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The Primacy of Politics

Comparing the Foreign Policies of Cuba and Mexico

Harvard University

Juan Lindau

Harvard University

Before embarking on an analysis of decisions, this article sets out three structural constraints that condition Latin America's foreign policies: (a) the persisting hierarchy of the international system; (b) the countries' low degree of industrialization; and (c) the high centralization of political decision-making The article then sees how these elements are manifested in Cuba's decisions to deploy her forces in Africa (i.e., a great power's policy by a small power), and Mexico's decision to conduct an active policy in Central America. This comparative analysis leads to two general conclusions: (a) the primacy of the presidential center, especially in the field of high politics; and (b) the more centralized and authoritarian the political system, the less likely that foreign policy decisions need satisfy internal political demands. Moreover, the analysis of these decisions indicates an additional but more specific conclusion: the marginality or even absence of economic gains; on the contrary, both countries were ready to incur economic costs.

International Political Science Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 75-100 (1984)
DOI: 10.1177/019251218400500105


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