Vol. 4 No. 2 (2024): Latin American Journal of European Studies

Publicado: 2024-18-12

O Latin American Journal of European Studies (ISSN 2763-8685) é uma publicação do Centro Latino-Americano de Estudos Europeus, atualmente apoiada pelo projeto Jean Monnet Network Policy Debate "BRIDGE Watch" com financiamento do Programa Erasmus + da Comissão Europeia. Com foco nas linhas editoriais Direito e Políticas da União Europeia e Relações Internacionais da União Europeia com países terceiros e América Latina,a oitava edição da Revista conta também com um dossiê temático sobre "Caminhos para a Democracia: Lições da União Europeia e América Latina”, organizado por Roberto Ruiz Labrano da Universidad Nacional de Asunción, (Paraguai). A oitava edição da Revista está aberta para submissões até 01 de novembro de 2024.

Edição completa

Editorial

Aline Beltrame de Moura , Naiara Posenato

Editorial

Resumo

O Latin American Journal of European Studies (ISSN 2763-8685) é uma publicação do Centro Latino-Americano de Estudos Europeus, atualmente apoiada pelo projeto Jean Monnet Network Policy Debate "BRIDGE Watch" com financiamento do Programa Erasmus + da Comissão Europeia. Com foco nas linhas editoriais Direito e Políticas da União Europeia e Relações Internacionais da União Europeia com países terceiros e América Latina,a oitava edição da Revista conta também com um dossiê temático sobre "Caminhos para a Democracia: Lições da União Europeia e América Latina” organized by Roberto Ruiz Labrano of the Universidad Nacional de Asunción, (Paraguay).

Dossier

THE DIRECTION OF DEMOCRACIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Autores

Liliana Bertoni – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1877-5109

Elizabeth Accioly – https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2255-1623

Palavras-chave:

Democracy; Rule of Law; European Union; Latin America; Far Right.

Resumo

The aim of this article is to address the state of democracies in this period of transition that has been taking place since the beginning of the 21st century, accompanied by major changes in all areas, not only in the behavior of states, but also in society. We will analyze the importance of transparency for strengthening modern democracies, especially in Latin American and European Union democracies, as well as respect for the rule of law, which have been somewhat influenced by the rise of populism on both continents. With a critical eye, we will examine the emergence of a new democratic order, with repercussions that could transform concepts that were taken for granted more than seven decades ago.

Liliana Bertoni

Elizabeth Accioly

THE EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE AND ITS ROLE IN THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE MERCOSUR DEMOCRACIES: history and current challenges

Autores

Guillermo Irigoitia – https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8130-3529

Rodolfo Rivas – https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2211-1813

Palavras-chave:

Democracy; Democratic Clause; Integration.

Resumo

We often talk about respect for democratic institutions as a prerequisite for existence or participation in regional integration processes, we take democracy for granted as an axiom in our society. Though, this has not always been the constant, it occurred through conquests in complex scenarios where integration processes such as MERCOSUR, even before its official incorporation, have developed a key role in the democratizing wave of the second half of the 20th century in South America, from the example of the European Union. This work aims to vary the predominant approach that presumes or presupposes democratic institutions as a premise for subsequent integration, contemplating integration itself, from a historical and geopolitical point of view, as an important catalyst element in the advent of current freedoms. Also exploring the current and upcoming challenges in this regard.

Guillermo Irigoitia

Rodolfo Rivas

THE EUROPEAN AND LATIN AMERICAN COURTS FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS: genesis, characteristics and differences

Autor

Manuel Becerra Ramírez – https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3957-9446

Palavras-chave:

Inter-American Human Rights System; European Human Rights System; Comparison between the inter-American and European human rights systems.

Resumo

The formation of a world order after the Second World War brought with it a network of legal norms aimed at the protection of human rights based on the provisions of the Charter of San Francisco and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. From this normative framework emerges the European human rights system which, in its formation, is a model to be followed at the regional level. In this paper, in principle, we describe the European model of human rights protection, which has undergone a fast evolution in the twentieth century to create a rather complex and all-encompassing institution. Then we make a dogmatic description of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The Latin American model, although it also takes the original European model, of a dual control system of the American Convention with an Inter-American Commission and Court, has gone its own way to form a new and original system. In the comparison exercise that we carry out here, we can distinguish the differences between both models, which can be seen as virtues and flaws of each.

