Georgetown Americas Institute

Reflecting on Abreu’s six years leading ALADI, the discussion examined the region’s progress toward greater economic integration and the significant challenges that remain. Three central themes emerged: the need for a more pragmatic and flexible approach to integration, the importance of infrastructure and competitiveness, and the broader social and geopolitical conditions necessary for regional cooperation.

A Pragmatic Approach to Regional Integration

Abreu argued that Latin American integration must adapt to a changing global environment and move beyond the expectation that all countries must advance at the same pace or agree on every issue. He noted that intraregional trade remains low compared with other integration processes, accounting for approximately 14% of Latin America’s total trade. Increasing that figure, he suggested, will require making greater use of the practical tools already available to countries.

One of ALADI’s principal strengths, according to Abreu, is its system of partial-scope agreements. Rather than requiring consensus among all member states, these agreements allow two or more countries to move forward on specific areas of mutual interest, with the possibility of gradually expanding those agreements to other countries. He pointed to a recent cosmetics agreement, signed by 10 countries, as an example of how countries can reduce barriers and harmonize technical requirements without waiting for a region-wide agreement.

Abreu emphasized that this flexibility is particularly important as the region confronts new issues, including digital trade and the transformation of global commerce. During his tenure, ALADI also sought to expand access to trade information and financing for small and medium-sized enterprises through a digital platform providing information on tariffs, non-tariff barriers, trade flows, and other resources. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs), he noted, are central to the region’s economy and employment but remain underrepresented in intraregional trade.

The broader goal, Abreu argued, is not integration for its own sake but social inclusion and greater opportunities for productive sectors across the region. For integration to succeed, countries must focus less on ideological differences and more on practical cooperation, allowing progress in specific areas even when governments disagree on others.

Infrastructure, Competitiveness, and Global Value Chains

A second major theme was the connection between regional integration and competitiveness. Abreu stressed that Latin American countries cannot change their geography, but they can improve how they connect their economies through infrastructure, logistics, trade facilitation, and regulatory convergence.

He pointed to the importance of roads, ports, waterways, and multimodal transportation in reducing the costs of moving goods within and beyond the region. The Paraguay-Paraná Waterway, for example, provides an important outlet for landlocked countries and major agricultural-producing regions. Similarly, new infrastructure connecting South America to Pacific markets could reshape the region’s access to Asia.

However, physical infrastructure alone is not sufficient. Abreu emphasized the need to reduce administrative and technical barriers to trade through measures such as digital certificates of origin, improved border crossings, and more efficient customs procedures. Countries that face high transportation costs and delays at their borders will struggle to compete with producers from other parts of the world. Development banks and other institutions, he added, have an important role to play in financing strategic regional projects and helping countries develop medium-term policies around shared infrastructure.

These improvements are also essential if Latin America is to participate more effectively in global value chains. Abreu argued that regional integration should not be understood solely as producing and trading final goods. Infrastructure and stronger intraregional markets can support increasingly important service economies and create opportunities for SMEs to participate in larger production networks. But this will require the region to modernize its infrastructure and trade systems so that companies are not left behind by larger multinational firms or excluded from emerging global industries.

Integration Beyond Trade: Cooperation in a Fragmented World

Finally, the discussion emphasized that Latin American integration cannot be reduced to trade. Abreu highlighted migration, inequality, education, security, and political polarization as challenges that require regional cooperation.

Migration, in particular, has become a major social and economic issue across the region. Abreu argued that migration policy should be approached as part of an integration agenda rather than treated solely as a national security issue. Managing migration requires cooperation among neighboring countries while addressing the underlying challenges of inequality, informal employment, and limited economic opportunity.

Abreu also warned that political and ideological polarization can undermine regional cooperation. Integration, he argued, depends on the ability of governments to build consensus despite their differences. This requires long-term public policies—particularly in education, technology, and productive development—that extend beyond electoral cycles.

Looking beyond Latin America, Abreu described a global environment increasingly shaped by multipolar competition and weakening multilateral institutions. In this context, he argued that Latin American countries have an opportunity to strengthen plurilateral cooperation and defend the importance of rules-based international relations. Smaller countries, in particular, depend on international law and legal certainty to navigate a world dominated by larger powers.

Ultimately, Abreu’s assessment was cautiously optimistic. The mechanisms for greater integration already exist, but the region must make better use of them. Progress will depend on practical cooperation, investment in infrastructure and human capital, and a willingness among political leaders to prioritize shared objectives over ideological divisions. As Abreu concluded, Latin America’s unfinished integration agenda is ultimately tied to a broader challenge: building greater dialogue, inclusion, and opportunity for the region’s most vulnerable populations.