Geopolitics and Development: Insights into Railway Transportation in South American Countries in the 21st Century

Abstract

 What does transportation infrastructure serve for? Why does the idea of building railways, in the first decades of the 21st century, remains actual after 150 years? Since the formation of modern nation-states in South America, the economic-territorial development models and its policies are at the core of political debates. Following this premise and, with focus on international railways, several perspectives on those models are analysed. The almost null conclusion of those plans is significant considering the attention given to the matter by political discourses and international institutions. Starting from the 1st South American Presidents Meeting (2000) —and including the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and IIRSA and COSIPLAN—, we recover discourses from rulers and other institutional sources in order to explain the close link between railway infrastructure, development and geopolitical representations.