Guatemala's Cerveceria Centroamerciana is one of the country's most prestigious, recognizable, and successful national industries. Founded in 1885 by brothers Mariano and Rafael Castillo Cordoba, over the course of the twentieth century they effectively marketed their widely popular Gallo beer to the masses. They facilitated a shift in popular tastes, promoting beer consumption as a healthful and sophisticated alternative to other crudely concocted alcoholic beverages. Through sophisticated marketing they endeavored to create an illusion of national cohesion in a country with deep class, race, and ethnic divisions. In order to all the more entrench their position in the country's oligarchy and to ensure the longevity of their business, the Castillo's functioned as a mediator in the relationship between the state and society. While the consumption of Gallo beer offered an illusion of modernity, it all the more reinforced cultural assumptions and ascriptions of indigenous identity.

Debido a la posición geográfica de Latinoamérica en comparación con Europa, Estados Unidos quiso concentrarse en el desarrollo económico de la región y creó nuevas políticas que ayudarían al crecimiento económico en Latinoamérica. Sin embargo, estas políticas tenían un segundo interés, el cual era prevenir la proliferación del socialismo en Centroamérica, ya que después de la Revolución Cubana, Estados Unidos sintió que era necesario evitar que los países vecinos llegaran a ser una amenaza para sus intereses en la región. No obstante, la intervención del gobierno estadounidense en Guatemala, El Salvador y Honduras se diluyó y los gobiernos nacionales se convirtieron en los nuevos protagonistas de la violación de los derechos civiles y humanos. A consecuencia de esto, surgieron grupos y líderes que decidieron luchar por una nación más justa. Es por esto que he elegido trabajar con textos de testimonio que nos ilustran algunas de las consecuencias de seguir políticas que favorecen a los más privilegiados, tales como también la austeridad, la violencia y la violación de los derechos humanos. Asimismo, pretendo analizar algunos cuentos cortos para ilustrar el sentir de algunos intelectuales en respecto a las condiciones sociopolíticas de sus respectivas naciones. Due to the geographical position of Latin America in comparison to Europe, the United States focused on the economic development of the region and created new policies to help the economic growth in Latin America. However, these policies had a second interest, which was to prevent the spread of socialism in Central America, since after the Cuban revolution, the United States felt it necessary to prevent neighboring countries from becoming a threat to the region. Nevertheless, the U.S. government intervention in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras was diluted and national governments became the new protagonists of the violation of civil and human rights. As a consequence, there were groups and leaders who decided to fight for a more just nation. This is why I have chosen to work with testimonials that illustrate some of the consequences of following policies that favor the privileged, such as austerity, violence and violation of human rights. I have also analyzed some short stories (fiction) to illustrate the feelings of intellectuals in regard to the socio-political conditions of their respective nations.

Il ricco patrimonio della tradizione del pensiero critico latinoamericano permette di addentrarsi nell’eterogeneità dei processi culturali presenti nel territorio continentale e della regione istmica e favorisce una più puntuale riflessione sulle differenzialità con cui si manifesta la modernità. Da essa dipende inoltre la rilettura di alcune categorie come quella di nazionalità, multiculturalismo, identità, hibridez e mestizaje, eterogeneità e transculturazione. Con questa strumentazione teorica si è esaminato il romanzo centroamericano attuale, attraverso la selezione di un corpus di quindici scrittori considerati maggiormente rappresentativi della diversificazione narrativa e dell’eterogeneità dello sviluppo culturale dei sei paesi ispanofoni della regione. L’analisi delle loro opere mette in evidenza la molteplicità della rappresentazione dello spazio come riproduzione della fisionomia plurale delle identità centroamericane; il rapporto tra storia, memoria e scrittura; l’incorporazione della voce femminile e l’esplorazione degli spazi privati; gli scenari del dopo-guerra, la violenza e la rottura con la rappresentazione immaginaria di alcune società attraverso il discorso letterario. Sono autori che hanno intrapreso letture differenti di uno stesso fenomeno, mettendo in risalto divergenze e punti di contatto, somiglianze e differenze che è possibile decifrare con l’uso della nozione di “totalità contraddittoria”. / The rich heritage of the tradition of Latin American critical thought allows us to penetrate in the heterogeneity of cultural processes present on the continent and on the isthmus and favours more punctual reflections on the differentiality with which modernity manifests itself. Dependent on this modernity is also the re-reading of certain categories, such as those of nationality, multiculturalism, identity, hibridez and mestizaje, heterogeneity and transculturation. It is in the light of this theoretical framework that the current Central American novel has been examined, by selecting a corpus of fifteen authors seen as most representative of the narrative diversification and heterogeneity of the cultural development of the six hispanophone countries of the region. The analysis of the works of these authors discloses the multiplicity of the representation of space as reproduction of the plural physiognomy of Central American identities; the relationship between history, memory and writing; the incorporation of the female voice and the exploration of private spaces; the post-war scenes, the violence and rupture with the imaginary representation of some societies through literary discourse. They are authors that have undertaken different readings of the same phenomenon, highlighting divergences and points in common, similarities and differences which can be deciphered by means of the notion of “contradictory totality”.

