Las relaciones de América Latina en el umbral del siglo XXI: entre la globalización y la fuerza centrípeta de Estados Unidos, pensando en ALCA

Abstract

Foreign relations in Latin America over the last two decades have been oriented towards the intensification of trade links with the United States, the weakening of connections with Europe and Japan, and a degree of stagnation in interregional exchange or, alternatively, the abandonment of efforts at diversifying markets of origin and export destination. The application of novel indicators, such as market penetration, export intensity and propensity to export indicates that the gravitational force exercised by the United States market over the geography of Latin American commercial exchange has intensified. It is possible to suggest that a hemispheric trading block is, in fact, being set up which might turn into a “Fortress North America”, depending upon the contents of the undertakings which give form to the Free Trade Area of the Americas.