This paper starts from a fundamental premise and a defined analytical perspective, implying a concrete intellectual commitment. It starts from the premise that it is only possible to examine the theme "education and dependence" adequately within the context of the global social process in which dependence is exerted and education is practised. This premise implies an understanding of the power of reciprocal limitation between education and society in the context of the power of reciprocal limitation between dependent society and dominant society. This affinnation suggests the existence of a close association between the phenomenon of dependence and that of power which in the final analysis defines and regulates the relations among nations, organizations, social classes and individuals. However, by using dependence as the analytical vector for the comparative study of education in the international context, the concept of dependence refers essentially to the structural relations among nations and to its internal effects within nations. 
The phenomenon of dependence can be analyzed in diverse manners, both from the perspective of dominant countries and from that of dependent countries. In this paper, educational dependence is examined from the perspective of the dependent society conceived as the historical product of the dialectical relationship between domination and dependence. This perspective implies a critical and autochthonous intellectual stance, the basis upon which one assumes a concrete commitment. This commitment implies definition, explanation and the meeting of the economic, political and cultural needs and aspirations of the dependent society. In this essay, the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean are considered typical examples of dependent societies within the context of international relations.