Hemispheric Organizations, Regionalism, and Civil‐society Activism in Latin America: Building or Stumbling Blocks?

Abstract

This first issue of Latin American Policy in 2019, brings together seven research articles on regional topics, and one essay in our Perspective section dealing with the current crisis in Venezuela. The research articles focus on the role of hemispheric legislative processes under the Organization of American States (OAS); regional institutions in Central America; financing innovation and technology startups in the region; and civil-society organizations in Mexico. While Gordon Mace and Nicolas Falomir’s contribution presents a rather optimistic study highlighting the role of Latin American legislators in improving the legitimacy of organizations such as the OAS and Mercosur, Kevin Parthenay argues by contrast that the summitries process taking place in Central America has not significantly affected the building of regional institutions. Adrian Soh examines how Latin American nations would be helped by a participatory budgeting scheme for science at a time when their traditional exports are witnessing serious hindrances. Marta Ochman explores how financing rules in civil-society organizations affect their ability to promote development in Mexico, while Mariana Chudnovsky and Natalia Espinosa’s research highlights how new government policies may disrupt preexisting practices of coordination within civil-society groups, compromising the implementation and success of the new policies. This volume also includes an essay written by Catherine Stanford on the consequences of applying Agamben’s state-of-exception approach in Nicaragua, and another by Bhabani Shankar and Ronaldo Vieira da Silva on the evolution and consequences of the regulatory framework on microfinance in Brazil. Finally, in the Perspective section of this issue, José Briceño, our regional editor, reflects on the current situation in Venezuela, where Juan Guaidó, the leader of the opposition, has challenged the legitimacy of Nicolás Maduro’s second presidential term, highlighting the polarization in the country that is provoking a major political crisis at the national, regional, and international levels. Isidro Morales is a researcher and professor in the School of Government and Public Transformation at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, and an external fellow of the Mexico Center at Rice University’s Baker Institute.