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SOCIOLOGICAL VIEW AND THEORY OF SUBORDINATE INTEGRATION...
4.2 OTHER IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
PROCESS OF INTEGRATION
The above mentioned are the most important characteristics of integration,
but some notable secondary characteristics also exist. In the following
sections we will discuss some additional ones that are very relevant.
a. There is no doubt that the integration of various economic “blocks”
or “super regions” are now being organized; they are principally:
1. Western Europe (European Economic Community)
2. North America (United States, Mexico, and Canada)
3. Pacific Region 15 (Japan and its neighbors, with close ties to the U.S.,
Canada and Australia).
South America, Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean will be
progressively at a greater disadvantage if they do not begin to create a
“block” or their own “Latin American-Antillian Super Region” (or “Caribbean-Latin
American”) integration.
b. The crux of the matter is to confirm that all regional integration
blocks have military interest; to ignore this issue is to ignore one of the
most important characteristics of integration goals.
c. In “capitalist integration” which occurs among industrialized nations,
we can perfectly assume that integration causes a monopolization
and centralization of capital, that is, some industries are benefited by
integration while many national sectors are weakened.
4.3 NORTH AMERICAN INTEGRATION AND ITS
IMPLICATIONS FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN
Some important points deserve repetition. The “North American Super
Region” (Canada, USA, and later Mexico) has some implications and
significantly affects Latin America and the Caribbean. It refers to a specific
type of integration. This integration was fomented initially by the private
economic sector and not by the governments. It is a process initially driven
by “monopolistic integration” of transnational corporations at the private
level, with no legal integration agreements among governments. Afterwards,
some official treaties were signed that gave political legitimacy and
recognition to the “free trade zone.” 16 This type of integration is known
15
Aníbal Segovia, “La Fuerza de la unidad: (Doce países asiáticos y del Pacífico
acogen una propuesta de Australia),” Tercer Mundo, year XII, No. 125, Montevideo,
Uruguay, February 1990, pp. 46-47.
16
a) Pedro Fernando Castro Martínez, “El Acuerdo de Libre Comercio entre Estados
Unidos y Canadá,” Comercio Exterior, Vol. 39, No. 4, Mexico, April
1989, pp. 339-347.
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