THE EVOLUTION OF SECURITY IN SOUTH AMERICA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN COLOMBIA AND BRAZIL

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This article studies the evolution of security in South America by comparing the advances of two of its most characteristic cases, Colombia and Brazil, in their transition from traditional security models to the application of the concept of human security. Through a historical analysis of both cases and a timeseries analysis of their soldiers per inhabitant, military quality, military and social spending, and human development, the authors conclude that human security has taken a notable importance in the development plans and state programs in both countries. However, they present an opposite trend regarding militarization: Brazil is becoming more and more demilitarized (although its army is being improved constantly, explained by the country’s high military spending), whereas Colombia is becoming more and more militarized in order to confront its internal conflict. In spite of this, Colombia’s human development rivals that of Brazil, yet both are lower than the region’s average, which means that although the focus on human security is being implemented, the advance has been slow and differences between the two cases are smaller than expected.