There is no constitutionalism without a Constitution; there is no Constitution without a State in which it has or will have application. The Latin American Constitutionalism thus requires two essential elements: 1. The shared desire by the countries of Latin America to “seek the economic, political, social and cultural development of the people of Latin America, with a view to the formation of a Latin American community of nations” (Title I, sole paragraph, Brazilian Constitution); and 2. The elaboration of a draft of the Constitution of the Union of Latin American States which express that will, their bases, their aims and how to achieve it. To achieve the first of these elements depends on the decision of the political power of all States in Latin America. The second, however, it is for the scholars of the Constitutional law of those States, who are the best trained and qualified – therefore the responsible for carrying out this task. The first step in this direction should be to integrate the meeting of the six Associations that convene us, the rest of the Associations of Constitutional Law in Latin America that are now absent from these deliberations. The second step will be to establish a Standing Committee, consisting of constitutionalists from all or from the majority of the Latin American nations, to study and propose a program of work that we can all make proposals on the organization of that Latin American Community of Nations and on the basis of the alternative draft or drafts of the Constitution that will govern its fate. This paper aims to outline broadly, the task that awaits us if we decide to undertake it.
Keywords:
Constitutionalisms, Union of Latin American States, Foundations of the Latin American Constitution
Ríos Álvarez, L. (2016). The new Latin American constitutionalism. Revista De Derecho Público, (83), pág. 141–154. https://doi.org/10.5354/rdpu.v0i83.39352
