ラテンアメリカにおけるポストネオリベラリズム期の地域統合

――その歴史的文脈と新たな統合の試み――

抄録

In the first decade of the 21^st century, the following regional integrations were established in Latin America: ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America), UNASUR (Union of South American Nations), and CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States). Initially, these new forums demonstrated a strong will to challenge U.S. hegemony and neoliberalism. However, their activities stagnated to the point of collapse in the mid-2010s, which weakened the political independence of Latin American nations.

The failure of these post-neoliberal integrations tends to be considered a failure of the left governments’ national projects. However, it should be noted that the concept of anti-hegemonic integration was already present in Brazil in the 1990s, much before the region’s move to the left. Post-neoliberal integration expanded throughout the continent and successfully promoted the integration process. However, the ultimate goal of enforcing the states’ role and capacity by establishing new schemas of integration was not derived solely from left ideology in the post-neoliberal era.

It is important to note that by joining in regional integration, Latin American nations pursue not regional but national interests. In other words, the integration process develops only under the condition that each nation considers the objects of the integration to be compatible with national interests. Therefore, the consensus mechanism was highly emphasized in UNASUR’s and CELAC’s decision-making processes. This characteristic contributed to sustaining unity in the region but prevented the establishment of measures to resolve political disputes between member nations, eroding efficiency and the raison d’être of the organizations.

It is worth analyzing how regional integration succeeded from 2000–2010. In order to achieve integration, Latin American nations needed an international circumstance unhampered by hegemonic powers or external obstacles. For example, Latin American states benefitted from an increase in national revenue due to the increased prices of natural resources in the international market. Additionally, the U.S. government did not focus on hemispheric matters after the September 11 attacks, choosing to concentrate its foreign policy on combatting terrorism.

The UNASUR process finally deadlocked when Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro was accused of leading an authoritarian administration and destroyed the atmosphere of regional cooperation. Nevertheless, South American nations never returned to the traditional Inter-American system promoted by the U.S. Rather, they sought to establish a new forum, PROSUR (Forum for the Progress and Development of South America), to maintain their own cooperation schema.