A&M International Professor Publishes Article on Economic Integration

A Texas A&M International University faculty member's article offering a comparative analysis of economic integration in North and South America will soon be published in the International Journal on World Peace, a scholarly publication based in St. Paul, Minn.

Dr. Rafael Lecuona, professor of political science, is the author of Economic Integration: the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA), and the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR). A Comparative Analysis. The article will be published in the December edition of the Journal.

The Journal publishes articles that cover topics across all disciplines, including culture, politics and philosophy and contains articles from authors around the world. It is published by the Professor World Peace Academy of St. Paul.

In the article, Lecuona concludes that economic integration of nations like Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay (MERCOSUR member countries) and Mexico (North American Free Trade Area member) seems to have failed to bring about better long-term sustainable economic conditions for their people.

According to Lecuona, the integrative process of these countries is bound to fail if globalization and economic integration are to benefit mainly ruling elites, who by definition, amount to no more than one percent of their respective population. In the article, Lecuona adds that the above appears to have been the result so far in the case of MERCOSUR and NAFTA.

Lecuona earned his doctoral degree in political science from Florida State University and has taught at A&M International since 1970. He is the author of numerous articles or books including The North American Common Market: An Idea Whose Time Has Arrived? (1988), José Martí and Fidel Castro (1991), The Latest Economic Bailout of Mexico (1995), and International Law, Cuba, and the United States of America (1997).

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