New institutions, old philosophies: Critical remarks on the new Latin American constitucional model

Restrepo Amariles, D. " Entre originalidad institucional y recepción filosófica. Apuntes críticos sobre el nuevo modelo constitucional latinoamericano". Cuaderno sobre Relaciones Internacionales, Regionalismo y Desarrollo. Universidad de los Andes (Venezuela). Vol. 4. N.7 (2008). pp. 39-64.

This article analyzes the constitutional developments that have taken place in Latin America since the 1991 Colombian constitution. The author shows that the constitutional transformation undergone during the last 20 years focuses on the recovery of popular sovereignty and the recognition of cultural diversity within the nation. Subsequently, he argues that emancipation is unachievable through these three elements incorporated in the recent Latin American constitutions because they are limited by their own philosophical assumptions. The author claims that institutional arrangements set up in the new constitutions with the aim of achieving social emancipation from the colonial constitutional legacy, are themselves deeply grounded in the European and modern philosophical tradition of law and politics. Hence, the author concludes the new Latin American constitutions are to be seen as the result of the “migration of ideas” within the frame of legal globalization, rather than as a successful case of political and legal self-determination.