Latin America, the Agrarian Question and Trade Negotiations with the United States and the European Union. A Crisis of Hope or the Death of an Illusion?

In this article, the author weighs up the trade negotiations and agreements Latin America has entered into with the United States and the European Union since the nineties and examines the consequences of a unilateral easing of restrictions on trade, the difficultiesLatin American countries have experienced in gaining access to foreign markets and obstacles to the opening of the farming sector to trade. By way of precedent, Sanahuja refers to the series of economic reforms known as the Washington Consensus, which were implemented by these nations. The author goes on to look at the expectations these reforms raised and the unsatisfactory results they produced for Latin America. He then concludes that the agrarian question is one of the main hurdles in negotiations to guarantee Latin America secure access to its major export markets, such as the United States and the European Union.