Objective/context: This article analyzes the trajectories of Venezuelan migrants in Santiago de Cali through the creation and participation in migrant associations, and examines how these organizations position themselves and pursue their goals within Colombia’s recent social and policy context. The analytical framework brings together three concepts: unequal cities, transnational migrants, and 21stcentury citizenships. Methodology: Qualitative design combining ethnographic observation and indepth interviews. Conclusions: Venezuelan organizations function as civilsociety actors and nodal points that, among migrants facing precarity, foster the construction of a relational and moral order grounded in Christian values. Three discursive axes are identified: (1) beginnings in Cali— reception and efforts to safeguard migrants’ health and protection; (2) organizational trajectories and social networks—from humanitarian assistance to social inclusion; and (3) engagement with governmental and international institutions—beyond the local scale. Originality: The study advances knowledge on the social organization of Venezuelan migrants in Cali.

Objective/context: In contrast to homogenizing views of the behavior of members of the student movement during the 2019-2020 National Strike, and to those analyses that infer student participation based on objective conditions common to all types of actors and prior to the emergence of the event, this text has two main purposes: to carry out a microsociological analysis of student participation that integrates the heterogeneity of the motivational repertoires and to analyze the strike exclusively based on the internal dynamics of the event and the variations, during its extension, of those same repertoires. Methodology: Following some proposals by Verweij and Vis, a time-based version of fuzzy sets of Comparative Qualitative Analysis (fs-QCA) is used to explain the participation of 56 activists from two large student platforms (UNEES and ACREES) during 4 moments of the strike. Conclusions: The oscillations and diversity of the motivational repertoires are identified; the variable intensity of militant activity; the alterations, over time, of the internal homogeneity of the movement. The overall trajectory of the strike is also reconstructed from the students’ perspective. Originality: Beyond offering a refreshing perspective with respect to the existing literature on the 2019-2020 National Strike, the text proposes a novel use of QCA that could be extrapolated to other cases.

Objective/context: This article analyses the strategies of political continuity employed by governors in contexts of limited pluralism, based on the case study of Gildo Insfrán, who has continuously governed the province of Formosa, Argentina, since 1995. Methodology: The research relies on a case study, a methodological strategy that enables the tracing of causal mechanisms and the understanding of complex phenomena in specific contexts. The empirical work draws on the triangulation of sources—official documents, local press, specialized literature, and electoral statistics—complemented by in-depth interviews with key provincial actors. These were selected through a snowball sampling technique, which facilitated access to relevant informants and provided diverse perspectives. Conclusions: The case of Insfrán represents an extreme example of prolonged tenure in power at the subnational level. While the absence of alternation undermines democratic quality in the province, the combination of illiberal strategies with the construction of legitimacy has consolidated a successful and enduring political leadership. The article argues that Insfrán’s continuity rests on three strategies: legitimacy, coercion, and cooptation. Legitimacy is tied to governance and the provision of public goods, securing citizen support through tangible benefits. Coercion, combined with territorial control, constitutes a fundamental pillar of gubernatorial power, though it is implemented in a low-intensity form to reduce political costs and prevent the governor from being directly perceived as responsible. Cooptation projects an image of pluralism by incorporating opposition actors, while simultaneously fragmenting and weakening the opposition. Originality: This article offers a comprehensive analysis of power maintenance in Formosa, linking approaches from comparative politics with a detailed case study. Its contribution lies in the debate on subnational democratization and alternation in closed political systems, providing a key perspective for understanding power dynamics in such contexts.

Objective/context: Despite the urgency that cyber defense represents for all actors involved in international security dynamics, there has been little reflection on its scope and implications for peripheral states. Therefore, the objective of this article is to investigate how peripheral states develop cyber defense capabilities. Methodology: comparative and exploratory case study of Argentina (2013-2023) and Colombia (2011-2022). Conclusions: Argentina and Colombia developed technological capabilities in cyber defense in a similar way, because at key moments in the development of these public policies, the dominant strategic subculture chose cooperating with Western allied states for the purchase of cyber defense hardware and software, rather than fostering autochthonous developments. This choice favored the use and participation in similar learning mechanisms, such as the purchase of knowledge through Western suppliers and being part of spaces for the dissemination of information and good practices financed by the main powers in cyber defense. This decision later proved difficult to reverse, even in Argentina, where attempts were made to promote projects for the autonomous development of cyber defense technologies. Originality: A conceptual framework is proposed that adapts and extends the fourth generation of the concept of strategic culture for the study of defense capability development processes.

Objective/context: In recent years, political parties have undergone significant transformation by adopting digital tools aimed at increasing member engagement and participation in internal processes. Digital democratic innovations have emerged as a key response to the crisis of legitimacy and declining membership facing traditional parties. This article offers a comprehensive overview of the main digital democratic innovations implemented by political parties, analyzing their forms—such as online platforms, digital primaries, fundraising, and deliberative spaces—and their impact on intraparty democracy. Methodology: Using a descriptive-analytical approach, the article first clarifies the concepts of democratic and digital innovation and then systematically reviews the digital tools used by parties to open new channels for participation and decision-making. It also examines explanatory factors for digitalization, such as party age, size, ideology, and institutional context, and critically assesses the potential and limitations of these innovations. Conclusions: The democratization of political parties through digital means has produced mixed results, falling short of expectations. The article concludes with practical recommendations to enhance meaningful participation, transparency, and inclusivity in intraparty democracy. Originality: The originality of this study lies in its integrative mapping and critical analysis of recent digital democratic innovations in political parties, providing both a broad perspective and nuanced insights into their real-world impact.

