Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies

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Dominican Republic and Haiti: Country Studies
minifundio—A small landed estate (see latifundio)
Organization of American States (OAS)—Established bv the
Ninth International Conference of American States held
in Bogota on April 30, 1948, and effective since December
13, 1951. Has served as a major inter-American organization
to promote regional peace and security as well as economic
and social development in Latin America.
Composed of thirty-five members, including most Latin
American states and the United States and Canada. Determines
common political, defense, economic, and social
policies and provides for coordination of various inter-
American agencies. Responsible for implementing the
Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (Rio
Treaty) when any threat to the security of the region arises.
Paris Club—The informal name for a consortium of Western
creditor countries (Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland,
and the United States) that have made loans or guaranteed
export credits to developing nations and that meet in
Paris to discuss borrowers' abilitv to repay debts. Paris Club
deliberations often result in the tendering of emergency
loans to countries in economic difficulty or in the rescheduling
of debts. Formed in October 1962, the organization
has no formal or institutional existence. Its secretariat is
run by the French treasury. It has a close relationship with
the International Monetary Fund (q.v.), to which all of its
members except Switzerland belong, as well as with the
World Bank (q.v.) and the United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The Paris Club is
also known as the Group of Ten (G-10).
Public Law-480 (PL-480)—Law passed by the United States
Congress in 1954 authorizing the shipment of surplus
United States agricultural produce to nations in need in
return for local currencies at advantageous rates. The
local currencies have been used primarily to cover
expenses of United States diplomatic installations overseas.
special drawing rights (SDRs)—Monetary units of the International
Monetary Fund (q.v.) based on a basket of international
currencies including the United States dollar, the
German deutsche mark, the Japanese yen, the British
pound sterling, and the French franc.
World Bank—Name used to designate a group of four affiliated
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