Latin America

Sulla base di suoi ricordi e di documenti conservati nel suo archivio personale, Bernardino Osio, all’epoca giovane diplomatico in servizio presso l’Ambasciata d’Italia a Buenos Aires, in un momento particolarmente tragico della storia argentina, ci descrive come visse un periodo irto di difficoltà e di grande disagio, sia all’interno dell’Ambasciata che all’esterno: e l’autore non nasconde le viltà e le ottusità della vita diplomatica di quegli anni, sottolineando le colpevoli omissioni dei governi italiani dell’epoca. Nei suoi ricordi sfilano, in un insieme spesso terribile ma a volte anche grottesco, le figure ambigue del mondo politico argentino e italiano dell’epoca, assieme a quelle dolenti dei parenti italiani e italoargentini di prigionieri politici e di desaparecidos. Fanno da sfondo numerose personalità della grande cultura argentina con le quali l’autore intrattenne rapporti amichevoli, e le cui case spesso furono per lui oasi di pace nella tragica realtà di Buenos Aires.

Trabajo presentado en el VIII Congreso Internacional en Gobierno, Administración y Políticas Públicas GIGAPP. (Madrid, España) del 25 al 28 de septiembre de 2017.

Resumen
Introducción: en términos de salud y población, en las últimas décadas América Latina experimentó progresos que sin embargo si nos centramos en el embarazo adolescente la situación es prácticamente opuesta. El objetivo de este trabajo es describir el estado de situación regional y reflexionar sobre la formulación de políticas públicas en un sentido más amplio, integral e intersectorial con otras áreas del estado. Para ello se trabajó con fuentes secundarias. Resultados: a pesar de haberse implementado políticas nacionales en salud sexual y reproductiva, incluso con abordajes específicos en los adolescentes, todo pareciera indicar que abordar esta compleja y multidimensional problemática social, desde una perspectiva estrictamente sanitaria no es suficiente. De allí la inquietud por repensar el diseño de las políticas que abordan esta problemática.

Diverse social programmes —including conditional cash transfer programmes, labour and production inclusion programmes and social pensions— are being implemented in Latin American and Caribbean countries with the aim of ending poverty and reducing inequalities throughout the life cycle. This book offers an up-to-date analysis of these programmes and the way they relate to labour inclusion, and analyses ongoing debates regarding the possible incentives and disincentives they create in terms of the labour supply, formalization and child labour among the target population. Considering that poverty is a structural problem of highly unequal societies, the thesis that poverty is due to a lack of effort on the part of the poor is argued to be an expression of the strong prejudice against those living in poverty, the great majority of whom work or are actively seeking employment, but are hampered by the large decent work deficits existing in the region. From an integrated and rights-based perspective, public policies should simultaneously address the twofold challenge of social and labour inclusion in order to achieve basic thresholds of well-being by ensuring income, universal access to good-quality social services and opportunities for decent work.

E-books, print on demand, online sales sites, the boom in mobile phones… new technologies are profoundly transforming the way texts circulate. Developing countries, however, which face serious limitations in infrastructure, have a considerable challenge ahead of them.

What new actors are emerging in the countries of the South, outside of the powerful platforms already existing in the US, Europe and Japan? Is it conceivable that there may be an autonomous evolution of digital publications in developing countries, entirely independent of the richest nations? What support policies could be implemented to promote the growth of this new industry and accompany traditional actors in the process of adapting to the changes involved?

The digital experiences undertaken in the South suggest that new technologies represent a great opportunity for developing countries – particularly in terms of diffusion –, but on the condition that local entrepreneurs seek out original models adapted to the concrete needs of their communities.

During the 1990s and 2000s, a policy known as Education with Community Participation (EDUCO) not only became the cornerstone of education reform in El Salvador but also became a global education policy, one which is known for decentralizing to rural families the responsibility for hiring and firing teachers. As is shown in this paper, its rise to fame was not only a product of the particular political-economic context in which it was borne, but was also a product of the impact evaluations produced by the World Bank, which served as the evidence base through which this and other international institutions could legitimately promote the neoliberal model of community involvement represented by EDUCO. Problematically, however, a reappraisal of these impact evaluations reveals, first, that their findings and conclusions around significant effects were not warranted and, second, that the entire impact evaluation enterprise is fundamentally flawed due to the financial-political-intellectual complex out of which these studies emerged and back into which they fed as they were used to advocate for market-oriented policy solutions around the world. Thus, in addition to explaining the reform dynamics that gave rise to EDUCO, this paper (a) systematically reviews the findings and limitations of each of the six impact studies that constitute the international knowledge base around this policy, (b) reconsiders what we can reasonably claim to know about EDUCO, (c) reflects on the national and international implications of the critical review presented here, and (d) remarks on the shortcomings of��and the alternatives to—impact evaluations as a
means to produce policy-relevant findings.

