Latin America has been challenged with political instability and accompanying violence in the last 30 years. The power and authority of the military has fluctuated wildly in each country. The inability to implement liberal ideals into firm governmental policies and the inability to bring about social change for the working class has caused upheaval in their governments. Corrupted democracy and unrealized liberal ideals has led to oligarchic and authoritarian rule instead of the election of more viable candidates. When communism has failed, the military has taken over establishing dictatorships. Much of the political instability over the past thirty years has been due in part to U.S. intervention in backing non-communist candidates and training military leaders. But it is the failure of enduring political systems that has caused upheaval in Latin America.
How must Latin Americans today feel about their governments? Do they have any trust in politicians who come forward and promise change? How fearful are they to speak out or demonstrate opposition to government policies when they have seen or experienced the loss of a loved one at the expense of military or political factions?
I predict that Latin America will continue to experience political instability unless new democracies or governments are free from corruption and U.S. intervention. Without trust from the people, government systems in Latin America are vulnerable. Economically, the underlying problems of social inequality will remain unless the standard of living rises for the working class. Social security must be addressed because the past demonstrates that social inequality has led to revolution and communism.
One question that stands out in my mind: Is communism working in Cuba? Has Fidel Castro brought about social equality? The education and health sectors sure look as though social equality has been realized to some extent. Are Cubans happy with their government? Were it not for the U.S, embargo, would Cuba be competitive economically and enjoying some measure of prosperity? It is interesting to consider what will happen when Fidel Castro dies. Human rights issues aside, I think Cuba has leveled the playing field socially which has been an underlying cause of political instability in Latin America.
My thoughts turn to the idea of a Latin American EU to provide political stability, trade, pooled resources for improved infrastructure and authority to enforce human rights. The OAS serves this role but I think a look at the EU model would strengthen the OAS and bring about political and economic stability in Latin America, providing security for new governments and enforcing human rights.
Latin American History for Teachers 
I thought your questions were excellent and the answers were not really given in the readings. The question that really stuck out was how Latin Americans feel about their governments. Perhaps the reason that the governments have not been successful is the complete distrust of any government based on the experiences. The colonial, liberal, conservative, neocolonial governments failed to provide what the people needed or at least make the people feel as though the governments cared about their needs. Without this, is it any wonder that there would be little faith in any new governments that are being established?