Migration and Regulatory Governance Regimes in South America: The Venezuelan Crisis and its Regional Implications
Venezuelan migration to South American countries after the post-Hugo Chávez regime collapse has represented a major challenge to migration regional governance. The Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR) has faced intense pressure to steer regional responses after leading efforts to establish regulatory mechanisms on migration following a rights-based approach. This bloc’s regulatory governance regime has coexisted with old and new regional initiatives, i.e., the South American Conference of Migration (CSM) and the Quito Process, respectively. Our article comparatively assesses these various regional regulatory governance arrangements by looking into the policy framework, the type of engagement, and the constellations of actors involved. Empirical findings indicate that the rights-focused approach to human mobility is being replaced for one where security concerns gain centrality. They also show diversification and increasing regime complexity as new regional initiatives and extra-regional actors (i.e., the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the European Union) become active in this policy area.
Andrea C. Bianculli is an Assistant Professor at Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals and her research agenda examines the relationship between trade, regulation, and development, with a regional focus on Latin America. She has published extensively in journals such as Global Social Policy, Journal of European Social Policy, and Politics and Governance, among others. She has also authored and edited several books in this research area. Andrea is currently leading the project 'Rethinking the Fundamentals of Regions and Interregionalism: The European Union and Latin America through the Lenses of Regional Regulatory Governance (Reg-EULAC)’.