No 3 (2023)

The crisis shocks of recent decades (first of all, the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 and the coronacrisis of 2020) created a spiral of restraining Spain's economic growth, exacerbated internal socio-political contradictions and weakened Madrid's international position. It was the "ragged" rhythm of economic development that emphasized the relevance of the task of "rebooting" the economic policy of the Spanish state, adopting a new growth model. The formation of such a model, which responds to modern geo-economic challenges, has taken a dominant place in the agenda of the current Spanish government, focused on reforming the economy in order to modernize it and adapt it to rapidly changing national, European and global realities. The main problem is that it is necessary to reform a complex and contradictory system, which is the modern Spanish economy. In practice, this means simultaneously solving a wide variety of problems and requires taking into account a wide range of heterogeneous factors interacting with each other and with the external environment. The task is complicated by the fact that the reform process is taking place in an atmosphere of acute internal political struggle, intensifying in connection with the general elections scheduled for 2023.

Latin American countries are among the top ten countries in the world where the Internet, social networks, and new technologies including deepfakes, synthetic media, etc. have gained popularity among various stakeholders. Digital diplomacy being a channel to make influence on target audience through social media has turned out to be a driver in domestic and foreign policies of the countries, including Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela, etc. The digital diplomacy is the cohesive element of the cyber power interpreted here as the ability of a country to influence on technological and political processes in the world. The article discusses digital instruments of influence, notably hashtag diplomacy and deepfakes. They are most often applied in Latin American countries in political events. While the hashtag diplomacy steers a rapid mobilization of citizens, deepfakes make the audience be manipulated through the creating of synthetic content (generated by algorithms or artificial intelligence) of the media, false news and events that contributes to the polarization of opinions, the spreading of rumors and conspiracy theories, and extremist actions as well. The high efficiency and deceptive potential of the technology make it possible to consider it as a national threat. In order to illustrate the activity of state and non-state actors in social networks, the authors used the case of the TikTok social platform. The research methodology is based on data retrieved from the Latin American segment of the Internet, and on the subsequent qualitative analysis. The study has made a classification of deepfakes that are most actively used for political purposes in the Latin American region. The article analyzes examples of both destructive and “soft” use of deepfakes.

The article, written on the basis of previously unpublished archival documents, memoirs, compared with scientific literature, examines the biography of the outstanding Venezuelan economist and politician Jose Antonio Mayobre. His life was filled with bright events: participation in the activities of the Communist Party of Venezuela, the work in such so international organizations like the Comintern, the International Monetary Fund, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America, the UN, in the Government of Venezuela and as a diplomat. The authors compare the turns in Mayobre’s life with the stages of world and Venezuelan history.

The article examines the foreign policy of the new Ecuadorian president Guillermo Lasso during the first year of his office after the triumph at the 2021 elections. The author is taking benefits of new primary sources, attempts to analyze the main directions and changes in the country's foreign policy. He also identifies some patterns that link the activity of current government with the previous ones. The article also contains some forecasts on Ecuador's international policy in the coming years.

The review analyzes the collective monography published in the 2021 and tracing the relation between the Latin American left movement since the beginning of the XX century and the contemporary «left turn» that characterizes the significant part of the region.