Assessing Latin America's Trade Blocs and Social Policies in Andean and Southern Cone Countries, and Considering Cuban Politics

This first issue of Latin American Policy (LAC) for 2025 includes six pieces of high-quality policy research and an opinion article. Alan Fairlie Reinoso and Stacy Alvarado Paipay estimate inequality indexes and assess the presence of convergence within and among Latin American integration blocs—The Pacific Alliance, the Andean Community and the Southern Common Market. They conclude that inequality has increased from 1990 to 2021, with Mercosur exhibiting the highest levels of inequality, followed by the Andean Community and the Pacific Alliance. They also demonstrate a lack of economic convergence between the Southern Common Market and the Andean Community during periods of unilateral trade liberalization, North–South free trade agreements, and the commodities boom. Francisco Santos-Carrillo and Bruno Theodoro Luciano review the structures, processes, and outcomes of civil society participation in regional governance in three representative regional projects—the Andean Community, The Southern Common Market, and the Central American Integration System. They argue that despite some differences in institutional design, with the Central American Integration System developing a supranational logic of membership in contrast to the intergovernmental settings of the other two cases, social participation in the three cases is limited to agenda facilitation, and its effects on regional decision-making is residual. Tiago Soares Nogara examines the redefinition of the Common Southern Market during the rise of Latin America's pink tide, focusing on how debates over Venezuela's accession intersect with the broader context of post-neoliberal regionalism. He concludes that conflicts surrounding Venezuela's entry were pivotal in determining Mercosur's trajectory, revealing both the potential and the limits of post-neoliberal integration at that time. Santiago Albuja argues that international organizations played a relevant role in designing the Human Development Bonus in Ecuador by imposing structural adjustment reforms, establishing the conditions for the delivery of loans, and offering technical assistance. Meanwhile, Mitchell Gallagher analyzes the Taiwan–Paraguay diplomatic bond through constructivism centering norms, identities, and intersubjectivities. He argues that Taiwan and Paraguay's fidelity flows from a bedrock commitment to ideals of liberal democracy, self-determination, and human rights. Milva Geri, Fernanda Villarreal, and Nebel Moscoso explore the determinants of contribution density to the Argentine pension system using administrative data from 1996 to 2021. They conclude that the density of contributions is low and depends on the branch of economic activity, the jurisdiction where the company is located, the individual's income and gender, and the age of enrollment. Finally, Armando Chaguaceda's opinion article gives insight into how the Cuban regime is now facing domestic and global challenges. His text examines the conceptual elements that explain the Cuban model, its changes and institutional continuities, and the emerging challenges of a mobilized citizenry that questions its legitimacy. We hope our readers will enjoy the selected collection we prepared for the present volume.