“President Carter was successful in his attempt to advance human rights in the Americas.” To what extent do you agree with this statement?

Candidates will consider the merits or otherwise of the argument that President Carter’s human rights policy in the region was successful. Opinions are likely to differ and candidates may consider both the stated intentions of the Carter administration as well as the actual policies applied. Issues that candidates may address include Carter’s support for an annual Congressional human rights report to help focus public attention on the issue, reduction or elimination of arms sales to countries involved in human rights abuses, initiation and passage of the Panama Canal Treaty, ending of US backing for Somoza in Nicaragua and support for African American and gender equality civil rights issues in the US. Critics have also argued that Carter did little to deter the CIA from circumventing the arms sale ban and that he failed to stop sales approved by previous administrations.