From its inception in 1975, the Permanent Secretariat of SELA has attached priority to the issue of regional cooperation, which is one of the objectives and fundamental purposes set forth in the Panama Convention. Such priority was ratified at the IX Regular Meeting of the Latin American Council of SELA (1983), whose Decision No. 156 designates the organization as the “Regional Focal Point for the Exchange of Information on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries.”

In compliance with this mandate, SELA has conducted since 1987, on an annual basis, the Meeting of International Cooperation Directors for Latin America and the Caribbean, which provide an excellent space for rapprochement of regional cooperation stakeholders and for the exchange of ideas, experiences and best practices from a Latin American and Caribbean perspective. Each year, the meeting selects a topic considered to be of high priority for the region and evaluates the various sectoral cooperation initiatives undertaken by the different regional and subregional integration mechanisms and schemes, in order to promote cooperation and coordination actions and stimulate the exchange of offers and demands among the national authorities responsible for cooperation. The topic selected for 2013 is “Regional Cooperation in the Area of Border Integration.”

Regional integration is necessary both in the political sphere and in the economic, social and cultural fields. In this process, borders play an active role and can only be understood as a binational concept. In fact, their problems and potentials can be better addressed within the framework of a shared effort between neighbouring countries and with the active support of subregional integration schemes. In Latin America and the Caribbean, borders are, almost by definition, relatively less developed areas located well within the continent and whose population is affected, in many cases or in a large proportion, by acute poverty. Therefore, this is a priority issue in the political and social agendas of the countries in the region and a key component to achieve a harmonious and sustainable development, consistent with the main Millennium Development Goal of overcoming poverty. This view has been expressed repeatedly by the 28 Member States of SELA in various regional and international forums, and in specialized reports on the subject as well.

Within the framework of SELA, border integration was discussed previously at two different events: the “Regional Seminar for Consultation on the Social Dimension of Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean” (Caracas, 16 and 17 July 2008) and the “II Regional Meeting on the Social Dimension of Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean” (Caracas, 18 July 2008). These events made it possible to define a series of guidelines for an Action Plan in the fields of health, education, housing and employment. Then, representatives of the 28 Member States of SELA acknowledged the importance of both addressing these four areas of the social dimension of regional integration in a cross-cutting manner in order to overcome inequality and underdevelopment, and of dealing in depth with each of the major axes of such dimension. The consensus reached on these issues enabled the Latin American Council of SELA to adopt Decision No. 494 “Regional Programme on the Social Dimension of Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean,” related to the establishment of a permanent regional forum for the analysis and assessment of proposals to coordinate efforts and exchange experiences in social development and social dimension of integration.

Moreover, as a result of the Ministerial Meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean Summit on Integration and Development (CALC), held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on 6 November 2009, the Foreign Ministers of the region decided to hold a meeting of regional integration mechanisms to promote the integration of physical infrastructure and accelerate the development of the region in priority areas, specially in transport, information technologies, physical infrastructure and border integration.

Based on this mandate, the Permanent Secretariat of SELA prepared a document entitled “Border Integration in the Context of Convergence in Latin America and the Caribbean” (SP/Di No. 05-11, February 2011), in order to contribute to the discussions and recommendations of the Coordination Meeting of Regional Initiatives in the Areas of “Physical Integration Infrastructure for Transport, Telecommunications and Border Integration,” held in Mexico City, Mexico, on 24 and 25 March 2011.

Additionally, in the preparatory work for the First Presidential Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the Pro Tempore Presidency organized a Meeting of Ministers for Infrastructure, Transport, Telecommunications and Border Integration and Heads of Delegation, in Santiago, Chile, on 26 October 2012. In this event, the Permanent Secretariat of SELA presented an updated version of the aforementioned document.

That study aims to contribute to a conceptual and analytical framework for the regional treatment of the issue of border and spatial integration among the 33 countries of the region and to review existing institutional and legal frameworks in this matter and ongoing activities and initiatives at the bilateral and subregional levels. Finally, it proposes that border integration is considered the subject of a policy – within the regional integration process in Latin America and the Caribbean – which includes principles, actions and strategies aimed at ensuring social, economic, institutional and territorial-environmental sustainability, correcting structural imbalances, fostering social cohesion and eradicating poverty. Thus, border regions could play an active role in the creation of an ever-growing and prosperous regional space, bearing in mind that their problems and potentials can only be addressed within the framework of joint efforts by neighbouring States themselves, with the active support of corresponding subregional integration schemes.

In the 2012 Caracas Action Plan, this topic was adopted as a priority by the Presidents of 33 States under the heading “Infrastructure for the Physical Integration of Transport, Telecommunications and Frontiers.” In that context, the following actions were defined:

1. Reinforce support at the highest level for physical infrastructure initiatives in the region, identifying and looking for solutions to the major obstacles for the regional interconnection and cross-border trafficking;

2. Accelerate the convergence of regulation systems and multi-modal road, air, maritime-port, river and rail traffic control, in each integration mechanism on infrastructure and to exchange experiences and best practices among them;

3. Foster regional integration by expanding the ongoing exchange of successful experiences, and to request regional and subregional bodies and mechanisms to identify current programs and projects on physical infrastructure, connectivity and border integration being complementary in the medium and longer term, bearing in mind the need of having a strategy for the development and integration of physical infrastructure, connectivity and border regions in Latin America and the Caribbean. The aim of this strategy is to reduce the “infrastructure gap”, characterising Latin America and the Caribbean, in the light of national efforts to foster economic growth, improve social development and reduce poverty.