Cross-Border Paradiplomacy in Latin America

Nahuel Oddone and Horacio Rodríguez Vázquez, scholars and practitioners based at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC) and the Global Conservation Agriculture Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), respectively, have published a new article. Their piece, Cross-Border Paradiplomacy in Latin America, appeared in volume 6 issue 1 of the journal Latin American Policy. Calling the current status of cross-border relations a “true spaghetti bowl” of political, economic and social configurations, the authors contend that “strategic alliances between players and contiguous territories…have become a highly relevant challenge” for Latin America. The authors acknowledge that while territorial, structural and political asymmetries do exist in the region, so too do successful bilateral and sub-regional programs, including the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (IIRSA), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), as well as country-level partnerships such as those between Argentina and Chile, and Brazil and Peru. The article concludes with a series of best practices to strengthen cross-border relations, including open channels of communication between national and local leaders, the need for public-private partnerships, and a clear framework for programmatic evaluation.

The full article is available here. 

Photo by Jorge Dalmau | CC BY-NC 2.0