HARRY E. VANDEN is Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the University of South Florida, Tampa (Ph.D. Political Science, New School for Social Research). He has worked and lived in several Latin American countries and taken several student groups to Latin America. He was a technical expert in the National Institute of Public Administration in Peru in the 1970's and a visiting professor in Brazil in 2007. A Fulbright Scholar in Peru and later in Brazil (2007), he has published some thirty scholarly articles, numerous book chapters and ten books, including: "Latin America: An Introduction" and "Politics of Latin America: the Power Game" (Oxford University Press,2011 and 3rd ed,2009, respectively), co-authored with Gary Prevost, and "Latin American Social Movements in the Twenty-First Century: Resistance, Power,And Democracy" (Roman & Littlefield, 2008) co-edited with Richard Stahler-Sholk and Glen Kuecker, chosed as a Choice 2009 Outstanding Academic Title. Current research interests focus on new social movements, especially the Landless Movement (M.S.T.) in Brazil and Central American Gangs.