If, according to turn-of-the-twentieth-century observers, black Puerto Ricans were destined to become racially white in a few generations, how did 12.4 per cent of the population manage to remain black in 2010? And how did they survive in the face of both national and everyday forms of racism? How is the persistence and even increase in black identity in Puerto Rico supported? This article argues that there is a covert and largely unexplored social current at work in regard to how black Puerto Ricans live and reproduce their blackness. This is the desire to maintain and celebrate blackness. Using ethnographic data gathered during nearly two decades, the article illustrate that many Puerto Ricans have chosen not to engage in blanqueamiento, instead affirming their blackness, marrying within their communities, and valuing their own cultural practices and beliefs.

Purpose – According to official statements, BRI is a Chinese call for global cooperation, based on five
priorities: policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-topeople
bonds. The purpose of this paper is, primarily, to describe and contextualize the official discourse of
China’s foreign policy toward Latin America, emphasizing on BRI. On that basis, the author aims to contrast
official rhetoric with real facts, bringing problematic cases associated with implementing BRI in Asian and
African developing countries, so as to discuss possible challenges that Latin America can encounter when
implementing the initiative. Finally, the author evaluates potential implications of resembling the Chinese
three-level scheme of development in the region and make suggestions on this subject.
Design/methodology/approach – In an effort to evaluate possible implications of BRI in Latin America, the
paper describes and contextualizes Chinese foreign policy official rhetoric toward the region’s countries. Based
on that, the author brings to discussion Asian and African experiences in the implementation of the initiative
and raise questions on controversial issues that Latin America could meet when enforcing BRI-related projects.
Findings – As a part of its new foreign and economic policies, China continues to strengthen its engagement
with Latin American countries, enlarging its strategy though the promotion of BRI. If Latin American
countries, through BRI, seek to replicate the Chinese three-level of development scheme, including domestic,
regional and global scopes, certain controversial issues cannot be ignored in the design and implementation
processes. Also, equal participation of Chinese and Latin American governments, societies and enterprises is
decisive if the goal is to settle a long-term development scenario for the region.
Originality/value – The central thesis of this paper is that the implementation of BRI in Latin American
countries could potentially replicate the Chinese three-level development proposal. To achieve such an
ambitious goal, much depends on how Latin American countries define and enforce BRI projects. Full
understanding of those challenges requires close attention to what the Chinese official rhetoric claims and what
actually puts into practice in other developing countries already involved in BRI, so as to anticipate possible
consequences for the region.

Políticas de ciencia, tecnología e innovación para el desarrollo: La experiencia latinoamericana Hoy en día se reconoce que la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación ha sido un elemento crítico para el crecimiento económico tanto de los países desarrollados, como de los países emergen-tes exitosos. Aunque a lo largo de los últimos 20 años la región de América Latina y el Caribe ha realizado un progreso notable respecto a la mejora del clima de negocios, el establecimien-to de un régimen macroeconómico más estable y certero, así como un continuo proceso de integración con la economía global, es también claro que estos cambios no han sido suficien-tes para desencadenar procesos convergentes (catching up) de innovación y productividad. De hecho, las fallas de mercado y sistémicas que obstaculizan la innovación siguen estando presentes; los gobiernos han fracasado en diseñar propuestas de política adecuadas para su solución. Hoy en día, la brecha de inversión en innovación entre América Latina y las econo-mías más exitosas es más grande de lo que era 20 años atrás. A pesar de este escenario gris, algunas luces de optimismo están emergiendo. En primer lugar, después de muchos años de inacción, la región ha comenzado a invertir nuevamente, y más significativamente, en educación, particularmente, en disciplinas relacionadas con ciencia, tecnología e ingeniería. En segundo lugar, después de muchas oscilaciones en las políticas de innovación, hay ahora un creciente consenso en enfatizar que la construcción de capacidades de investigación y capital humano necesitan complementarse con un constante estímulo desde el lado de la demanda (de parte de las empresas y sociedad civil), y en la solución de las fallas de coordinación que impiden la interacción entre oferta y demanda de conocmiento. Este libro conjunta la historia de ocho países de América Latina que han seguido patrones convergentes, pero también idiosincráticos, que han dado cabida a una nueva generación de intervenciones políticas que, mediante la solución de las fallas de mercado y coordinación, activan los sistemas de innovación. Aunque es muy temprano para señalar que estas reformas institucionales han tenido un impacto, ya están generando una rica evidencia y aprendizaje que puede ser crítica para el futuro del diseño de políticas de ciencia, tecnología e innovación, de la construcción de capacidades y de experimentación.

