https://latinamericanpost.com/38456-will-a-european-union-be-possible-in-latin-america
This article is reporting on some of the talking points of the most recent CELAC summit. One of the largest issues brought up was why Latin America can’t form something similar to the EU, despite already having international organizations that mimic some of the features in the EU. For example, members within the Andean Community have agreed to free movement of citizens as well as a free market between the countries. However this organization is viewed as flawed because of lack of meaningful integration between member states. Another organization highlighted in the article is Mercosur members include Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay. This is commonly viewed as the most stable of the organizations however due to frequent blockades and political differences the free trade agreements that were promised have not been upheld. There are a number of other smaller organizations within the region but they all share similar problems. The smaller organizations have weak economies and are prone to collapse and larger organizations often have political disagreements or economic sanctions that prevent them from operating successfully. Another advantage of the EU that would be difficult to replicate is the Euro. A common currency would be difficult to implement in Latin America due to the vastly different economic climates of countries within Latin America. For those countries with strong economies such as Brazil or Mexico would be wildly unbalanced and hurt their economies.
In relation to our class the proposal of a unified South America is one that is impossible to enact. This is due to the region’s large amount of political and military instability from potential member states. Another contributing factor is the enormous amounts of inflation in certain countries in South America like Venezuela. Venezuela also highlights why free trade agreements are troublesome in the region, Venezuela is a member of Mercosur however they have been blockaded by other members of Mercosur and thus violating the free trade agreement. Due to all of these factors a European Union style organization in South America is impossible.