Natural Resources are Power: The Geopolitics of Latin American Peripheries during the Boom in Raw Material Prices and the Economic Rise of China

Abstract

The beginning of the 21st century is characterized by the crisis of the American unipolar order, whose main manifestation is the rise of emerging or semi-peripheral economies. The dispute between centers and semi-peripheries created the context for Latin American peripheries to increase their share of global power. This article analyzes the factors that made possible the period of empowerment of the Latin American region at the beginning of the 21st century, the geopolitical strategy followed by the governments of the region, the results of this strategy and the decline in its effectiveness. The Latin American regional empowerment was based on an alliance of geopolitical and economic interests with the semi-peripheries, mainly China; in the negotiating power that generated the world demand for its natural resources; and in the income received from its exports. This strategy was vulnerable because its effectiveness was sustained by the monetary resources perceived by primary exports. As prices of primary goods fell, governments related to multilateralism lost the support of the population, as well as this new share of international power. Therefore, the Latin American strategy suffered from the same weaknesses as its foreign trade, being based on the deepening of its periphery status.