This paper analyses the determinants of transport costs for intra-Latin American trade over a period of six years (1999-2004). The data refer to yearly disaggregated (SITC 5 digit level) maritime trade flows on 277 trade routes. With this data set, a transport costs equation is estimated using linear regression analysis in a panel data framework. The first contribution to the

El Puerto Rico de Operación Manos a la Obra, el de “lo mejor de los dos mundos”, colapsó. La institucionalidad del Estado Libre Asociado fue abolida de dos plumazos: el caso ELA versus Sánchez Valle y la ley PROMESA. El cuadro de colapso se completa con la depresión económica más larga de la historia, “la gran depresión de los 2000”, y la devastación causada por los huracanes Irma y María. En julio de 2019, luego de catorce días de protesta continua y creciente, el gobernador más corrupto de la historia renunció. La pérdida de toda legitimidad de la kakistocracia presagia el colapso de la partidocracia. Puerto Rico está en ruinas y al garete; no hay otro modo de describir el cómo y el dónde nos encontramos en este momento histórico.

Generations of scholars have studied the multifaceted experiences of the Franciscans in Mexico and how the Franciscan order shaped New Spain and the early Mexican republic. Recent scholarship has given long-overdue attention to the evangelized natives. Most of these works focus on a specific region or period, or on a particular aspect of Franciscan ministries in New Spain. A comprehensive account of the Franciscans in Mexico over the long term has been missing, until now.

This book analyzes the Franciscans’ engagement with native peoples, creole populations, the viceregal authorities, and the Spanish empire as a whole in order to offer a broad picture of Catholic evangelization in North America while keeping the Franciscans at the center of the story. Published in 2021, during commemoration of the quincentenary of the Spanish—and thus the Franciscan—presence in Mexico, the book brings together the research of junior and senior scholars from Mexico, Spain, and the United States on the long-enduring and far-reaching Franciscan presence in Mexico.

Skin color of respondents is increasingly being collected by interviewers in face to face surveys and used in social science research. Nevertheless, skin color has the potential to be significantly influenced by interviewer effects. We use the AmericasBarometer (LAPOP) study to investigate interviewer variation in skin color ratings, the variation of this by country and interviewer characteristics as well as the impact of correcting for interviewer effects. We find that interviewers explain about 20% of the variation in skin color assessments and this variesgreatly by country. We also find that the darker the skin color of the interviewer the darker their rating of the respondents and that correcting for interviewer effects leads to small differences in regression coefficients.

Spanish American countries exhibited during the nineteenth century many of the features Koselleck associated with the Sattelzeit, the transitioning period into our contemporaneity. However, the region's history was marked by social instability and political upheaval, and contemporaries referred to such experiences of time as precarious. In this article I explore the connection between this precarious time and the emergence of the sociopolitical concept of morality in New Granada (present-day Colombia) during the fi rst thirty -fi ve years of the republic (1818–1853). I focus on two conceptual moments as exemplifi ed by the refl ections put forth by Simón Bolívar (1783–1830), military and political leader of the independence period, and José Eusebio Caro (1817–1853), publicist, poet, and political ideologue of the Conservative Party.

El planteamiento transversal a la monografía es el multiculturalismo como discurso político que busca destacar la pluri-existencia de culturas y su relevancia en el momento de definición de lo público en cada sociedad, esto es, se le entiende tanto como cuestión fáctica que permite describir, como propuesta de organización social que busca abrir el espacio a la diversidad cultural, basado en el planteamiento según el cual el multiculturalismo “surge entre los años 60 y 70 como un modelo de política pública[…] filosofía o pensamiento social de reacción frente a uniformización cultural[…] de la globalización”.

Tomando como base el multiculturalismo, se aborda como marco analítico en lo referido a la relación Estado colombiano – pueblo Rrom, el interculturalismo, basado en la crítica que se ha hecho al multiculturalismo –que retoma la misma García O´Meany– de promover la mera coexistencia de grupos culturales diversos, partiendo del hecho de que existen ámbitos claramente diferenciados entre tales culturas y destacar su existencia simultánea en un mismo lugar, sin considerar los puntos de encuentro.

This essay examines the historiography of international exhibitions, seen as geopolitical phenomena of modernity to which are associated the rise of middle classes, nationalist and colonialist movements, as well as an exhibitionary network connecting distinct spaces and times. Most of the recent studies analyses the repertoire and the pattern associated to these expositions, and their relationship with political, economic, social and cultural issues. This study stresses, among ongoing approaches, the Latin American work – still barely visible or integrated into a field which is already consolidated –, and suggests how its visibility can be improved.