Manuel Becerra Ramírez

ACCESSIBILITY AND NON-DISCRIMINATION IN FAVOR OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: reflections from international law

Autor

Ginette Isabel Rodrigo Romero – https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3695-086X

Palavras-chave:

People with disabilities; Universal accessibility; Anti-discrimination principle.

Resumo

People with disabilities have historically been undervalued due to a flawed perception of difference. To address this issue, this work examines the principles of equality, non-discrimination, and accessibility in international law, in relation to the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), adopted in 2006. Two essential issues are covered, based on the justification and scope of the anti-discrimination principle. The first focuses on universal accessibility as a goal for the effective enjoyment and exercise of rights for people with disabilities within social spheres. The second addresses reasonable accommodations as necessary adaptations in specific situations and as a targeted accessibility strategy. Both mechanisms promote the removal of barriers and the creation of equal spaces without differential treatment in both the Inter-American Human Rights System and the European Union. The methodology used is primarily bibliographic, reviewing books, manuals, and scientific articles forming the doctrine on this subject, and also jurisprudential, examining cases from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. It is concluded that accessibility provides legal and material content to the principle of equality through strategies that approach disability from a social model, recognizing equal dignity and rights for all human lives.

Ginette Isabel Rodrigo Romero

LIMITS ON POLITICAL RE-ELECTION AND ITS IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNANCE

Autores

Dulce María Domínguez Gaona – https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0009-0005-9495-7288

Jorge Antonio Breceda Pérez – https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5280-6936

Luz Daniela Natividad Molina – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3696-5694

Palavras-chave:

Municipal re-election; Local governance; Administrative stability.

Resumo

The article analyses the impact of municipal re-election on local governance, comparing the experience of Mexico with that of European countries such as France and Spain. It focuses on the effects of the 2014 political-electoral reform in Mexico, which allowed the consecutive re-election of mayors, contrasting it with the benefits and challenges of indefinite re-election in Europe. The main objective is to examine how limits on re-election affect administrative stability, efficiency, and accountability in local governance. It seeks to identify international practices that can be adapted to the Mexican context. The research uses a qualitative-comparative approach, combining case analysis and review of historical data. The impacts of the prohibition of re-election in Mexico are evaluated and compared with the results obtained in Europe, highlighting successful models and areas of opportunity. It concludes that re-election can be a powerful instrument to promote continuity and administrative stability, but requires mechanisms of transparency, accountability, and robust supervision to avoid clientelist practices. In Mexico, the implementation of international best practices could strengthen local governance without compromising political renewal.

Dulce María Domínguez Gaona, Jorge Antonio Breceda Pérez, Luz Daniela Natividad Molina

IS IT POSSIBLE THAT INTEGRATION PROCESSES CAN STOP DEMOCRATIC DEGRADATION IN THE STATES THAT INCLUDE IT? AN ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN CASE

Autor

Alejandra P. Diaz – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4311-4863

Palavras-chave:

Regional Integration; Democracy; Institutions; European Union; Rule of law.

Resumo

In these more than 20 years of the new century we have witnessed the deterioration and regression of democracy in various states. Although democratic regimes continue to be valued positively by much of the Western world, other experiences have gone backwards until reaching systems that we can hardly identify as democratic. The European Union has not been able to escape this phenomenon, where we can find two paradigmatic examples such as the cases of Hungary and Poland. However, upon analyzing it we can see that within the integration scheme there are different mechanisms that limited the advance of democratic regression. The European institutions and regulations that defend democratic values through multiple actions have managed to contain the attacks of autocratic features of the aforementioned cases. To develop the work we will use an exploratory qualitative methodology of a critical analytical nature.

Alejandra P. Diaz

SITUATION OF MERCOSUR COUNTRIES IN TERMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE ESCAZÚ AGREEMENT

Autores

Maximiliano Mendieta – https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5803-0411

Shirley Franco – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9668-9791

Palavras-chave:

Mercosur; European Union; Escazú Agreement.

