Percepções governamentais sobre a integração regional na América do Sul

Resumo

Coexist in Latin America today multiple integration processes with different features and logics. From projects initiated during the first integrationist wave in the 1960’s (CAN - Andean Community) to processes of the open regionalism era and neoliberal thinking of the 1980s; and to new institutional designs that propose the overcoming of these models and the construction of ideologically or institutionally differently outlined initiatives, as in the case of the Alba (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America) and even Unasur (Union of South American Nations ); or even the resumption of the agenda of open regionalism with the Pacific Alliance. This coexistence draws attention not only by the diversity of the proposals, but because several countries participate simultaneously in more than one regional group. To what extent this multiplicity of memberships proves to be contradictory or reveals inconsistencies and changes in the strategic interests of the foreign policy of these countries? This article analyzes the positions of governmental actors from six countries: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru; focusing on speeches, statements, interviews and documents produced by these actors in relation to regional integration. The selection of the countries followed the criteria of participation in at least two integration processes and the importance of these actors on regional integration itself. The hypothesis of this paper is that as new integrationist proposals proliferate, the most institutionalized projects tend to lose strength and importance on the countries’ foreign policy. The first part of the article discusses what the governments understand on regional integration, that is to say, what are their interests and goals with those blocks. Then our attention turns to analyze the perceptions that these actors present on each of the regional blocs and how each country approaches the concerns pointed out in the first part of the work. Finally, we will discuss to what extent these projects can coexist and be complementary.

Ficha do documento

Tipo

Artigo científico

Ano

2015

Instituição

Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (Ipea)

Fonte

Repositório do Ipea

Idioma

Português

Acesso

Acesso aberto

Identificador

oai:repositorio.ipea.gov.br:11058/6474

Licença

Licença Comum

Abrangência

América Latina

Temas

Desenvolvimento Regional

Palavras-chave

Relações InternacionaisIntegraçãoRegionalismoAmérica do Sul