MERCOSUR
Introduction
The Sectoral Commission for MERCOSUR (COMISEC) was created on April 1, 1991 by Executive Decree No. 176/991. It is made up of:
· Government Representatives and Delegates from the Office of Planning and Budget
· Chamber of Industry of Uruguay
· National Chamber of Commerce
· Mercantile Chamber of Uruguay
· Unions (PIT/CNT)
· Rural Association of Uruguay
· Rural Federation of Uruguay
· Agrarian Cooperatives Association
· State-owned Enterprises
This decree entrusts COMISEC with the following functions:
a) Advise the Executive Branch as regards the adoption of internal measures aimed at the
application, pursuit and evaluation of the process of regional integration.
b) Coordinate and supervise the performance of the subcommittees.
c) Obtain and disseminate information on integration.
For its part, Decree 175/991 dated April 1, 1991, created the Inter-Ministry Committee on MERCOSUR and gave the Director of the MERCOSUR Sectoral Commission authority to do the following:
a) Plan and propose, to the Inter-Ministry Committee, measures necessary for the
orchestration of the internal aspects of the Common Market, paying special attention
to the reconversion of economic activities and the adaptation of the country to the
common market.
b) Carry out the necessary surveys, and to request the corresponding technical
assistance.
Uruguay was the first country within MERCOSUR that developed this institutional structure - which is foreseen in the constitution - so that the different sectors involved could participate in the integration process.
Some Argentine Provinces and some Brazilian States have implemented institutional mechanisms in which the presence of their own social and economic agents is participatory.
Paraguay has just recently created, under the Ministry of Integration, the National Committee on Integration and has invited government representatives (ministries), business groups and unions to participate.
One of the goals of COMISEC is to improve the knowledge of the productive sectors and to create mechanisms for the dissemination of information throughout the country.
In sum, COMISEC is an working environment where the Uruguayan civil society can be represented in order to best pursue, understand, and disseminate, in a timely manner, the key topics that are relevant to Uruguay's future with regard to its insertion in MERCOSUR.
As Uruguayans, we all have our concerns especially when we think of the size of our partners, Argentina and Brazil. However, we have already been associated with these countries for many years through preferential commercial agreements.
MERCOSUR and Its Origins
To understand the machinations of General Guardia, we must first look briefly at Costa Rica’s historical situation. As noted by innumerable books and articles on the subject, the term “Costa Rica” was something of a misnomer for the country until the coffee-boom of the 1830s and 40s. The “rich coast” was named, as legend has it, by Christopher Columbus himself after landing there in 1502 and seeing natives adorned with gold. Ironically, the natives witnessed by Columbus were not natives at all, but invading members of the Carib tribe that had brought their own gold to this relatively poor place. True to form, Columbus displayed a stunning misinterpretation of the facts and coined the site “Costa Rica” (Watkins). This “discovery” in 1502 would, as in the rest of Latin America, herald the end of life as the indigenous knew it. For the next 300 years Costa Rica would find itself under Spanish control, yet this burden was significantly lightened by the absence of riches the Europeans craved. These long centuries under Spanish influence would find Costa Rica in the position of the periphery, relatively spared from the harsh rule often employed in more profitable sectors.
The Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Chile, resolve to:
The Alliance for Progress program was initially met with open arms by most Latin Americans leaders and immediately boosted U.S. relations throughout the hemisphere.1 The alliance’s charter was signed by all members of the organization except for Cuba at a special meeting at Punta del Este, Uruguay, on August 17, 1961.2 The drafters of the charter emphasized that the twin goals of economic development and social injustice should be pursued simultaneously and that both should be paralleled by efforts to expand political freedom in the hemisphere. One of the most important factors of the program was the promotion of self-help. Under the alliance’s charter, the participating Latin American countries would provide eighty percent of the funding and the remaining twenty would be pledged by external sources, which would be furnished by the United states, other wealthy countries, and a variety of public and private groups. Though created to ensure the improvement of Latin America, there were many dilemmas within the Alliance for Progress. The program was not really an alliance and it did not progress satisfactorily.
The study of the creation of Central American states is a topic that has seen relatively few academic endeavors. Early on in the academic sphere, there was a tendency towards studying the formation of states in Europe the in order to understand the nature and process of state making. However, state formation in Central America differed greatly in many ways to rest of the world, even the rest of Latin America. This paper will focus on the process of state formation as it refers to the Republic of Costa Rica.
The historian Ronn Pineo wrote “Beginning in the 1980s nearly all of Latin America began to take part in a great experiment, the adoption of capitalist free market economic policies.” (1) This great experiment began with the promotion of democracy and free market that promised a better future for Latin America. Neoliberalism, the economic ideology that promotes free-market capitalism, laid the foundation for many of the US military interventions and economic policies that caused a dramatic transformation of Latin America. This promise of a “democratic” government came from a policy initiative labeled as polyarchy. Polyarchy is “ a system in which a small group governs and mass participation in decision making is limited to choosing leaders in elections that are carefully managed by competing elites” (Lecture: Polyarchy and Resistance). It, however, was a sales pitch to continue Latin America’s subordinate position in to the global market. As a result, much of Latin America, by the late 1980 through the early 1990s, transitioned into this form of “democracy”. Consequently, Latin America suffered and still suffers today from underdevelopment, high levels of socioeconomic inequality, and immigration. Globalization of capital, off-shore production, and new technologies have created structural barriers and have
In the 1500s Pedro Alvares Cabral landed on Brazil, previously a inhabited by tribal nations, and claimed the land in the name of Portugal. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until September 7, 1822 when it declared its independence becoming the Empire of Brazil making the nation a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. In early 1964, a Military junta took control of the nation until it fell in 1985 further changing the structure of the nation, and finally in 1988 a formal constitution was created enacting 26 states encompassing its boarders. Throughout the history of Brazil, the nation was never able to fully immerse itself in the international market and expand its economy, until today. Latin America has not had the best of luck when it comes to economic development and many nations in Latin America have similar issues when it comes to economic and societal development, and many of these issues are cause by the same things. For example, before the military coup in 1964 Brazil was in massive amounts of debt to international partners, however, during the military rule the payment of this debt was halted so the trust and economic backing of countries stopped with the payments. Many plans have been enacted after the fall of the military control to reverse the economic downfall that occurred in the country and continent in the 20th century and especially in the 1980s, the lost decade. In Brazil alone, there have been at least seven economic plans to reverse the economic hardships of the country, from the Cruzado Plan to the Real Plan, none seemed to work. However, in the past decade the Brazilian economy has seen an amazing increase and the condition of life of the people in the nation has increased with it. The quest...
