The Political Consensus: The Case of the Rio Group

The limited viability of the formal integration and regional cooperation schemes of the 1960s and part of the 1970s weighed heavily on the decision of the Mexican government to seek more flexible and informal forms of convergence as a strategy to achieve certain national objectives. In this sense, the concept of concertation supposed the coordination of specific interests compatible with being projected in a collective framework of action. Although this has not been constant on all issues, the Rio Group has maintained continuity in its positions, despite the political diversity of the countries that comprise it. The Group has acquired a well-earned connotation as the highest-level interlocutor par excellence in Latin America and the Caribbean before other countries and groups of countries.