Iniciativa para la Integración Regional Sudamericana (IIRSA-COSIPLAN): neoextractivismo y emergencia de Brasil y China en América Latina

Abstract

The insertion of Latin America in the world-economy has historically been characterized by the extraction of natural resources and raw materials, directed towards the central countries. Recently, the relative decline of U.S. hegemony has allowed space for the emergence of other forces. These include Brazil as a regional power and China as an international power, in need of natural resources for the growth of their economies.
All these trends are reflected in the articulation of the megaproject IIRSA-COSIPLAN (Initiative for South American Regional Integration), based on the construction of infrastructures, especially transport and energy corridors, aimed at facilitating the extraction and export of resources. The history of this megaproject is linked to the political changes experienced in Latin America in the first decade of the 21st century and the different regional integration processes, marked by the passage from openly neoliberal governments to so-called progressive governments.