ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to synthetize the theoretical approaches of Latin American regionalism, contrasting the importance of ideological convergence in regional cooperation in new initiatives that seek to bring together Latin America and the Caribbean such as the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and the Caribbean States (CELAC). It discusses the literature dedicated to the study of the different models of Latin American regionalism, such as post-liberal, open, post-hegemonic and diplomatic regionalism. During the regionalism cycles that occur in Latin America, the political ideological convergence/divergence of the heads of state explain how and why regional cooperation has been promoted between 1980–2020. The Rio Group was born in 1987 as a presidential summit of Latin American and some Caribbean states, supported by Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. In a similar vein to the Rio Group, CELAC poses a challenge to the Organization of American States.
