No 12 (2025)

The Central-West region of Brazil emerged in the second half of the 20th century, when Brasilia, built on previously empty land, became the country's capital. Its economic specialization has been driven by the development of the Cerrado savannas and the expansion of an agro-industrial complex, a process comparable to agricultural colonization campaigns in the United States, Argentina, the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. While parts of the region have since lost their characteristics of frontier (pioneer zone) and now function as peripheral areas related to the South and Southeast, the agrarian colonization frontier continues to advance into the Amazon and the Northeast.

The article treats the features of trans-Pacific migration, when mobility was carried out using sailing vessels. Manila galleons became a key element of commodity exchange during the colonial period and a symbol of two-way communication between New Spain and the Philippines. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Asian migration was expressed in the slave trade, but the prohibition of “indio-chino” slavery in 1672 limited this form of human traffic. After gaining independence, Latin American states faced a shortage of workers. Based on the example of Peru, the peculiarities of the transformation of the trans–Pacific transport communication, the quantitative dynamics of the importation of contracted Chinese coolie workers, and their working conditions are considered. It is concluded that the coolie phenomenon was a transitional form of labor relations on plantations, which ended at the same time as the decline of the sailing age as the dominant form of transoceanic communication.

The article deals with a theorization of the impact of novel military format (mobilized conscript forces) on regional identities in Latin American context. The State of Yucatan, due to its isolation and magnitude of the Caste War, a social conflict that lasted between 1847 and 1901, emerged as a sort of military and social laboratory, which made possible a use of new, modern principles of war as well as a case study of its impact on self-identification of various social groups and society in a whole.

The article analyzes the foreign policy of Barbados as a small island nation which  actively engages in cooperation with countries in the Global South. It highlights key fields such as the environmental agenda, participation in South-South mechanisms, and the reform of international financial institutions. The article also focuses on Prime Minister Mia Mottley's initiatives, including the «Bridgetown Initiative», and the importance of women's leadership and small-state diplomacy in promoting global justice.

The article examines the most famous archaeological sites, artifacts, and traditions of the Totonaks as an example of the synthesis of common civilizational and unique manifestations of this Mesoamerican culture. An important place is given to the analysis of the fate of the Totonak heritage in modern conditions. The author notes the increasing pace and volume of archaeological research, points out the importance and relevance of issues regulating the legal aspects of the interests of science and indigenous people. The article also examines various forms of using cultural monuments for educational, tourist, commercial, and entertainment purposes. Mexican scientists are concerned about the tendency of archaeological sites to turn into Disneyland elements.

For almost a quarter of a century the northern capital of Russia has hosted the best representatives of different schools of Russian and foreign Ibero-American studies at the Saint-Petersburg University. Time is moving forward, the topics are changing, and the forms of events are varying, but one thing remains unchanged: interest in participating in the International Forum "Russia and Iberoamerica in a Turbulent World: from common Challenges to joint Solutions", which has converted into the largest meeting of researchers from the Iberoamerican world. This year the forum had about 900 speakers from 30 countries, numerous keynote speakers and a lot of thematic panels and round tables reflecting the key issues of contemporary Ibero-American studies. The ever-growing interest of young people in research work in the field of Ibero-American studies is another peculiarity of this academic event.

The review examines the monograph by the professor of the King Juan Carlos University in Madrid Philipp Bagus, dedicated to the life, philosophy and rising to power of the present Argentinian president Javier Milei. The monograph gives the picture of the economic policy of Argentina during the last 50 years and sets the main theorical aspects of the libertarian ideology, which is being used by J. Milei as the basis for the future “economic miracle” of Argentina. The review analyzes some aspects of this ideology, which give possibility to judge as for the perspectives of the Argentinian economic growth.