ABSTRACT
It had become clear by the early 1990s that the left in Latin America needed to catch up with the times and go through a much needed aggiornamento to redefine its general discourse and positions on many issues. Absent this process, the left seemed bound to face electorates without a coherent discourse, or at least one that could respond to the most pressing needs of the time (Castañeda 1993). One of these outdated topics was nationalism. The left had become highly nationalistic in response to the need for nationbuilding in most Latin American countries and the perceived loss of sovereignty resulting from U.S. intervention in Latin American domestic affairs. This created an undeniable tension with the need of the left to maintain its raison d’être: address poverty and inequality in a sustainable manner. Paradoxically, the most direct way to tackle poverty and inequality depends on economic growth, and the quickest way to achieve it is by focusing on international trade and economic integration. For Latin America, this road runs through the United States, which is by far the largest market in the world.