Objective/context: The article explores the content associated with American far-right presidential leaderships based on the analysis of the inauguration speeches of Donald Trump in the United States (2017), Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil (2019) and Javier Milei in Argentina (2023). Methodology: From a sociosemiotic perspective, verbal resources (rhetorical techniques, type of communication, key categories) and non-verbal resources (tone of communication, image, positioning, structuring signifier) are examined. The purpose is to identify the presence or absence of key elements generally associated with the far right (reactionism, punitivism, conservatism, anti-politics, and nationalism) and the dominant meanings that guide and build leadership relationships. Conclusions: The presidential speeches share the anti-political sentiment but differ with respect to the importance of conservatism and nationalism in particular (much clearer in Trump and, in different degree, Bolsonaro than in Milei). However, the punitive aspect is not central to their speeches and they are not explicitly reactionary. Originality: Despite being an exploratory study, it advances knowledge of an agenda in development: the continental extreme right. Likewise, it encourages the construction of comparative studies that contribute to the formation of a cumulative and articulated theory in consideration of the particularities of the American continent.

Objective/context: This study examines the impacts of digital democratic innovations on political parties, with particular focus on communication breakdown fears generated by electoral marketing digitalization. Within a landscape where information technologies fundamentally reshape relationships between parties, citizens, and the public sphere, emerging risks are identified including disinformation, political discourse fragmentation, and narrative control erosion. Methodology: A qualitative methodology is employed, grounded in literature review and conceptual analysis of key categories such as digital participation, political communication, and the digital divide. Communication breakdown fears linked to hyper-segmentation, discourse automation, and algorithmic opacity characteristic of digital political marketing are explored from Political Science and Political Communication perspectives. Conclusions: While these innovations enhance citizen participation forms, they may simultaneously erode authentic political communication and increase informational manipulation. Political parties experience a paradox between technical connectivity and structural miscommunication, manifesting as information saturation that weakens political discourse meaning. The study proposes that parties adopt more transparent, critical communication strategies oriented toward rebuilding democratic trust. Originality: This work offers a comprehensive critical reading of communicative risks within the digitalized electoral marketing framework, providing relevant conceptual tools for understanding contemporary digital democracy challenges and the transformation of political bonds in the algorithmic communication era.

Objective/context: This paper analyzes how the political production of the notion of needs redefines international protection in the governance of migration and refuge in South America, based on the emergence of new categories and intervention practices driven by the Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants (R4V) and the Regional Response Plans (RMRP). The article problematizes the political interpretation of needs, their (re)definition, and their impact on the transformation of protection and assistance policies, with special attention to the process of assistentialization of protection and the increasing fragmentation and precarization of institutional responses. Methodology: A qualitative approach is employed, based on the systematization and analysis of institutional documents—mainly the RMRP since 2019—complemented by field observations and interviews conducted in intervention spaces in the Southern Cone. Conclusions: The article argues that the need-protection-control triad operates as a dynamic piece that legitimizes new forms of political hierarchization and fragmentation of migrant and refugee populations. The assistentialization of protection, characterized by the proliferation of actors and compartmentalization of practices, reproduces inequalities and reinforces the dependence of populations in movement on institutions. This approach contributes to denaturalizing the meanings and relationships under which the notion of needs is produced in the institutional grammar of protection, control, and assistance policies in the region. Originality: This research offers a critical perspective on recent migration governance processes in South America, revealing how institutional definitions of need shape new forms of control and precarization of migrant life.

Context/objective: The debate on the effectiveness of development aid challenges the political and institutional practices that have shaped the field for over five decades. The transformation of the international development cooperation architecture has generated new dynamics and interactions, reflecting a diversity of actors, goals, and capacities. In this context, South-South Cooperation (SSC) has taken on a strategic role in the relationships among countries of the Global South and, in particular, in Colombia’s foreign policy. Methodology: Given the diversity of countries involved in SSC, this article presents a single descriptive and analytical case study focused on Colombia, aiming to understand the link between SSC and foreign policy. Drawing on a social constructivist perspective, the analysis is structured around two main factors: (i) the evolution of organizational structures and (ii) the contexts and roles adopted by Colombia as both provider and recipient. Conclusions: The article offers methodological tools and conceptual foundations for further exploring the connection between SSC and foreign policy in other Global South countries. It shows how SSC has become an instrument in Colombia’s international agenda and highlights the importance of political leadership and institutional history in its development, as well as the main challenges for measuring effectiveness and achieving inter-institutional coordination. Originality: This study positions SSC as an analytical lens that, from a social perspective, helps explain how practices and ideas are incorporated into international agendas and foreign policy. It also demonstrates that SSC remains an underexplored field within Colombian foreign policy analysis, opening the door to new comparative and analytical approaches.

Objective/context: Primaries and internal consultations are playing an increasingly important role in the selection of leaders, candidates, and strategic decision-making within political parties. In a context of growing digitalization and the transformation of democratic processes, these mechanisms operate in increasingly hybrid settings that blend traditional practices with digital actions. Methodology: This article reviews the existing literature as well as various experiences in different political systems over the past few decades. Conclusions: The proposed framework contributes to the standardized study of intra-party democratization and offers analytical tools to assess the impact of digitalization on internal party life. Originality: To address the disparity in the operationalization and analysis of these phenomena, this article proposes an integrative classification of primaries and intra-party consultations based on their degree of digitalization (format) and inclusiveness (selectorate). It also presents a set of indicators for the comparative analysis of both types of processes.