LATIN AMERICA: INTEGRATION AND INCLUSION

By Jose Mujica Reprint | | Print |

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MONTEVIDEO, Mar 8 2011 (IPS) - As is well known, all countries, and the small ones in particular, are having a hard time adapting to a shrinking world that is ever more globalised, interconnected, and interdependent, with multiple centres and multiple peripheries. Given the infinite number of connections, the traditional forms of production and distribution have changed. Transnational corporations control an important part of world trade and dictate the new regulations to which we have no choice but to adapt.

To respond to these challenges, and as a inescapable response to globalisation, the world is organising itself into gigantic blocs.

From Latin America, we can see that two major social, technological, and economic blocs are forming in Asia around India and China in competition with the traditional developed powers. We are asking ourselves, What are we going to do? What will our place in this world be? Will we have to negotiate one by one without a unified position, without the defense of a common culture, without a common heritage of science and knowledge?

Even the largest countries of our region need the economic and political weight of the rest. This is true even of Brazil, the first country in Latin America to decide to assume a major role on the world stage. This is both a major achievement and a major challenge. Brazil must recognise its responsibilities, and we must recognise that we have to stand by her.

This is the reason why Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay signed the Asuncion Treaty in 1991 to create MERCOSUR, the Common Market of the South. At present Bolivia and Venezuela are in the process of joining the organisation, while Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are associate members. MERCOSUR spans an area of almost 12 million square kilometres and includes more than 380 million people. Its human and natural resources are immense.

We are aware of the asymmetries in the organisation and its flaws, but we believe that the way to correct them and promote greater equality is through a policy of reconciliation and inclusion of the maximum number of countries of the region.

My government favours extending membership to Venezuela, first of all because it is a mistake to confuse a country’s regime with its people. Governments come and go; countries endure. Moreover, in terms of economics and natural resources, Venezuela is both rich in energy and generates considerable demand for our products.

We need Venezuela and the other South American countries in MERCOSUR to build the potential of the subcontinent, which would be staggering with the addition of Venezuela’s energy resources, the fresh water of the pampas in the south, the Amazon, and the experience of our people.

The goal therefore is to build one nation that spans the entire subcontinent.

Another major problem that Latin America must address through the combination of inclusion and international integration is improving the living conditions of our poor. A crucial task before us is incorporating into society the enormous masses and groups now excluded and drawing them into a process of internal growth.

This challenge requires us to increase our wealth, resources, and knowledge, though this in itself will not solve the underlying problem: our people are fractured into myriad groups. There is not one Latin America but many, including the forgotten of the earth, those condemned to live in the favelas and the major capitals of the continent.

In the fight for growth and social and economic expansion, the largest potential market for Latin America is the poor themselves, who must be brought into society. Although the region has progressed considerably in the last decade, we still have a colossal debt to the poor of our countries. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

(*) Jose Mujica is the President of Uruguay.