Resumo

The Birregional Agreement between Mercosur and the EU is stalled by disagreements in the environmental policies carried out by each of the blocks. One of them is the Escazú Agreement that was not ratified by Brazil and Paraguay. This work aims to examine the situation of the Mercosur countries in terms of environmental policy and their relationship with the European Union (EU) within the framework of the Escazú Agreement, through a theoretical-analytical methodology with a qualitative approach. The results indicate that although the Mercosur countries have a robust legal system of legislative policies on environmental matters, the real problem lies in the non-compliance with the rules and other variables such as corruption. Another result indicates that the relations between Mercosur and the EU that seek progress in a trade agreement go beyond the mere ratification of Escazú, since other issues specific to the EU countries are identified regarding the comparative advantages that imported products could have with respect to European products, and that finally the way in which the Agreement signed in Brussels in 2019 is drafted would be in violation of international law norms.

Maximiliano Mendieta, Shirley Franco

SOCIOENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND TRADITIONAL COMMUNITIES IN LATIN AMERICA: CONTRIBUTIONS TO THINKING ABOUT THE PROBLEM OF NEOEXTRACTIVISM

Autores

Danielle de Ouro Mamed – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7671-2499

Cecílio Arnaldo Rivas Ayala – https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8828-4180

Ener Vaneski Filho – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8209-8237

Palavras-chave:

Socio-environmental Law; Neoextractivism; Latin America.

Resumo

The general objective of this article is to analyze the confrontation of traditional communities in Latin America with the problems caused by neoextractivism, from the perspective of socio-environmental law. To achieve this objective, it is proposed to think about it from three specific objectives, which will be developed in each of the parts of the article: a) expose the socio-environmental issue in Latin America; b) understand the relationships between environment and Law from a socio-environmental perspective; c) analyze who the traditional communities are and the socio-environmental rights affected and d) analyze the issue of neoextractivism under the demands of traditional communities. The issue is justified by the difficulties observed by traditional (non-indigenous) communities to guarantee their territorial rights, although they are long known as guardians of nature. The method used is deductive, with a monographic approach and bibliographic and documentary research. When discussing the issues, the aim is to verify whether a more appropriate treatment of the issue is necessary in terms of environmental public policies, with special attention to the processes of neo-extractivism.

Danielle de Ouro Mamed, Cecílio Arnaldo Rivas Ayala, Ener Vaneski Filho

MICROSEGMENTATION AND MANIPULATION. THE URGENT REGULATION OF AI IN ELECTION CAMPAIGNS TO PROTECT VOTER AUTONOMY

Autores

Evelyn Téllez Carvajal – https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6136-6821

Abed Ieshua López Graniel – https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5858-761X

Valeria Estefanía Goche Mata – https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7030-1113

Palavras-chave:

Microsegmentation; Democracy; Elections.

Resumo

Citizen participation in political election is a daily practice around the world, however, when the electorate goes to the polls and “makes a decision” it has already been influenced by the use of information or disinformation campaigns created by Artificial Intelligence, that have used their sensitive information collected through social networks and designed in a precise way to be able to influence the result of that final decision. Therefore, it is important to reflect of the autonomy of voters regarding the use of AI in electoral campaigns and the limits on the use of these technologies, giving people the freedom to choose. This work exposes the use of Artificial Intelligence to the detriment of citizen participation in an autonomous manner, making use of documentary analysis and comparing the actions that have been carried out in different latitudes to alleviate the manipulation of voters through social networks. As a hypothesis, it was proposed that voters who use social networks are at the mercy of the indiscriminate use of their personal data and consequently are targets of manipulation through fake news and deepfake orchestrated through electoral campaigns. Then the use of these tools to influence the decision of the electorate, undermining their autonomy, requires adequate regulation such as microsegmentation during electoral processes. Among the findings, the lack of knowledge of the issue among voters and a distrust on electoral organizations and institutions stands out, as a proposed solution, promoting digital literacy connected to democracy.

Evelyn Téllez Carvajal, Abed Ieshua López Graniel, Valeria Estefanía Goche Mata

CHALLENGES AND PROGRESS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LOCAL PARTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE MECHANISMS IN PARAGUAY

Autores

Marta Isabel Canese de Estigarribia – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4655-6245

Cecilia María Vuyk Espínola – https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3190-7425

Palavras-chave:

Government; Democracy; Participation.

Resumo

This study aimed to explore the challenges and progress made in the implementation of institutional mechanisms for local participatory governance in Paraguay, and their potential contributions to sustainable development, through an integrated review of scientific literature and legislation on the institutionalization of participatory governance mechanisms at the local level. In Paraguay, the mechanisms that have specific laws and regulatory standards are district development councils, neighborhood commissions, community councils, public observation, participation in non-mandatory public consultative sessions and hearings. However, the degree of participation allowed by these mechanisms does not guarantee the full participation and empowerment of local communities in the management of sustainable development of their territories.

