Open regionalism in Latin America and the Caribbean

"An attempt to answer some general and specific questions regarding regional integration, such as: Why should integration be encouraged? What kind of integration should be encouraged? Which mechanisms and instruments are most suitable for integrating economies at this point? How do the new integration plans differ from those of the 1960s and 1970s? The answers to these and other questions 'are based on the core premise that recent integration efforts have generally involved the interaction of two types of phenomena:' trade liberalization and deregulation policies introduced at the national level; and explicit agreements or policies which entail certain preferences with respect to the treatment accorded other nations"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.