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

The improvement of relations between developed and developing countries can only be conceived within the framework of the evolution of the international system as a whole. It does not depend on the international cooperation programs of the industrialized countries, nor on the concessions taken from them by the pressure produced by the organization of the developing countries. It depends on the structural reforms that are introduced by mutual agreement in an international system that has become one. In this paper we argue that the integration of peripheral countries in the transnational system is a process that presents a considerable margin of ambiguity, which should induce them to explore the possibilities of articulating strategies of "selective participation" in the system.

Brazil is the Third World country with which the Federal Republic of Germany has the closest relations. In the discussion that has taken place within the Federal Republic about the improvement of relations within the North-South configuration, German-Brazilian relations can be considered as a model for the problems and perspectives of the bilateral relationship between a industrialized country and a Third World country that is on the threshold of industrialization. The purpose of this work is to examine the extent and importance, on both sides, of bilateral relations in the fields of economy, culture, politics, and development policies, as well as those factors that have become evident in the difficulties encountered in the current sphere of cooperation.

Argentine relations with the United States constitute a classic case of asymmetric relations. Historical, geopolitical, economic, and strategic as well as cultural factors have contributed to the fact that, since its Independence at the beginning of the 19th century until today, no country has had difficulties similar to those that Argentina has with its distant neighbor. However, in Argentine history there have always been periods of close, even in part cordial, relations with the US It seems that this period is beginning again now. However, there is no doubt that, from the Argentine point of view, an exorbitant price has always been paid for such close relations with the US. For this reason, it is necessary to analyze the reasons for both the fluctuations in bilateral relations and their grouping since 1976.

The tripartite agreement signed by Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay in 1979 and the two presidential visits in 1980 inaugurated a new stage in the bilateral relations between Argentina and Brazil. This occurs at a time when trade has increased substantially. For those who understood years ago the meaning and methodology of the change in the bilateral relationship, it is not necessary to find new arguments to defend its merits. On the other hand, it is necessary to ask honest questions about the possible pitfalls and points of tension that may arise in reciprocal relationships and to look imaginatively for concrete working mechanisms that allow giving it content. We maintain that the consistency of the change in reciprocal relations will depend on how such questions are answered, but also on the ability to articulate an effective system of economic and technological cooperation between both countries.

The reasons that determine the importance of Argentine-Brazilian relations are quite evident and derive from multiple historical-geographical factors. The historical legacy of the colonial period and the first half of the 19th century for their relationship was predominantly one of conflict. Then followed a claim of supremacy in South America, a consequence of the image that each of the countries made of itself and the other. The second half of the 20th century brought decisive modifications to the Latin American scene, which produced a common consciousness in the region. Although the exploration of the existing economic complementarity between Brazil and Argentina constituted the oldest and most natural form of cooperation between the two countries, now the possibility of exploring technological cooperation and international cooperation is also emerging.

-

-

Con este artículo se persigue la meta de revelar conceptos autóctonos de los indígenas mesoamericanos acerca del ciclo lunar. Desafortunadamente existen sólo muy pocas fuentes valuables; las más amplias provienen aún de investigaciones propias del autor, efectuadas entre los tzotzil de Chiapas. En el estudio se enfocan dos aspectos principales: las subdivisiones de la lunación como están registradas en los idiomas indígenas, y su posible determinación por su relación con puntos de referencia temporales o espaciales. Como resultados sostenidos por casi todas las fuentes, tanto antiguas como recientes, se hallaron: 1) Los puntos principales dentro del ciclo son: la primera aparición, la luna llena, el fin de su visibilidad, y su ausencia. 2) El ciclo empieza con la primera visibilidad de la luna por el poniente y no con la conjunción, la llamada 'luna nueva' de los conceptos europeos. Entre los resultados menos representativos están los siguientes: 1) La luna llena aparece como sustituto del sol. 2) La determinación de la edad lunar se realiza por la posición que ocupa la luna en el firmamento al anochecer o al amanecer. 3) La determinación de la edad lunar se realiza por su salida en relación con la subdivisión temporal tradicional de los indígenas . 4) Relacionado con el último método existe el de la determinación de la edad lunar hecha por la salida de la luna en relación con la posición de ciertos astros en su curso en el firmamento, refiriéndose notablemente a las Pléyades y a Venus (como estrella matutina). La escasez de informaciones detalladas subraya la necesidad de practicar más investigaciones de campo en unfuturo cercano. El ejemplo de los ricos datos recientes que se poseen de los tzotzil sugiere y muestra claramente que aún hoy tal esfuerzo vale la pena.

Recent archaeological research in the Midwestern United States has shown that the roots of the Formative of this area lie embedded in the autochthonous late Archaic cultures (Lake Forest and Central Archaic ), where local wild plants (sunflower, sumpweed, chenopodium) were domesticated and a burial cult had developed. Except for cucurbits tropical plants (maize and beans in several varieties) did not change Woodland economy to any great extent until the beginning of the Mississippi Period (seventh century A.D .). Likewise, the earliest pottery in the Ohio region (dated at the middle of the last millennium B.C.) developed locally after steatite or sandstone prototypes. Adena culture thus appears now as a result of local developments, not of Mesoamerican influences.

En los libros de Chilam Balam de Yucatán se encuentran varias traducciones mayas de textos del Viejo Mundo. La mayor parte de ellos fueron tomados de los almanaques o reportorios que empezaron a aparecer en Nueva España poco después de la llegada de los españoles. Los libros de Kaua, Mani y Chan Kan contienen una traducción que es de especial interés por ser de un texto literario y por la manera en que se incorpora en la tradición literaria maya: ' La doncella Teodora' o 'Suhui Teodora', que tiene su origen en "Las mil y una noches". Al traducir esta historia los mayas eliminaron su comienzo novelesco y acentuaron su carácter filosófico, estableciendo conexiones entre su astronomía y la de Mesopotamia.En particular, dan relieve a las adivinanzas propuestas a Teodora, asimilándolas a la tradición maya denominada Zuyua than, que es de estirpe chamanística yse encuentra también entre los algonquines.