually began to implement the IMF's requirements. The impoverishment of the working class intensified the government's confrontation with the trades union movement. The Radical government unsuccessfully attempted to control and demobilise the working class. The trades union movement and the workers were able to block state policies, becoming the ultimate barrier to the restructuring policies adopted by the state. The attempt to bring the military to trial exacerbated the relationship between the Radical government and the Armed Forces. The government was unable to implement its own policies towards human rights violations, which prevented a definitive solution to this problem. In addition, the failure to resolve this problem intensified internal unrest within the Armed Forces, fostering the breakdown of the Army's hierarchy. The main political objective of the Radical government was to consolidate democracy. The economic legacy of the military dictatorship obliged the government to deepen the 'monetarist' restructuring of the state and the impoverishment of the workers while consolidating democracy. Implementing 'market-oriented' reforms made the transition to democracy more difficult. The thesis suggests that the Radical government, although unable to resolve the crisis of the Argentinian state, was able to begin the path towards consolidating democracy due to its policies towards human rights violations, which undermined the political role of the Armed Forces.