In the light of significant political changes in key countries in Latin America such as Argentina and Brazil, participants of the seminar discussed whether this, together with major changes in the global environment, marked a new stage of integration for the region.  Most speakers concluded that, whilst Central American integration remains very much “business as usual”, South American countries and organisations have entered a new stage. The speakers essentially all viewed integration as an instrument that Latin American countries avail themselves of in different forms depending on the ideology of their leaders in order to pursue their strategies of insertion in global economic (and political) trends.

Video

Materials

An Atlantic–Pacific Divide? Latin American Regionalisms and the Discourses of Ideological Polarization – José-Antonio Sanahuja

Beyond the Atlantic-Pacific divide: Latin American Regionalism institutional designs and international political economy – José-Antonio Sanahuja

Unasur and Mercosur – Andrés Malamud

Eu sou da América do Sul (Portuguese) – Antonio José Ferreira Simões

Integración: sueño y realidad en Sudamérica (Spanish) / Integração: Sonho e realidade no América do Sul (Portguese) – Antonio José Ferreira Simões

Regional Organisations and Mechanisms for Democracy Protection in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the European Union – Carlos Closa Montero, Stefano Palestini Céspedes, Pablo Castillo Ortiz

The Crisis of MERCOSUR – Giovanni Agostinis (ppt slides)

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