Amazônia brasileira e Patagônia argentina: Planos de desenvolvimento e soberania nacional

Abstract

The development plans formulated by the Argentine government for Patagonia has obvious similarities with the projects that the Brazilian State proposed for Amazonia. Both are, essentially, industrial development plans subsidized by the national State. A comparison between the two regions makes their common characteristics clear: both are rich in natural resources coveted by foreign powers, are defined by their national government as "underdeveloped" areas, and have very low population density (since the notion that they were "empty regions"). We discuss the relationship between the history of this region of Argentina and the development projects promoted by the federal government of Brazil for Amazonia. We also register the authoritarian source of both projects, the weight of the doctrine of national security doctrine in their formulation, and their effect on the populations of those regions.