La agresión de Rusia contra Ucrania ha planteado una violación de las normas básicas del derecho internacional contemporáneo y representa una amenaza sin precedentes a un orden internacional basado en normas. Este trabajo analiza en primer lugar algunas de las normas y principios básicos de un orden internacional basado en normas que han sido violados por Rusia, partiendo de los argumentos utilizados por este país para justificar la agresión armada sobre Ucrania. A continuación, se considera cuál ha sido la respuesta de la comunidad internacional a esas violaciones del orden legal vigente, tanto a nivel institucional como estatal, incluyendo las acciones ante distintos foros y tribunales. Se describe brevemente el impacto de las acciones armadas rusas sobre el orden internacional. Finalmente, se examina la respuesta de América Latina a esta crisis, tomando en consideración factores meta jurídicos y de política exterior.

Uma revisão das proposições do crítico uruguaio Ángel Rama sobre a "cidade letrada" e a "transculturação", ponderando a primeira com os desdobramentos da segunda, no que toca ao fenômeno do barroco latino-americano. Essa análise é implicitamente projetada, então, sobre um debate contemporâneo em torno da suficiência analítica da categoria "identidade".

This article explores the patterns of class inequality and capital accumulation in Brazil, showing the drivers and limits of the decline in inequality that occurred during the Workers' Party governments. It proposes that minimum wage hikes and greater social security changed the demand pattern and kick-started a cumulative causation process. Growth and redistribution thus reinforced each other for a period, and then spelled their own limits. As growth accelerated in the 2000s, a Gini decomposition indicates that class inequality decreased, but confined to changes between workers-capitalist income and social stratification were preserved. This also endogenously led to a re-gressive structural change, as low-productivity, labour-intensive services grew and international trade patterns worsened. This created a medium-term dependence on commodity prices for balance-of-trade solvency, and heightened cost-push inflation, which could not be overcome under the limited policy framework in place. The constrained basis for reducing inequality and the regressive structural change underscore that developmental strategies requires broad, multi-dimensional inequality-reducing measures and an encompassing catching-up project.

Article published by Tax Justice Network Blog april 10th 2017 in: https://www.taxjustice.net/2017/04/10/tax-haven-blacklisting-13-latin-american-countries/

As governments (slowly) get to grips with the fact that tax havens are inflicting great harm on economies and democracies across the globe, facilitating mega amounts of tax dodging, and vast movements of criminal money by way of the secrecy services some of them offer, the question of our times is how we deal with them. Attempts to create tax haven blacklists (in order to potentially implement sanctions for non-cooperative jurisdictions) have so far been farcical as we’ve noted many times, most recently commenting on the European Union’s current work compiling its own blacklist system, here and here. So far the criteria for inclusion in tax haven blacklists has been weak, such lists have been ineffective and it’s been far too easy for some of the world’s worst offenders to wriggle their way out of them, or simply be big and bad enough not to worry about being included in the first place – for example – Tax Haven USA. If the EU, or anyone else really wanted to do this properly, the work’s already been done for them – with the best objective ranking available – the Tax Justice Network’s Financial Secrecy Index.

Anyway, we were very interested to see that Brazil attempted to tackle Irish tax havenry in September 2016 by putting Ireland on its tax haven blacklist, effective more or less immediately.

Today we’re happy to share an article by Macroeconomics Professor Juan Valerdi[1] (of La Plata National University and El Salvador University) based on the conclusions of his research looking at the approaches of 13 Latin American governments to tackling tax havens. The full document is available here and was part of the campaign “Que las trasnacionales paguen lo justo”. The Spanish version of this article was published by ALAI Magazine earlier this month and is available here. (You can read the Professor’s blog here).
While this article looks at what’s happening in Latin America, the conclusions and recommendations represent an approach to solve what he refers to as the ‘Tax Haven Networks’ problem at a global level. His research focused on 13 Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Peru.

The paper intends to analyze aspects of international economic order that are relevant to understand the integration of underdeveloped countries. Its main hypothesis is that globalization is the result of financial liberalization at the domestic level and of progressive capital mobility in the international field. To characterize globalization different aspects are examined, such as the influence of financial liberalization on

This paper describes the performance of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in 10 Latin American countries under the New Economic Model (NEM). Based on an original databank, the authors analyze SME performance in relation to production, ...

Le genre musical villancico était une des expressions les plus répandues dans les pays sous domination espagnole et portugaise au xviie siècle. Bien que partie intégrante de la liturgie pendant les principales fêtes religieuses chrétiennes, c’est un style musical qui utilise les langues vernaculaires. À travers l’étude des musiques, textes et autres références sur les compositeurs et les interprètes, on peut mettre en évidence la diversité culturelle des pratiques musicales et de leur public. Même si l’on considère le biais que ces formes musicales portent par essence, en tant que produit des institutions ecclésiastiques du pouvoir espagnol, elles nous donnent cependant de nombreuses informations sur les sociétés pour lesquelles elles étaient pensées et représentées.