FOUR CATALYZERS
Although the current differences between governments from North and South, the integration is inevitable and is being accelerated by four catalyzers:
1. POPULATION (Family First - La familia Primero):
The ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean) estimates that the population of Latin America and Caribbean, mostly from Hispanic or Latino origin, will reach approximately 820 million by year 2050. On the other side, by year 2050 the US population will reach approximately 420 million according to the US Census Bureau and the population of Canada will reach approximately 40 million according to Canadian authorities. Taking into account these figures and the projection that 1 in every 3 US citizen is going to be from Latino origin, it can be inferred that approximately 70% of the population of the continent (900 million out of 1.280 million) is going to be from Latino origin by 2050. It is obvious that the ties between Latinos in both sides of the continent are going to put pressure on governments for increasing the political and economic integration between US and the rest of the continent. Moreover, Latinos living in the US are not going to be indifferent to the problems of their blood brothers in the south; therefore, US external policy is going to slowly shift from not giving importance to Latin America to giving it preponderance.
2. RACE (The future is BROWN - El futuro es Mestizo):
Race mixture has been preponderant among Latin American cultures and countries. Despite a small percentage of population, mostly from the ruling class who keep their European roots almost intact, the majority of population of Latin America and Caribbean is from Mestizo origin. Initially the term Mestizo was used to refer to a person of a mixed racial ancestry especially European and Native American. However, through the years the term has been also applied to any mixture of race including (European, Native American, African, and even Asian). After centuries of racial mixture, it is impossible to define a race for Latinos. The same phenomenon is going to be translated to North America where Latinos are going to promote mixture of all races. It will be almost impossible for the US authorities to classify population by races in the near future. Therefore, a growing “brown” population in North America means more affinity between the population from south and north of the continent.
3. CULTURE (We have the same roots - Tenemos las mismas raices)
Many US historians and scholars consider the Latino immigration as a threat to their culture and believe it will change US identity. What they fail to recognize is that Latino culture is not so different from the North American culture because both cultures are ramifications of one main source that is western civilization. The majority of Latinos have embraced for many years the most important values of North America. More important, Latinos in the US are restoring the importance of the very first values of western civilization such as religion, family, traditions, and heritage. Millions of Latinos in the south and the north of the continent united as brothers are going to counterweight the resurgence of Asian and Islamic civilizations, through the reaffirmation of the cultural values of the western civilization. While Europe succumbs to the identity crisis created by secularism and the immigration of people from non-western civilizations, North America is being revitalized by the influx of millions of people who share the same values and beliefs.
4. CLIMATE CHANGE (Mother Earth unifies us - La Madre Tierra nos une)
The change in weather patterns globally is going to touch every aspect of our lives; as a northern nation, US is especially vulnerable to the climate change. The political, economical and cultural integration of US with the rest of the continent is an indispensable factor to ensure the free flow of people, goods and resources, in case of huge natural disasters. US politics must work together with their peers in the south in order to design plans and strategies that reduce the associated risks and costs of these anticipated disasters. Latinos in the US are going to lead this integration effort because they already see the people in the south as brothers and the south land as their motherland. Because of climate change, the fate of North American and South and Central American population are deeply tied.