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Global Health Econ Sustain Latin American Liberal migration policies

War I were national identities in Latin America construed in nations have experienced political turmoil, leading to
contradistinction to immigrants and to Europe.” regular displacements of economic and political migrants
The connections with “Latin Europe” were propelled and refugees to bordering countries. Additionally,
by the forced confrontation the Hispano-American (as most countries in South America share land borders
they were called in the early nineteenth century) elite with multiple neighbors. As a result, the region became
had to face with the U.S. expansion into the Southern accustomed to welcoming and integrating immigrants.
Hemisphere. Moreover, while the Hispano-American elites These migratory movements were quite limited until the
harbored racist sentiments against Afro-descendants and 1950s, but they had opened the way toward the acceptance
indigenous populations, the same elites were confronted of newcomers in the receiving countries when flows
with the racialization they endured from the Anglo-Saxon became more substantial. Two main factors influenced this
world. The very term “Latin America” originated from an trend: structural deficiencies in economic development in
anti-USA alliance forged in 1856, following the decision by some countries and socio-political instability in others.
USA President Franklin Pierce to recognize the “piratical” Between the 1950s and 1980s, there was a constantly
regime recently established in Nicaragua by William rising flow of interregional migration. Colombian workers
Walker and his band of the USA filibusters (Gobat, 2013): migrated to Venezuelan sugar and coffee plantations,
“The concept of Latin America that took hold among while Colombian women sought opportunities in the
Spanish American elites was defined mainly in opposition Venezuelan housekeeping sector. In addition, Bolivian and
to a Protestant ‘Anglo-Saxon America’ perceived to be bent Peruvian workers secured jobs in Argentinean industries.
on exterminating its Latin neighbors. Some elites also echoed In the early 1990s, interregional mobility experienced
French pan-Latinists by claiming that ‘Latin America’ a resurgence, engaging around 3 million individuals.
exuded a noble spiritualism against the crass materialism Following the oil-driven economic boom of the 1970s,
and individualism that allegedly imbued ‘Anglo-Saxon Venezuela saw a substantial influx of Colombian and Latin
America’ ” (Gobat, 2013, p. 1346). American migrants, eventually comprising 3.4% of the
However, the admiration for the European culture total population.
that might be a reference against the USA’s predominance The CEPAL analyses highlight how economic
39
in the continent did not mean subordination to the inequalities among neighboring Latin American countries
imperialist views of the Europeans when France attempted generated a consistent transfrontier macro-regional labor
to control Mexico. “(…) ‘Latin America’ also stood for a market. As previously mentioned, the main factors that
form of democratic republicanism perceived to be threatened fostered migration within the region are the disparities
by European imperialism. The positive dimensions pride in economic and labor opportunities. However, more
in their struggle for independence, their admiration for the recently, Colombians and Venezuelans represent a case
region’s landscape, and their deep attachment to a ‘common where the causes of migration are not mainly economic.
language, religion … [and] traditions.’”(Gobat, 2013, Colombians left their home country as a response to
p. 1346) internal political conditions and security issues related to
drug trafficking. The Venezuelan crisis, as described earlier,
4.2. Intraregional and extra regional migration has also contributed significantly to the migration trend.
The specificities of the second migratory pattern can also The history of extraregional emigration from Latin
account for the “liberal tide.” According to Pellegrino America to developed countries — the third pattern —
(2003), migrants constantly cross boundaries within can be divided into Central America and South America
Latin America. This phenomenon provides evidence (Pagnotta, 2014). The Mexico-United States route stands
of an artificial division and border design in post- as the world’s largest migratory flow. Over 11 million
independence Latin America that separated populations Mexican citizens reside abroad, the majority of whom are
and communities that had always been connected. The in the USA, representing the second-largest diaspora after
countries around the Rio de la Plata were especially India. For the purpose of this paper, the specific issue of
integrated. An Italian diplomat in the 1890s even expressed Latin American emigration to developed countries will not
doubts that Uruguay was “anything more than a bridge be explored in detail, despite its significance warranting
between the ocean and Argentina.” Pellegrino (1989, 2000, more extensive analysis. Extra regional migration has
2001). Regional migration in Central America, particularly concerned many Latin American countries, including
at the frontier between Colombia and Venezuela, as well Argentina, Brazil, and Ecuador, particularly from the 1970s
as in Argentina, represented the continuation of an ancien onward and even more so since the 1990s. “Argentina
régime based on economic reasons and culturally oriented
practices. Throughout Latin America’s history, various 39 https://www.cepal.org/pt-br

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2023) 14 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.0861