Introduction : context and typology of reform models / María Amparo Cruz-Saco Oyague -- Chile : the politics of privatization / Silvia Borzutsky -- The Chilean pension system : evaluation, lessons, and challenges / Carmelo Mesa-Lago and Alberto Arenas de Mesa -- Mexico : the politics of the system for retirement pensions / Julián F. Bertranou -- Social security reform in El Salvador / Carmelo Mesa-Lago and Ricardo Córdova Macías -- The new Argentine social security system : a mixed model / Ernesto Aldo Isuani and Jorge Antonio San Martino -- The pension system in Uruguay : a delayed reform / Jorge Papadópulos -- The pension system reform in Peru : economic rationale versus political will / María Amparo Cruz-Saco Oyague -- The Colombian social security reform : between competition and solidarity / Miguel Eduardo Cárdenas Rivera -- Chile : the effectiveness of the reform / Brian Cartin -- Health sector reform : a financial-service flow model and the Colombian case / Gerard M. La Forgia -- Health care reform in Brazil : phasing change / Maureen Lewis and André Medici -- Reforming the Brazilian pension system / Cheikh T. Kane -- Social security in Ecuador : mixed or substitutive reform / Rubén M. Lo Vuolo and Carmelo Mesa-Lago -- Poverty of social security in Guatemala : the need for structural reform / María Amparo Cruz-Saco Oyague -- Social security in Venezuela : diagnosis and reform / Carmelo Mesa-Lago and Mariela Arenas -- Conclusion : conditioning factors, cross-country comparisons, and recommendations / María Amparo Cruz-Saco Oyague and Carmelo Mesa-Lago