Marta Isabel Canese de Estigarribia, Cecilia María Vuyk Espínola

THE IMPORTANCE OF RECOGNIZING SIGN LANGUAGES FOR THE FULL GUARANTEE OF DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, AND INCLUSION OF LATIN AMERICAN DEAF COMMUNITIES

Autores

Amanda Avansini Arruda – https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5606-8876

Josiane Rose Petry Veronese – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7387-0758

Palavras-chave:

Deaf; Freedom expression; Sign language; Democracy; Fundamental rights.

Resumo

By observing the millennial trajectory of deaf people in the world, it can be seen that existing in a listening society is not a very simple exercise. Deaf communities and their sign languages suffered their development process in hiding, and for a very long time in the history of humanity, even their lives were forbidden. From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 1948), after the horrors of World War II, people with hearing disabilities had their right to live assured, and the deafener activism of the Associations of the Deaf around the planet has achieved other rights inherent to deaf people such as communication, education, regarding their culture and expression of sign language. However, even today, Latin American deaf communities suffer from linguistic and communication barriers due to the lack of recognition and dissemination of their mother tongues: signs. Thus, it is necessary to make an analysis of how the recognition of sign languages in the field of Constitutional Law can be an important path for the consolidation of democracy and freedom of expression of the deaf. It is essential to know that democracy must be accessible to all people and groups, and that it is only fully achieved from the exercise of language, autonomy and access to basic rights by all citizens, regardless of their existential condition. Therefore, with a historical and dialectical analysis, the relevance of the recognition of sign language for maintenance and full guarantee of the democratic exercise and freedom of expression of Latin American deaf people will be addressed. The hypothesis of this research is the interference of the constitutional recognition of linguistic rights in the guarantee of access to fundamental rights by deaf communities. In this sense, the result that becomes clear is that the dissemination of sign language communication is an important decisive marker to ensure the full enjoyment of fundamental, civil and democratic rights by the deaf.

Amanda Avansini Arruda, Josiane Rose Petry Veronese

HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RECOGNITION OF LEGAL SITUATIONS RELATED TO PERSONAL STATUS

Autor

Beatriz Campuzano Díaz – https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9737-5316.

Palavras-chave:

Recognition; Human Rights; Case Law of the ECtHR and the CJEU.

Resumo

This paper analyzes the method of recognition of legal situations in relation to personal status issues. After presenting this method of recognition and the limits to which it is subject, the incidence of the case law of the ECtHR and the CJEU is analyzed in relation to the human rights recognized in the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, regarding controversial matters such are surrogacy, same-sex marriage and homoparental filiation. The case law analyzed shows how human rights law is a decisive factor for the recognition of legal situations, in an area where there is a lack of uniform international rules due to the difficulties of reaching an agreement. Thus, human rights contribute to improve the lives of people at the international level and the continuity of their legal relationships.

Beatriz Campuzano Díaz

Artigos

A DIALÉTICA DO OCIDENTE GEOGRÁFICO E CULTURAL: entre a herança europeia, a norma e a realidade

Autor

Lucas Bruno Amaral Mendes – https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0685-7163

Palavras-chave:

Estado de Direito,; Rule of Law; Self-determination of peoples.

Resumo

O presente artigo tem como finalidade a reflexão acerca da democracia e dos valores da União Europeia e das Nações neolatinas, sobretudo no desenvolvimento do Estado de Direito,em contraste com os valores do Rule of Law, de origem anglo-saxônica. Pretendemos discorrer acerca da cultura e história do Ocidente, em sua configuração continental, pelos valores da Liberdade, Igualdade e Fraternidade, e anglo-saxã, com os valores da Liberdade, Prosperidade e Propriedade, considerando as peculiaridades da história e cultura europeia, latina-ocidental e anglo-saxã, bem como da manifestação de suas vontades no mundo objetivo, que o filósofo Hegel menciona. A herança europeia legou ao mundo o Estado de Direito,e a possibilidade de, por meio da política, especialmente democrática, a autoconstrução de uma vontade coletiva, expressa em norma, seja nos Tratados europeus e na Carta dos Direitos Fundamentais da União Europeia, ou nas Constituições Nacionais, e sua transposição para a realidade, normatizando sua cultura e valor como povo determinado. Nesse sentido, procuramos refletir acerca da atual dificuldade do Ocidente em transpor para a realidade a sua vontade política, além dos embates geopolíticos e ideológicos que contribuem para esse contexto. A fim de cumprir com os objetivos apresentados, desenvolvidos na presente pesquisa, nos apoiamos nos debates interconectados por diversas pesquisas, documentos e discursos, para fornecer uma reflexão transdisciplinar, considerando os campos de estudos em história, cultura, política, direito e relações internacionais.

