THE POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC INTEGRATION OF LATIN AMERICA

It was in the early 19th century that the idea of uniting the entire continent of South America under the banner of a single great nation was first conceived. Several former Spanish Empire estates and provinces, having broken free from the reign of Spain, decided to unite as a single state organism. However, it was not until the second half of the 19th century that this idea of unity began to come to life. There were several favourable factors at play: the nation states, similar social structures, coinciding economic situations, a common history, a common Catholic creed, cultural relatedness and the weakening of the Kingdom of Spain. The rapid inflow of new ideas from Western Europe - new philosophy and ideals of the Enlightening - also played a major role in the process. Unfortunately, it ended in failure almost as soon as it started. Even at the beginning of the second half the 19th century, new issues arose which managed to successfully shut down the ongoing efforts, primarily including the increasing sense of difference between the individual nations' ideals and beliefs, as well as a feeling of strong territorial independence of the local populations. These differences had the painful and bloody result of nearly a hundred years of conflict and strife across the entire continent. Another major effect was the formation of several independent, sovereign countries, whose borders have almost not changed since. Due to the success of the Cuban Revolution, the thought of a political and territorial unity of Latin America resurfaced in the 1950s. The ideals of socialism and communism are well received among the poorest classes, with all manner of leftist groups propagating, among others, the concept of creating a melting pot of the various nations in the region. On the other hand, far right and oftentimes authoritarian parties tended to seize power in the individual countries, frequently with external support. These parties were not always opposed to the idea of collaboration and integration with their neighbours, but would accept it merely in terms of economy. Nowadays, Latin America is internally torn by diametrically opposed political and ideological forces to a degree unlike any other continent. Which of these forces will prevail and complete the task of uniting the region has not yet been determined.