Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

El número de Comentario Internacional que presentamos trata un tema crucial en nuestros tiempos, el multilateralismo, como homenaje a Diego Cordovez, presidente fundador del Centro Andino de Estudios Internacionales.

El enfoque realista en relaciones internacionales suele declararse la disciplina misma. Desde sus orígenes —pasando por distintas circunstancias y debates teóricos— hasta el primer cuarto del siglo XXI, su lugar y prestigio, aunque cuestionados, se mantienen en la práctica de la política internacional y en la comunidad epistémica disciplinar. Sin embargo, desde una perspectiva histórica de evolución de la disciplina bajo la que se revisen y cuestionen sus fundamentos, tal lugar puede ser impugnado. De tal manera, el objetivo de este artículo es proponer una crítica mediante la metodología de la historia conceptual, la metateoría reflectivista y un análisis empírico. El resultado es que el realismo en la disciplina ha sido políticamente motivado y orientado, lo que pone en duda su supuesta objetividad científica, además de presentar sostenidas inconsistencias en sus fundamentos ontológicos y epistemológicos. El hecho de ser insuficiente para analizar, por ejemplo, las fronteras en la actualidad impide comprender, entre otros, el problema del cambio internacional. Se concluye que el realismo, si bien puede aportar términos y reflexiones normativas, solo es un enfoque limitado en un amplio y más rico crisol de teorías, razón por la cual se invita a los académicos a explorar las múltiples posibilidades teóricas a partir de una comprensión histórica, situada y conceptual de la disciplina.

For any story, what matters is how it is told and heard. Rutherford describes storytelling as action-guiding. It can allow a division of labor between the teller(s) and the reader(s)/ listener(s). Simply by the story being told, normatively justified forms of action can be inferred. Although this account of storytelling looks more prescriptive than realist, noone is compelled upon reading or listening to it to follow it regardless of how exacting it is. Stories, provided we are epistemically just in our reading and listening, can overcome the dichotomy between prescriptive and interpretive understandings. The opening up of this possibility can furnish contemporary realists with non-moralist and non-status quo affirming normative precepts. Starting from the recognition that how we know reality and how we articulate that knowledge scaffolds how our research processes, we can reconfigure and invent revised judgments about the limits of (political) educational possibility. Through evidence based on collaborative practice, interdisciplinary groups of undergraduate higher education students from the global south and north, virtually navigated the multiple perspectives of volatility, unpredictability, and complexity of our interrelated world through migration stories. By expanding their collective capacity to hold space for difficult conversations about the stories they heard, they opened up the possibility of furnishing non-moralist and non-status quo affirming normative precepts.

This study analyzes the cultural factors influencing international negotiations, taking as an example the trade relationship between Ecuador and China. China, a culturally diverse country, with strong economic and ideological influence, and is one of Ecuador’s main trading partners. The objective is to identify the cultural elements that must be taken into account to achieve positive results in negotiations. The analysis is given through quantitative and qualitative approaches. The trade balance of recent years will be examined to understand the trade relationship between the two countries. In addition, a literature review of relevant sources on interculturality in the business context will be conducted to obtain strategies that can be applied during negotiations. Interviews were also conducted to provide valuable information for developing an effective action model. With this in mind, it is hoped to improve the performance of the negotiations by strengthening the commercial relationship between the two countries.

This paper uses the theoretical lens of realism to analyze the events of World War II generally, and the decision to use the bomb specifically to show how realism still finds salience in international relations theorizing. It shows, however, that while realism has a parsimonious and compelling explanation for how the world works, that there are limits to its explanatory and predictive power. Globalization, international cooperation and interdependence, climate change, refugee crises, pandemics and the flows of people and money across borders are all geopolitical features that realism as a theory has no adequate answer for. The world has changed significantly since 1945 and other schools of thought have emerged that also address the dynamics of the international system in which we live. Liberalism, constructivism and feminism are therefore some of the other perspectives that help us better understand international politics. Realist thinkers should therefore take the opportunity to review some of the theory’s main tenets in order to better respond to its limitations.

