Latin America: regional integration in the global era

The role that regional integration can play in the development of Latin American societies is not over with market considerations, not even in institutional frameworks of an economic nature. It also includes regional convergences in the cultural, social, environmental fields and, above all, in the political arena. An integrating multidimensional strategy is a way to properly offset and assimilate the impact of globalization. The transnational economic players are powerful enough to justify the construction of less fragmented political counterparts in South America, united around their common interests and with sufficient power for negotiation. The convergence of South American countries in the political field is based upon the principles, practices and institutions of democracy. On these foundations, and recalling the EU example, there is no reason to discard the legitimacy of supranational decision-making institutions, mechanisms and entities, capable of operating in the various dimensions of the regional integration agreements.