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The purpose of this study is to examine the Contadora and Esquipulas phases of the Central American peace process of the 1980s as inter-related case studies that provide important insights into the interests, capabilities, and limits of contemporary Latin American diplomacy and foreign policy making. By reconstructing and analyzing the diplomacy of the regional peace process, this study seeks to understand why it persisted for as long as it did despite tremendous political obstacles and expectations of failure. This study shows that the peace process is rooted in the diplomatic traditions of Latin America, but it emerged and persisted because of the development of the new interests, capabilities, and diplomatic innovations of several Latin American states. To understand the lessons of the Central American peace process, this work opens with the study of the traditions and historical development of Latin American diplomacy through the 1970s and up to the emergence of political crisis and war in Central America. Then it focuses on reconstructing the significant phases and diplomatic events of the Contadora and Esquipulas peace processes and examines their central documents. Finally, it analyzes the specific foreign policy interests, capabilities, and contributions of four states actively involved in the peace process, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Costa Rica, in order to understand the nature of contemporary Latin American diplomacy and its import to both the persistence of the peace process and the future of inter-American relations. This study's primary level of analysis is at the inter-regional level, focusing on Latin American diplomacy, however, factors at the systemic and societal levels of analysis also receive considerable attention. The data used comes from both primary and secondary sources and includes interviews by the author with several Nicaraguan and Costa Rican diplomats actively involved in the peace process, including former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. In the end, this study seeks a deeper understanding and appreciation of the foreign policy interests and diplomatic capabilities of our Latin American neighbors.

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