Urban agroecology has become common in Latin American cities. This paper analyzes knowledge encounters and communicative practices among urban farmers in Bogota, Colombia. We visited gardens and applied a qualitative and quantitative questionnaire, participatory ethnography and analyzed social media metrics. These initiatives exist and persist thanks to communication, both face-to-face and mediated through social media, that allows urban farmers to organize, meet, learn and reach agreements.

This study analyzes the perception of a group of Mexican users regarding artificial intelligence, highlighting its use to enhance productivity and creativity. Through a survey of 327 participants, preferred tools and motivations for use are explored, revealing a strong dependency and ethical concerns. It underscores the need for clear policies to ensure the responsible use of AI, significantly contributing to communication studies by emphasizing the balance between benefits and ethical implications.

Coffee processing generates by-products, mainly coffee pulp, which represents 45 - 50 % of the weight of the fruit. There is interest in using this by-product in food formulation since it contains bioactive compounds with potential health benefits. A S. cerevisiae strain was studied to ferment coffee pulp and evaluate its impact on the volatile fraction, physicochemical composition, and sensory quality. Four treatments were studied: natural dry and submerged fermentation (FN, FNS), and fermentation with dry and submerged S. cerevisiae (L1, L1S). Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified by HS-SPME-GC-FID; caffeine and chlorogenic acids were quantified by HPLC, and a sensory analysis was performed. Seventy-one VOCs distributed in 13 chemical families were identified; treatment L1 presented the highest concentration of VOCs with fruity and pleasant notes; FN was distinguished by its herbal notes. All treatments presented similar concentrations of polyphenols and chlorogenic acids. The infusion of treatment L1 presented sensory notes of hibiscus and tamarind that were corroborated by identifying linalool, geraniol, benzaldehyde, (z)-3-hexenal and ץ-undecalactone. Using a starter culture like S. cerevisiae is a promising alternative to improve the sensory quality of coffee pulp beverages and increase its commercial value.

In Mexico, Theobroma cacao plantations form a wooded agroecosystem that contributes to biodiversity conservation. In the state of Tabasco, fungal diversity has been little studied in this ecosystem. The objective of this study was to characterize the fungal diversity associated with T. cacao pathologies in the state of Tabasco, Mexico. A total of 48 isolates were obtained and identified through morphology and analysis of the ITS region; for the pseudofungi Phytophthora sp., the 18S gene was amplified. In addition, diversity and abundance were analyzed. Seven species were identified, including Lasiodiplodia theobromae, Moniliophthora roreri, Ceratocystis cacaofunesta, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Fusarium descemcellulare, Cophinforma atrovirens and Phytophthora capsici. This number of species resulted in a DMg = 1.55 and an H’ = 1.6. The most abundant species was C. gloeosporioides (43.7%), followed by M. roreri (18.7 %) and P. capsici (14.6 %). Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and M. roreri showed a constancy frequency (HR) of 90 %; the P. capsici species showed a HR of 60 %. At the subregion level, the species M. roreri, C. gloeosporioides and F. descemcellulare showed a CF of 100 %. These results have important implications for the region’s biodiversity and for cocoa production in the state of Tabasco.

The essential oil profile of Mexican oregano (Lippia graveolens Kunth) makes it a spice with significant economic potential. However, its high concentration of compounds water-soluble phenolic (pinocembrin and galangin), flavonoids with important therapeutic properties little used. The content of these flavonoids remains in significant quantities in the residual bagasse obtained after the essential oil extraction process. This bagasse, being rarely used and due to its inadequate disposal, represents a source of contamination. This research focused on taking advantage of the residual bagasse, extracting the flavonoid compounds (pinocembrin and galangin) evaluated by HPLC-DAD. As extraction pretreatments, the use of ultrasound and microwaves at different powers was evaluated, followed by extraction with agitated maceration. The extraction kinetics could be adjusted to a second-order model, revealing a two-stage extraction process: diffusion and washing. The maximum extraction capacity (Cs) and recovery of pinocembrin and galangin were obtained using ultrasound at 325W for 5 minutes, reducing the total extraction time by 59%. The total phenolic content (Folin-Ciocalteu) and antioxidant capacity (ORAC, DPPH and FRAP) of the extracts obtained were evaluated. This approach represents an alternative use of residual bagasse and a significant improvement in the efficiency of the conventional extractive process.