Students of the drug abuse problem may begin their analyses either at home or abroad. One observer might view the importing nation as the source of the problem, arguing that without its demand/ profit structure there would be no need for another country to grow, or to ship, illicit drugs. A second analyst might, with equal logic, contend that demand is a given, hence the producing country has the obligation, as a member of the family of nations and as signatory to international narcotics conventions, to eliminate domestic trafficking in, and production of, illegal narcotics. Regardless of whether one approaches the problem from the standpoint of either the chicken or the egg, the unassailable fact is that the illicit narcotraffic carries multiple impacts for the source countries.- social, economic and political.

Según lo que aquí visto, es tan buena la justicia que es necesaria que se use aun entre los mesmos ladrones (Sancho Panza).

The growth and importance of the underground economy has come under increasing attention from the economic profession in recent years. However, there is no consensus as to precisely which economic activities can properly be defined as forming this segment of the larger economy, although one observer has commented that they range “from relatively legal to totally criminal, that somehow escape official attention and may distort official statistics and lead to erroneous policies” (Tanzi, 1983:10). The “relatively legal” activities, which exist at one end of the spectrum, basically consist of those normal activities whose exercise is either inhibited by government red tape or which are subject to restrictions (such as minimum standards) which their agents are reluctant to meet.

Since his accession to the presidency; Alan García has pursued a very active foreign policy for Peru, quite different from the low-profile, conservative policy of his predecessor, former President Fernando Belaúnde Terry (1980-1985). In so doing, his policy represents a return to the active model employed, prior to the Belaúnde administration, by the military governments of Generals Velasco (1968-1975) and Morales Bermúdez (1975-1980), of which Velasco's was by far the more active.

During the years of military rule, the government had linked internal policy to foreign policy, had sought greater autonomy vis-a-vis the United States, had favored relationships with the Non-Aligned Movement and with Third World and socialist countries, and had emphasized active participation in international organizations.

The long-term effects of the April 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union extend far beyond that nation's borders. To be sure, radioactive materials spewed into the atmosphere at Chernobyl covered a wide swath across Europe and provoked a strong reaction from neighboring states. More important and potentially more long-lasting, Chernobyl caused the world to undertake a fundamental rethinking of its position on nuclear power and to consider whether the benefits continued to outweigh the risks.

In countries as different, in energy resources, economic circumstances, and political systems, as Austria, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, and the United States, public opinion has been a powerful force behind the reconsideration of decisions already taken to build new nuclear power plants or to place in commission plants which are close to completion. Even in Eastern Europe, pressure from environmentalists has compelled governments to address publicly — albeit superficially — the benefits and risks of nuclear power.

Costa rican amado madrigal porres is a truck driver/owner in his mid-forties who has been delivering cargo to clients throughout Central America for over 20 years. In June 1984, he started out with two trucks loaded with glassware and dishes destined for a market complex in Honduras. He and his son, age 22, had to drive both trucks through Nicaragua in order to arrive at their destination. On this trip they were stopped in a small village in Nicaragua about 50 miles from the Costa Rican border. Porres and his son were held incommunicado for 16 days in jail. His life was threatened as well as that of his son. When word reached his wife that they had not arrived at their Honduran destination, she spent thousands of dollars trying to locate them and win their release.