LA TRIPLE FRONTERA ENTRE ARGENTINA, BRASIL Y PARAGUAY. ¿UNA MACRO REGIÓN BASADA EN EL CONCEPTO DE REGIONALISMO ABIERTO?

This research means to evaluate, from the analysis of different polical, social and economic dynamics, which take place in the Tri-border Area between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, the possibility of creating a common area for three countries, which can be perceived as a particular Macroregion, whose organization and mode of development can be taken as a benchmark to be applied, modified and adapted to other similar realities in South America. This area, which during the 17th century was part of the ancient Jesuit Province of Paraguay, is geopolitically divided between the three above mentioned countries and shows some social, urban, cultural, economic and developing realities that are different but unified by a common historical tie and by some great valuable elements: environmental resources, agricultural resources, tourist cultural resources and tourist natural resources. Currently, when referring to these countries, we refer to Mercosur, a process of globalization and internationalization of the economy that is accompanied by the advancement of the scientific-technological revolution that, unifying spaces, commercial and financial transactions, points to an integration that would tend to achieve a greater economic development, an increase of educational and cultural level through market expansion, an increase in productivity, a reduction in long-term costs and the creation of resources for the world of work and production, key elements for an effective economic and social policy. During the '90s, especially in Argentina and Brazil, due to the strong presence of neo-liberal thoughts, Mercosur's original objective of creating a common market that integrates member countries economically, culturally and socially, has been affected and the union that would increase and promote this interchange, has found new horizons in global markets, changing the look of the local to the global. Thus, the externalization policies of the region and their productions began to gain ground, but the inner objective that support the original thought was abandoned. This thought was strongly influenced by the “Open Regionalism”, a thought conceived and promoted by the CEPAL (Comisión Económica para América Latina) that is not based on a total trade liberalization or on promotion of exports, but on integration agreements reinforced by geographical proximity and cultural affinity of the region. To solve the issue we need a new concept of “Open Regionalism”, defined as a process that tries to conciliate the interdependence of local commercial agreements with the global interdependence resulting from free trade, where local integration policies are compatible and complementary to policies that intend to elevate international competitiveness. The "New Concept of Open Regionalism" shouldn’t point only to a development in centrifugal way but should involve also a centripetal action that takes care of the internal needs of the region, promotes networks construction and the presence of micro regional exchanges, and that later combines them with a openness to the world, but always attending primary and directly to the local. Another antecedent, even if geopolitically different from the interest area but greatly valuable as it tries to achieve an accelerated, balanced and independent development, searching an integration at different levels, is the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) to which belong Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador e Perú that set an important precedent for the Andean, South American and Latin American integration. The primary objective of this Community would be to advance the depth of a "full integration" that effectively contributes to a human development, sustainable and equitable to live, with respect for diversity and asymmetries, that brings together different views, models and approaches and converges towards the formation of the Union of South American Nations. It is in the territorial defined context that clear intentions and organizational initiatives would appear, with a tendency to achieve a political, social and economical cohesion, based on the local sustainable development on behalf of South American countries; it is for this reason that the question, that gives meaning to this research, occurs: in the Triple Border Area between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, is it possible to think of a Macroregion based on a New Concept of Open Regionalism? To answer this question it is necessary to define the concept of Macroregion, starting from the analysis of what has already been done in the Macroregion of Baltic Sea and its contextual framework; we should examine the organizational processes that have taken place between the South American countries in recent decades and the economic thought that has motivated them, redefining and adapting it according to the current scenario. In a second stage we should pass to the specific study area to answer the hypothesis raised, showing the evidence that supports the answer itself, also suggesting some aspect that have to be taken into account when we reflect on the integration of the triple border territory.