In 1978, when the American Convention on Human Rights entered into force, much of Central America and South America was ruled by dictatorships either of the right or the left. Of the eleven States whose ratifications had brought the Convention into force, fewer than one-half had democratically elected governments at the time. The remainder ratified for a variety of political reasons. Important also was the pressure brought to bear by the Carter Administration and the fact that some of these States were convinced that ratification posed no serious risks to them since the system established by the Convention would never be implemented. Effective human rights institutions were not something many governments in the region believed in at the time, but they were not opposed to a little window dressing for propaganda purposes. The attitude of these regimes towards human rights was graphically demonstrated when, shortly after the Convention entered into force, the General Assembly of the Organization of American States failed to adopt a budget for the newly created Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Had it not been for funds provided by Costa Rica, the Court would have been paralyzed even before it began to perform its functions.

Over the years, though, the political climate in the Americas changed gradually, making it possible for the Inter-American system for the protection of human rights to play an increasingly more important role.