Dependency

(From depending, L. dependere, to be subordinated to a person or thing). Subjugation, subordination. A system of power relationships imposed by one entity on another (a strong power on a weak one, a metropolis on a colony, etc.). A system of economic, political, sociocultural, or psychological subordination of one person, group, State, or people to another person, group, State. As a rule, the weaker entity is in a relation of d. on the stronger. D. can have a natural or an artificial (imposed) historical origin; an example of the former is parent and child; of the latter, metropolis and colony, developed and developing State. D. is the result of violence and the domination of one by another. The problem of d. is fundamental in the life of Latin American states, where the struggle for true economic and political independence and nation-state sovereignty has continued for centuries. In the patriarchal family, d. is manifested in the relationship of superiority of the man over the woman, the elder over the younger, etc. Today, although relations of d. of weaker countries on the major powers have no legal validity and are even condemned morally and legally by the world community, they continue to exist in practice. Notwithstanding the fact that all UN member states are recognized as independent, in reality significant financial, economic, and military control (and in some areas even administrative control) continues to be exercised by former metropolis. N.H. strives to overcome d. and to strengthen sovereignty through good-neighbor policies, realizing the equality of all peoples, and the observation of universally recognized international norms and standards. While struggling for equal rights, freedom, and solidarity, N.H. speaks out against all forms of d. in relations between human beings, peoples, and nations.