--- title: "XII 2026 — Mérida | Model Diplomat" description: "XII Coloquio sobre la conformación histórica de la frontera norte de México y otras fronteras en América Latina y el Caribe is a professional conference…" url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/conferences/professional/xii-coloquio-sobre-la-conformacion-historica-de-la-frontera-norte-de-mexico-y-otras-fronteras-en-america-latina-y-el-caribe-2026" --- # XII Coloquio sobre la conformación histórica de la frontera norte de México y otras fronteras en América Latina y el Caribe Nov 18–19, 2026[Mérida, Mexico](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1\&query=M%C3%A9rida%2C%20Mexico)In-person Starts in 11 days[Registration open](https://www.clacso.org/actividad/convocatoria-abierta-xii-coloquio-sobre-la-conformacion-historica-de-la-frontera-norte-de-mexico-y-otras-fronteras-en-america-latina-y-el-caribe/) The XII Coloquio sobre la conformación histórica de la frontera norte de México y otras fronteras en América Latina y el Caribe is a significant academic gathering focused on the historical evolution and contemporary relevance of borders across Latin America and the Caribbean. Hosted in Mérida, MEX, this colloquium brings together scholars to delve into the complex processes that have shaped these geographical and socio-political divisions. The event underscores the enduring impact of historical forces on current border dynamics, offering a platform for interdisciplinary discussion and analysis. ## Committees & topics - Topics The Configuration of Liminal Spaces in Pre-Iberian Times · Historical Population Dynamics Across Different Frontiers · Frontier Expansion and Consolidation (16th–19th Centuries) · Indigenous Struggles and Territorial Transformations · Contemporary Borders and Their Relationship with Global Capitalism ## Why it matters Borders are not merely lines on a map; they are dynamic constructs that reflect historical power struggles, cultural exchanges, and economic realities. Understanding the historical formation of borders in regions like Latin America and the Caribbean is crucial for comprehending contemporary geopolitical challenges, migration patterns, and regional integration efforts. The colloquium's focus on the MEX northern border, alongside other regional frontiers, highlights the diverse experiences and shared challenges faced by countries in the Americas. This event is particularly relevant for policymakers, researchers, and students interested in international relations, history, sociology, and political science. It provides a foundational understanding of how past decisions and events continue to influence present-day border management, cross-border cooperation, and conflict resolution. By examining these historical trajectories, participants can gain insights into the root causes of current issues and explore potential pathways for future development and stability in the region. ## How to prepare For those preparing to engage with the themes of this colloquium, a multidisciplinary approach is highly recommended. Familiarity with the historical contexts of border formation, including colonial legacies, post-independence conflicts, and economic integration efforts, will be beneficial. Participants should consider how historical narratives influence national identities and international relations, particularly in areas with contested or porous borders. Engaging with the concept of "[hidden stakeholders](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/hidden-stakeholders)" (see /learn/lessons/hidden-stakeholders) can provide a deeper understanding of the diverse groups affected by border policies, beyond state actors. Additionally, applying "dynamic analysis" (see /learn/lessons/dynamic-analysis) to historical border developments can reveal the evolving nature of these boundaries and their impact on human populations and regional stability. Consideration of "gender dynamics across cultures" (see /learn/lessons/gender-dynamics-across-cultures) is also pertinent, as border experiences often disproportionately affect different demographic groups. ## Country perspectives Where the most-relevant 6 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile. [Mexico](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) [As the host nation, Mexico's northern border with the USA is a central focus, representing a complex intersection of historical migration, economic disparities, and security concerns.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) [Role in topic](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) [Mexico is a primary case study for the colloquium, particularly its northern border, which has been shaped by centuries of historical events, including territorial disputes, economic interdependence with the USA, and significant migration flows. The colloquium will likely explore the historical evolution of this border and its contemporary implications for both nations.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) [United States](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/united-states) [The United States is a key actor in the historical and ongoing dynamics of the Mexico-U.S. border, influencing policy, migration, and economic development.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/united-states) [Role in topic](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/united-states) [The United States plays a crucial role in the historical and current context of the MEX northern border. Its policies, economic influence, and historical interactions have profoundly shaped the border's development, security, and the lives of people on both sides. Discussions will likely touch upon the historical evolution of the border from the perspective of U.S. expansion and its impact.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/united-states) [Brazil](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/brazil) [Brazil's extensive borders with numerous South American countries offer a distinct historical context of integration and resource management, contrasting with the Mexico-U.S. dynamic.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/brazil) [Role in topic](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/brazil) [Brazil, with its vast territory and numerous borders with other South American nations, offers a comparative perspective on border formation. Its historical development, marked by different colonial influences and integration efforts, provides a rich context for understanding diverse border experiences within Latin America, distinct from the MEX-USA dynamic.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/brazil) [Argentina](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/argentina) [Argentina's historical border formations, particularly in the Southern Cone, provide insights into territorial disputes and regional integration processes.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/argentina) [Role in topic](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/argentina) [Argentina's historical border development, especially in the Southern Cone, involves unique geopolitical considerations, including disputes and agreements with neighboring countries. Its experience can contribute to a broader understanding of how borders have been shaped by different historical forces and diplomatic efforts in South America.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/argentina) [Cuba](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/cuba) [Cuba's island nation status presents a unique perspective on maritime borders and their historical significance in the Caribbean context.