Lucas Bruno Amaral Mendes

THE EUROPEAN UNION'S GLOBAL GATEWAY IN THE FRAMEWORK OF SINO-EUROPEAN RELATIONS

Autor

Daniel Romera Mejías – https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0685-7163

Palavras-chave:

Global Gateway; EU-China relations; Belt and Road Initiative.

Resumo

This article aims to analyze the European Union proposal called Global Gateway, a new instrument reflecting Brussels’ medium-term strategy to compete with the Belt and Road Initiative of the People’s Republic of China. This analysis will focus on how the Global Gateway not only represents an economic and geopolitical response to the Chinese initiative, but also how it embodies the promotion of EU values and democracy at the global level. It will begin by examining the historical positions that the European Union has been defending with regard to the Asian country, with a geopolitical and geoeconomic analysis of the relations between the two actors. In light of the paradigm shift in these relationships as of 2019, the project that gives name to this document is studied in depth. Based on a thematic review of existing literature, it will analyze how Brussels uses the programme to disseminate its principles and values through cooperation and development policies. Finally, the implications of the Global Gateway in the current international system and its possible collision with the aforementioned Chinese project will be observed, paying particular attention to how this instrument influences global competition for leadership in infrastructure and connectivity and how it can serve as a vehicle for the globalization of European values, promoting democracy and respect for human rights in the beneficiary regions.

Daniel Romera Mejías

O DEVER DE DILIGÊNCIA COMO INSTRUMENTO DE EFETIVAÇÃO DA PROTEÇÃO DO MEIO AMBIENTE: análise da proposta de regulamentação no direito europeu

Autor

Stephanie Cristina de Sousa Vieira – https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6316-3526

Palavras-chave:

Dever de diligência; Proteção ambiental; Direito da União Europeia.

Resumo

A responsabilização das empresas em razão da provocação de danos ao meio ambiente é um desafio global. Considerando essa realidade e o agravamento das mudanças climáticas, a Comissão Europeia adotou uma proposta de diretiva sobre o dever de diligência das empresas em matéria de sustentabilidade. Isso permitirá a avaliação e o acompanhamento dos riscos das atividades empresariais para que se protejam direitos humanos, previnam-se danos ambientais e promova-se acesso à justiça. A partir disso, questiona-se: quais as limitações do dever de diligência europeu no que diz respeito à efetivação da proteção do meio ambiente? O objetivo desta pesquisa é compreender os obstáculos a serem enfrentados e as perspectivas do referido instrumento quanto à materialização da tutela ambiental na UE. Para tanto, esta pesquisa explica a propagação do instrumento na UE, assim como a fundamentação relativa à necessidade de sua regulamentação regional, para que sejam compreendidos os desafios que o dever de diligência poderá enfrentar, tendo como base a proposta de diretiva adotada pela Comissão Europeia. A metodologia apresenta natureza qualitativa com a aplicação dos raciocínios indutivo e dedutivo, mediante revisão bibliográfica, bem como por análise documental de normas internacionais e instrumentos regionais. Como resultado, tem-se que a regulamentação poderá colaborar para o progresso regional e mundial em matéria de meio ambiente, direitos humanos e boa governança, mas poderá encontrar limitações em sua efetividade, devido à aprovação de texto legal menos ambicioso e, portanto, inadequado ao enfrentamento das problemáticas, especialmente as relacionadas ao clima, à complexidade das cadeias de valor das empresas e às dificuldades quanto ao controle e fiscalização do cumprimento das disposições normatizadas. Conclui-se que se trata de importante instrumento diante das circunstâncias atuais, não obstante a necessidade de atuação conjunta com outros mecanismos e aprimoramento das suas disposições, a fim de que a proteção do meio ambiente seja efetivada.

Stephanie Cristina de Sousa Vieira