World attention now rivets on a troubled Central America — from Guatemala to Costa Rica — and on surrounding island states of the larger Caribbean basin. In many international forums the question is asked: Can an international assistance effort, with financial, technical, and market components, be mounted to assist the hemispheric subregion in achieving a more stable, secure, and peaceful ground for economic growth and general development? The subject is not a new one by any means. In fact, since 1945 it has found its way again and again onto the Hemisphere's geopolitical and economic agenda.

Skeptics argue the futility of any effort to transfer resources from the wealthier to the poorer countries, maintaining that “official transfers cannot significantly promote development,” since they have too many adverse consequences on recipient nations, including encouragement of “imprudent financial policies.”