The Impossibility of a “LatAmExit”

“Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all," wrote British poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. Patricio Navia, writing for Buenos Aires Herald, applies that sentiment to Brexit: “The only thing worse than risking the possibility that a member chooses to leave a regional integration initiative with more successes than failures, is that there is no such union,” he writes. “Latin American countries have lagged behind Europe in assimilating their economies, labour markets, currencies and regulatory policies.” The region has many integration initiatives, including UNASUR and MERCOSUR, in trade, human rights, labor and other areas though the organizations often expand along bureaucratic lines before splintering and weakening. The United Kingdom confronts great uncertainty, she notes, but voters could soon understand the benefits and costs associated with integration versus isolation. Navia expresses hope that the pains of separation for the United Kingdom will not discourage Latin America, the rest of the EU or other regions to back away from integration. – YaleGlobal