INTEGRAÇÃO REGIONAL: RAÍZES HISTÓRICAS DOS PROJETOS DE INTEGRAÇÃO AMERICANOS

Abstract

Despite the growing importance nowadays, especially with the development of MERCOSUL, UNASUL and NAFTA, the wish of union and integration between american countries has roots a lot more ancient and deeper, dating from the ibero-american and brazilian’s independence. It sought the construction of a New Continent, distinct from the european, with the Americanist Conferences of the XIX Century as the biggest expoent of this new aspiration. It’s clearly distinguished two moments: In the first moment, this integration was marked by an agenda of political and regional integration, focusing on Latin America (especially in the Republics) during the beginning of the XIX Century. In the second one, it was a perspective focused on international trade, led by the United States and strengthened by the end of this century with the Pan Americans Conferences. Through shocks between these two identity constructions and their projects, it is analyzed the similarities and differences between this “latin-americanist” perspective and the “monroeist”, comprehending the different ways in which both reflect internationally, their respective concretizations, failures and impacts on the continent in XXI century and in the current processes of regional integration.