Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is generating a realignment of international relations and a worsening of pre-existing animosities between the great Northern blocs. The global South, on the other hand, has remained relatively distant from growing polarization, and Latin America has generally moved in the same direction. However, despite the distance, the reverberations of the crisis are so wide that it is impossible not to wonder about the impacts of the crisis in the region.
One of the most relevant questions is how the “return of geopolitics” and the “end of globalization” could impact inter-American relations. More specifically, it is important to know whether the current disruption of supply chains made up of production and distribution networks spread across the world will lead to a rearrangement of the Inter-American Dialogue.
This questioning is not new. The idea that self-sufficiency might not be so unreasonable had resurfaced during the pandemic, given the difficulties in acquiring health supplies. And today, this concern reappears in the form of distrust in relation to supply chains, whose production and distribution networks are located in “enemy countries”.
The resurgence of “regional spaces”
The international scenario has seen the resurgence of the importance of “regional spaces”, based on uniformity of ideas, political postulates and, to a certain extent, common cultural traits, as a result of the aforementioned supply problems. All this as a condition for greater and better economic integration.
This concern was expressed in the recent visit of the President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, to Argentina. On the occasion, both presidents spoke out in favor of a reconstruction of the Latin American regional space, not neglecting specific political differences, but, above all, emphasizing common points.
Unfortunately, in the case of Latin America, the “regional space” is very deteriorated. It will therefore take a great deal of effort to reconstruct the integration narrative. Even more, if to these purposes we add the ambition to revive the Inter-American Dialogue, considering that the process of convening the 9th Summit of the Americas, to be held in Los Angeles, in June 2022, is in full swing.
The meeting already has a well-defined agenda, conducive to rethinking relations with the North, insofar as it is convened with the objective of “building a sustainable, resilient and equitable future”.
The context in which the Summit will take place could, in fact, change the course of the region. To this end, it seems to us that there are certain obligations to be fulfilled by both sides.
In the case of the Biden administration, the time has come to reinterpret the meaning of “being back”, after the chaos installed by the Trump administration.
Until now, such a return has been mainly aimed at restoring relations with North Atlantic and Pacific partners, based on the notion of the traditional liberal international order, which gives primacy to developed countries. In view of this, the view on how to articulate the South, and, above all, with the western hemispheric axis, has not been so privileged.
The idea would be that this vision of the Biden administration would change and include a different perspective on the South, in which the western hemispheric space is strengthened and the issue of integration is reconsidered, given the crisis in supply chains and the return of geopolitics. A change that also implies a different approach to inter-American relations, with a more empathetic approach to the priorities of the countries in the region.
Historically, the topics on the inter-American agenda are based on a list drawn up by the North, based on the analysis of the Latin American reality carried out by its respective government departments. However, the new vision must integrate the interests of Latin American governments and civil society organizations, through a new form of active listening.
On the part of Latin America and the Caribbean, obviously, one cannot expect a single voice, as the Inter-American Dialogue is made up of a diversity of countries, including English, Dutch and French-speaking Caribbean countries.
However, two points must be emphasized. The first is that China’s great influence must be put into perspective, safeguarding relations with Asian power so that trade and investment relations are given due value. On the other hand, the region must take a clear and united position on democratic principles, human rights and respect for freedoms.
On this last point, the region should change the way it approaches the idea of the liberal international order, seeing it less as a kind of pseudonym for neoliberal globalization and more as a type of multilateral order that offers the best conditions for protecting democracy, value more desirable than the alternatives offered by the realpolitik of authoritarian powers.
For a long time, the Inter-American Dialogue has been characterized by a kind of “self-exclusion” by the countries of the region. As if the spokesmen of the international liberal order were only the liberal democracies of the North, when, comparatively speaking, and since the third wave of democratization at the end of the last century, Latin America has, in fact, from the perspective of the global South , good credentials to defend international relations based on such principles.
Translated from Spanish by Janaína Ruviaro da Silva