Depuis 1999, l’Union européenne a inauguré une nouvelle approche dans ses relations avec l’Amérique latine et les Caraïbes. A cet égard, le premier sommet Union européenne – Amérique latine – Caraïbes, dit « sommet de Rio » marque un tournant grâce au lancement du « partenariat stratégique ». Dans ce cadre, toutes les organisations régionales d’intégration économique situées dans cette zone géographique, et non pas uniquement le MERCOSUR, apparaissent comme des partenaires importants. Le changement obéit autant à des contraintes externes qu’à une stratégie extérieure. Dans le domaine des échanges commerciaux, le but déclaré est d’atteindre « une libéralisation mutuelle des échanges » sur une base équitable et mutuellement profitable tout en défendant certaines valeurs communes. Cependant, le cadre juridique longtemps en vigueur s’est avéré inadapté à l’avènement d’une ambition économique et politique d’une telle ampleur. Par conséquent, l’Union européenne se trouve confrontée au défi de réformer les cadres juridiques de ses relations avec les organisations régionales d’intégration économique d’Amérique latine et des Caraïbes. La thèse analyse l’évolution et la restructuration actuelles des instruments juridiques des relations entre l’Union européenne l’Amérique latine et les Caraïbes. / Since 1999, the European Union began a new competitive approach in its relationships with Latin America and the Caribbean. In this respect, the first step has been made in the European Union-Latin America and Caribbean’ Summit [Rio Summit (1999)] with the launch of a new partnership called “Strategic Partnership”. In this context, all organisations of regional economic integration – not only the MERCOSUR the most competitive one – are considered as important partners. The change is due to external constraints as well as an external strategy. In the field of commercial exchanges, the goal is to attempt “mutual liberalisation of exchanges” on a fair and mutually profitable basis, defending at the same time “common values”. However, the traditional legal framework of the relations is obviously unsuitable for such an ambitious economic and political project. So, from a legal aspect, the European Union is confronted with the challenge of reforming the contractual frameworks of its relations with regional economic integrations in Latin America and in the Caribbean. The issue concerns an analysis of the evolution and restructuring of existing legal instruments of the European Union’s relations with Latin America and the Caribbean. / Desde 1999, la Unión Europea instauró un nuevo enfoque en sus relaciones con América Latina y el Caribe. En este enfoque llamado “estratégico”, todas las organiza-ciones comarcales de integración económicas ubicadas en esta zona geográfica y no úni-camente el MERCOSUR, se pueden ver como interlocutores importantes. La primera cumbre Unión Europea /América latina/Caribe (cumbre de Rio) es una fecha importante en la evolución de las relaciones gracias al lanzamiento “de la colaboración estratégica”. En lo que toca a los intercambios comerciales, la meta declarada es alcanzar una “liberalización mutual de los intercambios” a partir de una base equitativa y mutualmente provechosa de-fendiendo a la vez ciertos valores comunes. Sin embargo, el marco jurídico en vigor durante una larga temporada se ha reve-lado inadecuado para el advenimiento de una ambición económica y política de esta impor-tancia. Por consiguiente, la Unión Europea se enfrenta hoy en día al desafío jurídico de la renovación del marco convencional de sus relaciones con las organizaciones de integración económica de América Latina y del Caribe. El asunto se refiere a un análisis de las rela-ciones exteriores de la Unión Europea desde el punto de vista de los desafíos jurídicos. Utilizamos el análisis sistémico para poner de relieve los factores explicativos de la evolu-ción y de la reestructuración actuales de los instrumentos jurídicos de las relaciones entre la Unión Europea y América-Latina Caribe.