Finishing up the topic (520-528) on unity and fraternity, there are some positives to note:
528. We appreciate significant and promising advances in the process and systems of integration in our countries in the past twenty years. Trade and political relations have intensified. New and closer communication and solidarity now exists between Brazil and the Spanish-speaking and Caribbean countries.
Challenges include–as one might guess–obstruction by the 1%, organized crime, and the drag of poverty.
However, very serious blockades bogged down these processes. Trade integration is weak and ambiguous. That is also the case when it is reduced to a matter for political and economic elites, and does not sink roots in the life and participation of peoples. Setbacks in integration tend to aggravate poverty and inequality, whereas drug trafficking networks are more integrated beyond any border. Even though political language goes on a great length about integration, the dialectic of counterposition seems to prevail over the drive of solidarity and friendship. Unity is not built by standing in opposition to common enemies, but by achieving a common identity.
Comments?
For deeper examination, check an English translation of the 2007 document from the Aparecida Conference.
Catholic Sensibility 