ABSTRACT
The foundation and consolidation of the Group of Three (G-3) forms part of a more general revitalization and development of sub-regional integration schemes in Latin America and the Caribbean since the late 1980s. The roots of the process of previous political concertation among the three G-3 countries can be traced at least as far back as the mid-1970s and must be understood as a response to the general hemispheric context and to the increasing political instability of the Caribbean Basin. Thus cooperation between the G-3 and the Caribbean Basin countries became a key instrument designed to guarantee an effective contribution to the political stability of the region, and was not simply a question of increasing the possibilities of political leverage. North American Free Trade Area affects the G-3 members in different ways. Mexico sees the G-3 primarily as a political counterweight to its North American bloc association and, especially, to the United States.