Green, Cencilia. (1997). Historical Roots of Modern Caribbean Politics. Against the Current. Vol. 12, (4), 34-38.
What is the purpose of the Mexican Coalition, the organization that you founded four years ago?
Brazil, the largest country on the continent of South America, has historically been seen as the underdog socially, politically, and especially economically. Referred to as “the country of the future… and always will be” by many Brazilians and those who know the country best, the country has not always been a beacon of hope for Latin America as it is today (Weyland, pg 64). Brazil has many unique qualities when compared to many of its Latin American counterparts. While much of Latin America has wrestled with its Spanish colonial past, Brazil has been much more diplomatic and tolerant of its Portuguese colonial past. With such a vast amount of natural resources and territory, Brazil has had the advantage of being relatively self-sufficient when it needed to, but also being able to develop into one of the busiest and prosperous trading nations in Latin America. With frequent political transitions throughout its 500 year history, and experiencing periods of oppression and totalitarianism, Brazil has managed to overcome and move past the scars of its dictatorial past. This is in part due to its fortunate avoidance of ruthless and violent dictators in the style of Pinochet in Chile, Peron in Argentina, Castro in Cuba, and Fujimori in Peru, just to name a few. In this research paper, I will briefly describe an overview of Brazil’s present political circumstances while also touching on a few key factors that have aided its development, in addition to in-depth analyses of the country’s history through three main phases. I will also make philosophical connections to explain and put into proper perspective the events that have shaped Brazil into the country it is today.
Due to its high population rate (large labour pool), its vast natural resources and its geographical position in the centre of South America, it bears enormous growth potential in the near future. Aligned with increasing currency stability, international companies have heavily invested in Brazil over the past decade. According to CIA World Factbook, Brazil had the 11th largest PPP in 2004 worldwide and today has a well established middle income economy with wide variations in levels of development. Thus, today Brazil is South America's leading economic power and a regional leader. 2.
Brazil is an enormous and diverse country with a long and turbulent history, and an economy that reflects this. With the seventh largest GDP in the world and a population of over 200 million, no discussion of Brazil is without political or economic significance, both for its people and for the world as a whole. As such, inequalities in income (also reflected in geography, race and gender) certainly matter, and must be a key concern for those who promote the development of the country; these gaps mean that poor members of society gain nominally less from growth, although figures show relative gains , an outcome which is undesirable for various economic, social and ethical reasons. Brazil’s development gaps, including its flagrantly high income inequality, but also its deficient infrastructure, political and social problems, have deep but traceable origins in political institutions.
Recently, there has been a concerted effort from the Brazilian government to project their country as a “serious” power on the international stage. After many years of what could be deem as a failure of realized potential, Brazil is finally beginning to understand its worth as a major contributor to world affairs. Given its strategic location as the second most important country on in the Western hemisphere, and arguably the most important country on the Southern hemisphere, Brazil is poised to become an international powerhouse, the like of which South America has never seen. To fully utilize the opportunities being presented to Brazil in the coming years it is imperative that the Dilma regime bolster its reputation through increased efforts of international cooperation with emerging world markets.
Brazil, the world’s seventh largest economy by nominal GDP, the sixth largest by purchasing power parity (The World Bank. 2016.), one of the fastest-growing major economies in the world, with an average annual GDP growth rate of over 5% (Blankfeld. 2010.). On paper, evaluating based on GDP, Brazil has acquired status that of developed country, surpassing United Kingdom, Sweden, most European
Uruguay republic, in east central South America, is the second smallest country on the continent. This country is bounded on the north by Brazil, on the east by Brazil and the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Atlantic Ocean and the Río de la Plata, and on the west by Argentina. The Uruguay River forms Uruguay's western boundary in full. Uruguay's land mass in whole is a small 176,215 sq km. Uruguay's capital city is Montevideo which is the main port, and economic center of the country. The currency of Uruguay is the peso uruguayos (7.97 peso uruguayos equal U.S.$1). This country's main sport entertainment is soccer.
The Organization of American States (OAS) brings together the countries of Western Hemisphere to strengthen cooperation and to advance common interests. It is the region’s premier forum for multilateral dialogue and concerted action. The OAS helps in many different ways to make changes around the world. Actually the OAS is having a meeting in Ft. Lauderdale (Florida) and some of their actions are showing their interest to defend democracy and human rights around Latin America as for example in Venezuela. Furthermore, the OAS demonstrates interest in Strengthening Security, and combating illegal drugs in Colombia (South America); one of the most important things the OAS is focused on is the fostering free trade between countries’ members association. This OAS meeting in Ft. Lauderdale is making history, focusing in the most critical problems that countries from Latin American are trying to combat.