Analysis of the inclusion of the Comunidad Andina in “one belt one road” project: for the development of railway infraestructure

Abstract

This article projects the inclusion of the member countries of the Comunidad Andina in an eventual extension of the Chinese plan “One Belt One Road” in the region of South America; in order to respond to the need to improve infrastructure for rail transport between CAN member countries. The aim of this article is identify possible effects that this can entail for the international trade, the integration and the geopolitical vision of the countries that constitute the organization. The methodology proposed in this article, to evaluate the feasibility of the proposal, is based on a wide bibliographical revision to identify the elements that will later be related to the internal of a SWOT matrix of weighted type. Such elements keep relation with the internal relationships among the members of the sub regional organization and among such with the Chinese partner. The conclusions show that both about the international trade and the regional integration the project would not produces particular advantages; nonetheless, it could modify the geopolitical projection that those country keep both at regional and global level