Introduction

The studies collected in this book were written at different times and for varying purposes. However, each one, in its own way, is intended to shed light on a single issue, namely the economic rationale of the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR [Mercado Común del Sur]). This is not an easy task since the reasons for the failure of Latin American integration attempts in the past are still not well understood and even less the dynamics of current processes. The case of LAFTA (Latin American Free Trade Association) - the largest and most ambitious integration program in the sixties and the seventies - is illustrative of the issue. Neither the long-term objective of completely eliminating trade barriers among the member countries, nor the more modest one of progressively widening the common list of tariff-free commodities was achieved. Today, different analysts agree that the failure of LAFTA was related to the misconception of economic integration among developing countries as embodied in the LAFTA agreement, namely its excessive emphasis on discriminatory practices and the elaboration of complex rules for promoting intra-regional trade. Other authors, however, contend that the main problem was the absence of mechanisms that could guarantee a more equal distribution of the gains and costs from regional trade liberalization.