The United Nations and ECLAC at the half-century mark of the Organization / Gert Rosenthal. -- The creation of the United Nations and ECLAC / Hernán Santa Cruz. -- Human rights and the child / Teresa A lbánez. -- Governance, competitiveness and social integration / Fernando Calderon G.. -- Port privatization, labour reform and social equity / Larry A. Burkhalter. -- New trends in wage policies / Andrés Marinakis. -- Central America: macroeconomic performance and social financing / Francisco Esquivel. -- Panama and Central American economic integration / Luis René Cáceres. -- The dual currency bifurcation of Cuba’s economy in the 1990s: causes, consequences and cures / Archibald R. M. Ritter. -- Transnationalization and integration of production in Latin America / Armando Di Filippo.