This paper aims to study the creation and impact of the foreign policy of the Contadora Group, which was established as a sui generis strategy of diplomacy and conflict resolution in Latin America and the Caribbean. The purpose is to explain the determinants of the decision making process within the Group, which allowed –in a Cold War setting– the configuration of nonaligned foreign policy strategies. These strategies are possible thanks to the decision making processes, which are influenced by the foreign policies outlined by the presidents and chancellors of Contadora, and by the given situation in the Americas. Following the ideas raised by K. J. Holsti on the national conception of role that political leaders have about their country, the research enables to identify the impact of these roles in the foreign policy building process.
