Mercosul and Unasul: Argentina’s attitude in relation to both processes – just a exemple

Abstract

Both Mercosul and Unasur are two different international integration processes that currently tend to consider South-American government possible through a level of convergence in their goals. However, the integration processes ask for each country to consider them as priorities when they have to design and implement their external policies, as well as when they have to solve conflicts. This article analyzes through a theoretical descriptive method Argentina’s attitude in relation to both processes taking into account three events that we consider to be representative of such issues: Venezuela’s incorporation to Mercosul, lack of strategic articulation in Argentinean and Brazilian external commercial plan, and the conflict over the papeleras kept by Argentina along with Uruguay. Such an analysis allows us to observe the way this State, as well as all the others involved in these integration processes, does not insist on considering the integration region as an appropriate place to the orchestration of political and economical strategies not even as a free commercial area that could lead to the competitiveness of every and each of its members.