a prize contiguous bloc that includes Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama. Not coincidentally, this group also represents the strongest bulwark of support for the United States in the Western Hemisphere. Several of these countries sent troops to Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition, and they have dutifully partnered with Washington in efforts to contain regional adversaries such as Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez.