Desarrollo energético en América Latina y la economía mundial

Professor Laura Randall I ENERGY RESOURCES AND INTERNATIONAL... trade in manufactures with developing natÍons to the proposed United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Develop– mento The United States is favoring this proposal as it is the newest less developed nation: we have favorable merchandise trade balances with Latin America, but not eIsewhere. 'Ve are also sponsoring bilateral cooperation for energy research and development through the newly appl'oved Institute for Scientific and Technical Cooperation. These ventures are needed because technology is required to convert non– l'enewable resources (oil) to renewable ones. This will occur by investing in research, and investing in people, and foIlows from the basic economic postulate that resources are a function of tecnology– trained people can make better use of a given bundle of resources, while new technology can stretch resources. The United States has a spedal interest in establishing itself as a leading nation in such mul– tilateral and bilateral ventures, because of íts shrinking lead in tech– nology; to some extent, the ventures will Iead to tied sales fol' United States technology and personnel. 4) We can a150 expect access to oi! to be used as a link to other problems in international relations, for example, acces to Mexican oil infIuences United States' actions on braceros (illegal Mexican immi. grants to the UnÍted States), while access to Arab oil infIuences Brazilian votes on Israel in the United Nations; access to oil influences oH importing nations' handling of their granting or denying access to their nations for other exports from oH producing nations (whether these products are oil-related or not). 1 expect that this wi1l make hash oí theories of eeonomic dasses determining government policy; the interest of a Florida tomato grower, whose erop is out-competed by Mexican produce, which is admitted because we need Mexican oil, is not the same as those of importers of gas or crude, whether home owner, producer, or motorist. A more powerful conflict in principal is between oH importers, and, where different, petrochemical pro– ducers, who will be outcompeted by subsidized petrochemicals from oil producing countries such as Mexico, a problem -one of many– throwing Mexico'g entry into GATI into serious question. 5) It is not likely that less developed nations will present a coromon front on oil policy questions, as sorne are oil producers, and others (members of the "fourth world") are oH importers. 'Ve expect that oH producers will foIlow OPEC'S Iead, and obtain benefits from OPEC actions, without suffering the costs of joining OPEC. Oíl consumers in developing nations are stuck, and will be forced to cooperate along 123