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

The beginning of the 21st century is characterized by the crisis of the American unipolar order, whose main manifestation is the rise of emerging or semi-peripheral economies. The dispute between centers and semi-peripheries created the context for Latin American peripheries to increase their share of global power. This article analyzes the factors that made possible the period of empowerment of the Latin American region at the beginning of the 21st century, the geopolitical strategy followed by the governments of the region, the results of this strategy and the decline in its effectiveness. The Latin American regional empowerment was based on an alliance of geopolitical and economic interests with the semi-peripheries, mainly China; in the negotiating power that generated the world demand for its natural resources; and in the income received from its exports. This strategy was vulnerable because its effectiveness was sustained by the monetary resources perceived by primary exports. As prices of primary goods fell, governments related to multilateralism lost the support of the population, as well as this new share of international power. Therefore, the Latin American strategy suffered from the same weaknesses as its foreign trade, being based on the deepening of its periphery status.

This article makes a reflection about the way in which, since the 1970s, a “geopolitics of fragmentation” has taken place, referring to the fragmentary form of production of the world capitalist space that tends towards processes of differentiation and unequal development and, at the same time, to others of levelling and equalization, to promote the articulation of the whole spatial production. The concept of “infrastructural power” is proposed as a point of reference for the analysis of the production of material spaces and spatial fixes, in order to understand the geopolitical role played by infrastructure as a levelling element and of spatial equalization. In this way, the article proposes to understand OBOR project as a fragmentary, differential and unequal form of production of space that responds to: 1) the dynamics of Chinese capitalism and the necessary articulation of different spaces for its reproduction; 2) its tendency towards overaccumulation and 3) the increased inter-capitalist competition. Thus, a new geopolitical logic of production and articulation of fragmentary spaces is proposed which aims to materialize in Eurasia and Africa, and which now also includes Latin America, a region in which there are various geopolitical consequences derived from OBOR, especially in the field of the historical dependence.

The evolution of the countries belonging to spaces or regions in development offers situations and trends that highlight the existence of strong socio-economic contrasts and of governance between one and the other. In Latin America, countries with similar characteristics, located in the same geographical area and that share both historical processes that generate inequality (process colonization / decolonization) and sociocultural roots (Hispanic world) that act as an element of identity, show evident today contrasts in terms of socioeconomic model, level of development and opportunities to progress. Honduras and Costa Rica, the two empirical cases object of this analysis, illustrate situations of this disparity with results that allow get some lessons. As a premise, it is accepted that the success or failure of these countries depends on the type of institutions that support their political and economic structure, because depending on whether they are inclusive or extractive they can promote or block development, according to the Theory of the Elites Extractive. In this context, Official Development Assistance (ODA) can become a factor of influence, but its effectiveness will depend on how it is managed by the national institutions that receive it, as well as the criteria that motivate it, the sectors those that apply and the interests / involvement of donors. The results obtained illuminate a complex reality that does not contradict the proposals for or against ODA, which leaves the debate open and emphasizes that the explanation for the unequal development and growth of the countries is multifactorial. What does not invalidate the effort to seek answers that help understand each case and facilitate decision making.

Based on the productive landscape configuration in the southwest of Antioquia (Colombia), this article discusses the way in which the mid-course of the Cauca river has been transformed into an axis of economic intervention. Practices of development such as economic growth and neoliberalism policies dominate and dispute the local ways of life. Through ethnographic work and analysis of thematic cartography, the article examines how the geographic expansion of capitalism produces dispossession and confinement, at the same time new subjectivities and ways of social mobilization are configured.

The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) completed ten years in 2018 in deep crisis: 6 countries announced suspension of membership in the institution. The aim of this article is twofold: to make a summary of the performance of the Defense Council (CDS) of UNASUR in its ten years of operation, its rise and “fall”; in doing so, seeks to highlight aspects that reveal competition and overlap between the CDS and other processes of institutionalization of defense and international security in the South American region, which reach relative success while being deficient and weakened.

El advenimiento del régimen de acumulación postfordista de naturaleza neoliberal relativiza las territorialidades westfalianas y pone en jaque la noción de los límites duros protectores de las naciones. Ello ha conducido a la emergencia de formas específicas de “territorialidades superpuestas” -regiones y complejos urbanos transfronterizos- que colocan en un primer plano la conformación de  regímenes políticos fronterizos (RPF), entendidos como el ensamblaje de instituciones, normas, procedimientos y prácticas discursivas que canaliza la interacción conflictiva de los actores públicos por recursos y valores en territorialidades de fronteras internacionales. Este artículo analiza la situación de los RPF en América Latina a partir de la manera como los estados perciben a sus fronteras -integracionistas, hostiles e indiferentes- teniendo como base el análisis de la información documental y académica disponible, así como los estudios de campo desarrollados por los autores en varias regiones fronterizas continentales. En particular se analizan  y contrastan las experiencias nacionales Chile, República Dominicana y Colombia. El artículo concluye sobre la necesidad de miradas postwestfalianas que permitan el aprovechamiento de las sinergias transfronterizas en pos del desarrollo regional.

Since the failed dialogues of the Caguán between FARC-EP and the Colombian Government (1998-2002) until the signature and the referendum of the Havana Agreements (2016), Colombia experienced an intense international support in its search for a negotiated peace. During these years, statistical and documentary analysis have shown that the resources of international cooperation came, mostly, from the two most important partners of Colombia: the United States and the European Union. The first country, privileging a military component; the second actor, based solely on civil assistance. These two different, and sometimes opposed, policies of cooperation for peace reflect distinct interests in both donors (US and EU) and the petitioners (the Colombian State and its civil society). However, the two different cooperation policies converged around the Havana dialogues (2012-2016), and with the signing of the agreements, Colombia took a path towards a new and unprecedented scenario: the “post-conflict”, better known as “post-agreement”. It is precisely this convergence of the two major hegemonic approaches to international cooperation that makes Colombia a sui generis country when it comes to talking about scenarios of conflict and a transition towards post-conflict contexts that could be representative for other geographical circumstances, feeding and fostering the debate between “liberal peace” and “post-liberal peace” for future specific research on this topic.

The article explores the power relations between the US immigration policy and the practices of faith-based organizations at the US-Mexico border through qualitative methods. It studies how high-level technologies implemented at the border reduce migrants to mere targets, stripping them out from their human value. It also analyzes the experiences of three faith-based organizations located at Tijuana and San Diego to understand how their humanitarian work changes the normal perception of the border as a space that only serves the purpose of the State. I argue that despite of the violence lived almost every day at the border-heightened by the implementation of military techniques- undocumented migrants can momentarily find moments of peace and justice.

The Spanish municipal map shows serious dysfunctions (persistence of small municipalities in population and on surface, enclaves and problematic boundaries, over-sized attributions) consequence of a tradition that refuses to change. After an analysis of the evolution and the current structure of the legislation on the municipal map and its changes, the text denounces the great difficulties and reluctance to carry out a systematic review of the municipal map. Local administration is challenged to differentiate the “political” territory —as the place for citizen’s identity and participation but, I fact, becoming a fief of influence for political parties—, from the “management” territory —as the most suitable for an operational local public administration in order to guarantee the welfare and quality of life for the population—. The first step of the reform should be a review of the municipal attributions, capabilities and finances, establishing those that can be assigned to other administrations.