Since the introduction of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, the United States has maintained a sphere of influence in Latin America. This hegemony has yielded beneficial results, such as the Panama Canal, and at times, has caused more harm than good. The later result has been the dominant outcome beginning with 1954 and the Central Intelligence Agency's foray into Guatemala. U.S. foreign policy has enabled or sanctioned actions resulting in human rights abuses. This can be easily viewed through the Reagan Administration's re-ignition of Cold War politics based on realist international relations theory This particular foreign policy blueprint is based on one geo-political thought: Communist Rollback. Due to this, other concerns, such as human rights, were relegated to a lesser priority. The purpose of this thesis is to determine the extent to which U.S. foreign policy undermined human rights in Central America during the decade of the Reagan Administration. By understanding the effects of Reagan's singular focus, this thesis seeks to bring clarity to the deficiencies of current or potentially future foreign policy models. To understand the impact of U.S. foreign policy this thesis will explore three key case countries: Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. These crossroads of policy between the Reagan Administration and their Central American counterparts will dictate decisions made publicly and secretly that will be the impetus of human rights abuses that are still being uncovered thirty years later. What we will discover is that, ultimately, containment policy failed to slow socialism as an alternative to capitalism and democracy in some of these states at the expense of the human rights of native citizens. / Master of Arts / This study was conducted with the purpose of evaluating the effects of U.S. Foreign Policy upon human rights in Central America during the 1980s. The study first reviews both the Carter and Reagan Administrations' formulation of foreign policy in regard to Central America and Communist expansion. The methodology used to explore this topic is a historical review of events in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. The importance of such a study is to ascertain whether a single-issue foreign policy focus can negatively impact the rights of ordinary citizens. By understanding how foreign policy is created and executed in this manner can bring accountability and transparency for the consequences that follow such a strategy.

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International lawyers are increasingly interested in studying NGOs ("NGOs") and their influence on state behavior, but few have studied the impact that domestic NGOs can have on transforming and generating international norms. This paper explores the links between Latin American NGOs and their aim of changing international norms into more effective instruments against systematic violations of human rights by states. I will aim to articulate the stages of the processes that NGOs go through to change state behavior. / I decided to write about NGOs and changes to human rights norms because I have dedicated most of my life to trying to eliminate human rights violations in Latin America. To the detractors that insist that such attempts are futile, I would respond that every effort one can contribute to the human rights movement is one step towards the goal of transforming beliefs and principles into real changes to state practices.

Thesis (Ph. D. in sociology)--Washington State University, May 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-42). Also available on the World Wide Web.

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