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La integración latinoamericana desde un enfoque de redes

Abstract:

This article evaluates the position of Latin America in the global trade network between 1992 and 2015, including its internal connections and those with the rest of the world. This evaluation confirms that those countries constitute a commercial periphery, that is, they show a high dependence on the trade flows of the central countries, especially the United States and China. Brazil and Mexico serve as sub-centers: the first for South America and the second for Central America and the Caribbean. In turn, Latin American integration efforts (AP, Unasur, Alba, Caricom, Mercosur) show different trajectories regarding their cohesion, their balance of intra-group industrial trade and their primary exports. From the study of the interrelationships among these variables, conclusions are drawn about the potential of regional integration.