Resumen

MOLANO-CRUZ, Giovanni. Entrepreneurs in the Construction of Latin American Free Trade Association and the Andean Community. Am. Lat. Hist. Econ [online]. 2023, vol.30, n.1, e1295.  Epub 03-Feb-2023. ISSN 2007-3496.  https://doi.org/10.18232/20073496.1295.

The objective of this paper is to explore how entrepreneurs have contributed to the Latin American regional integration by observing their relationship with two regionalism processes: Latin American Free Trade (Lafta) and the Andean Community (ac), between 1960 and 2020. To understand the relationship of businessmen with Lafta and ac in this long period, the research and presentations of its results are based on specialized bibliography, documents, publications, and statements of regional processes and business organizations. It argues that businessmen have had a constant link with the configuration of Lafta and ac, demonstrates that they are social actors linked to the world politics as well as their cooperation with governments to promote the economic opening of regionalism. While in the 1960s and 1970s businessmen advocated for Latin American union with an integration purpose, since the 1980s in the link between businessmen and regionalism, pragmatism to encourage economic growth has predominated.

Palabras llave : regional integration; economic integration; businessmen; international relations.