PurposeThe objective of this study is to address the diplomatic and economic implications of the participation of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) countries in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).Design/methodology/approachThe study examines official documents related to the BRI and LAC's signing of the Memorandum of Understanding within the framework of the BRI (MoUs) in order to look into what it means to join the BRI. Additionally, it also introduces the findings of articles in Asian Education and Development Studies' current issue published in 2020.FindingsIn LAC, the BRI does not represent a new policy, but rather the updating and rebranding of a pre-existing one. The BRI primarily consists of an official discursive framework which aims to build a coherent narrative for a wide range of different projects and policies geared toward the improvement of connectivity with China through the development of trade and investments. However, most of these projects were implemented prior to the BRI. Pragmatism lies at the core of this framework which neither has a regulated accession process nor any binding effects. As a result, the signing the MoU represents, foremost, a diplomatic mise-en-scène. The study operates under the belief that BRI membership is not dichotomous; rather, it must be observed in terms of the countries' level of participation. In line with this, the implementation of a generalized BRI policy in LAC countries would not be advisable. Moreover, it must be noted that the BRI's reach to Latin America can be rather problematic due to the fact that the latter was not initially a participant.Originality/valueThe study aims to explore the significance of the BRI beyond the official discourse and discuss the involvement of LAC countries in it. Scholars studying the BRI in other regions have noted that there is not enough information on this policy in the context of LAC.

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La nacionalización de la lucha contra el narcotráfico en Bolivia ResumenEl estudio de las políticas en materia de control de drogas en Bolivia es un objeto de vital relevancia para entender la evolución política del país desde la vuelta de la democracia en 1982. La Ley 1008 de 1988 reforzó la militarización de la política criminal inspirado en la doctrina de la seguridad nacional y la amalgama entre cultivo, consumo y narcotráfico impuestos por las Convenciones de la ONU para el control de drogas. Los conflictos sociales y políticos que siguieron en defensa del cultivo de coca favorecieron la movilización de organizaciones campesinas que terminaron por llevar al poder al MAS en 2006. Este artículo analiza la construcción de una política anti-narcotráfico militarizada e impuesta desde el exterior y su posterior desmantelamiento en nombre de la soberanía nacional y la prevención del consumo a partir del análisis del derecho positivo, datos estadísticos, informes y prensa. Palabras claveBolivia, drogas, narcotráfico, convenciones internacionales, política criminal. AbstractThe study of drug policies in Bolivia is of vital importance to understand its political evolution since the return to democracy in 1982. The Law 1008 of 1988 reinforced the militarization of criminal policy inspired by doctrine of national security and the amalgam between cultivation, consumption and drug trafficking imposed by the UN international drug control conventions. The social and political conflicts that followed defending the cultivation of the coca leaf favored the mobilization of peasant organizations that eventually paved the path to power for MAS in 2006. This article analyzes the construction of a militarized anti-drug policy imposed from abroad and its posterior dismantling in the

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Este artículo analiza el proceso de transición hacia el autoritarismo que ha experimentado el sistema político de la Región Administrativa Especial de la Hong Kong a partir del análisis crítico y comparado de la literatura y de la normativa y la jurisprudencia constitucional. Si bien Hong Kong ha sido considerado en el pasado un régimen híbrido semidemocrático, desde 2014, las movilizaciones de la sociedad civil han provocado un endurecimiento de la estrategia del gobierno central y el progresivo vaciamiento del Estado de derecho de la región autónoma. Este estudio examina los principales factores que explican esta evolución: la inconcreción de su ordenamiento constitucional, el poder de interpretación de la Ley Básica de la región por parte del gobierno central y la adopción de la ley de seguridad nacional el 30 de junio de 2020.

In the last decade, Bolivia, as with most countries in the region, has seen an unprecedented increase of its prison population. This is often explained as the consequence of a punitive populism sweeping Latin America. Our article investigates what triggered this punitive turn in Bolivia by identifying some of the factors that impact crime policy and growing prison populations since the election of president Evo Morales in 2006. We argue that a complex array of local and international factors and shifts in crime policy to harden approaches to domestic violence led to steep increases in remand populations. Combined with other inefficiencies in the criminal justice system, this led to sustained increases in the prison population throughout most of this period. This study is based on new and previously unstudied statistical data produced by the Bolivian institutions in charge of implementing crime policy.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the Chile–China diplomatic and economic relations in the light of the extension of the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) and the Chile's accession to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2019.Design/methodology/approachThis study takes Chile as a case of study to identify the main upcoming challenges and opportunities for relations between China and Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) countries. The study examines news and official data on trade, investment and foreign policy.FindingsThe findings are twofold. First, the increasing and diversification of exports from Chile to China. Second, the participation of Chinese companies in public tendering procedures, which is increasing Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country. The growing volume of trade does not make Chile's economy more dependent on copper exports, and Chinese investment may help solve the structural deficit in infrastructures of the Andean country.Originality/valueThis study presents an overview of Chile as a partner for China and evaluates the relationship's impact on the development of the former. Recently collected data on bilateral trade and investments are analyzed to contribute to the emerging literature on Chinese and Chile relations.

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