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/cuba) [Role in topic](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/cuba) [As an island nation, Cuba's borders are primarily maritime, offering a distinct historical narrative within the Caribbean. Its experiences with colonial powers, revolutionary changes, and ongoing international relations provide a valuable case study for understanding the historical formation and significance of maritime frontiers in the region.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/cuba) [Colombia](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/colombia) [Colombia's borders, particularly with Venezuela and Ecuador, are historically significant for migration, conflict, and resource management.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/colombia) [Role in topic](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/colombia) [Colombia's borders, particularly with VEN and ECU, have been historically shaped by territorial disputes, internal conflicts, and significant migration flows. Its experiences offer insights into how historical events have influenced contemporary border challenges, including humanitarian crises and resource management.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/colombia) ## Topics & background The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it. 1 ### The Configuration of Liminal Spaces in Pre-Iberian Times Long before European contact, the territories that would later become Latin America's frontiers were already structured by complex zones of cultural contact, exchange, and conflict. In Mesoamerica, the so-called Gran Chichimeca marked a shifting boundary between sedentary agricultural societies of the central highlands and the semi-nomadic peoples of the arid north, while in the Andes the Inca Empire's expansion ran up against Amazonian and southern Mapuche groups it never fully subdued. These liminal spaces were not empty borders but dynamic zones of trade, tributary arrangements, linguistic exchange, and intermittent warfare. Archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence shows that pre-Hispanic frontiers were often defined by ecological transitions—between maize agriculture and hunter-gatherer subsistence, between highland and lowland economies—rather than by fixed political lines. Sites such as La Quemada, Paquimé, and the northern reaches of the Tawantinsuyu illustrate how states projected influence through fortifications, road networks, and ceremonial centers in contested peripheries. Understanding these pre-Iberian configurations is essential because they shaped the human and territorial landscape that Iberian colonizers would later encounter, appropriate, and reorganize. Many colonial and republican frontiers were superimposed on much older zones of indigenous interaction, and contemporary scholarship increasingly stresses this continuity rather than treating 1492 as an absolute rupture. Key players - [Mexico](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) [Heartland of Mesoamerican civilizations and the Chichimeca frontier zone](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) - [Peru](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/peru) [Core of the Inca Tawantinsuyu and its Andean–Amazonian borderlands](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/peru) - [Guatemala](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/guatemala) [Maya lowland–highland frontier and southern Mesoamerican periphery](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/guatemala) - [Bolivia](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/bolivia) [Southern Andean frontier with Chaco and Amazonian peoples](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/bolivia) - [Chile](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/chile) [Mapuche territories marking the southern limit of Inca expansion](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/chile) 2 ### Historical Population Dynamics Across Different Frontiers Frontiers in Latin America and the Caribbean have always been demographic laboratories, shaped by indigenous displacement, forced migration, mestizaje, and waves of colonization. The catastrophic demographic collapse of indigenous populations after 1492—driven by epidemic disease, forced labor, and warfare—reorganized the human geography of every frontier from northern New Spain to the Río de la Plata. Subsequent flows of enslaved Africans into the Caribbean and Brazilian coasts, and later European and Asian migrations into the Southern Cone and the Pacific rim, produced highly heterogeneous border populations. On Mexico's northern frontier, Tlaxcalan and Otomí settlers were deliberately resettled to anchor Spanish presence against Chichimeca and later Apache and Comanche groups, while Jesuit and Franciscan missions concentrated indigenous populations into reducciones. Similar dynamics played out on Brazil's bandeirante frontier, the Argentine pampas, and the Amazonian rubber zones, where booms and busts repeatedly redrew the human map. Today, historians use parish registers, census data, and archaeological evidence to reconstruct these dynamics, revealing that frontiers were rarely demographically stable. They were instead characterized by high mobility, uneven sex ratios, ethnic recomposition, and the persistence of indigenous and Afro-descendant populations whose presence is often understated in national narratives. Key players - [Mexico](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) [Northern frontier shaped by indigenous resettlement and mission systems](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) - [Brazil](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/brazil) [Bandeirante expansion and Afro-descendant frontier populations](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/brazil) - [Argentina](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/argentina) [Pampas and Patagonian frontier with European immigration waves](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/argentina) - [Cuba](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/cuba) [Caribbean frontier shaped by the transatlantic slave trade](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/cuba) - [Colombia](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/colombia) [Andean–Amazonian–Pacific frontiers with complex ethnic composition](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/colombia) 3 ### Frontier Expansion and Consolidation (16th–19th Centuries) Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, Iberian empires and their successor republics pushed outward from coastal and highland cores into vast interior frontiers. In New Spain, the discovery of silver at Zacatecas in 1546 triggered the Chichimeca War and the gradual consolidation of presidios, missions, and haciendas across what is today northern Mexico and the U.S. Southwest. Portuguese bandeirantes pushed the Treaty of Tordesillas line ever westward, eventually formalized in the Treaties of Madrid (1750) and San Ildefonso (1777). Independence did not end this expansion; it intensified it. Liberal republics in the nineteenth century, animated by ideologies of progress and territorial sovereignty, launched campaigns such as Argentina's Conquista del Desierto (1878–1885) and Chile's Pacificación de la Araucanía (1861–1883), while Mexico lost more than half its territory to the United States in 1848 and then sought to consolidate what remained through colonization laws and railroad concessions. The U.S.–Mexico boundary established by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Gadsden Purchase became one of the most consequential frontiers in the hemisphere. These centuries thus produced both the external borders of modern Latin American states and their internal frontiers of settlement, dispossession, and extraction. The institutions forged in this period—land grants, military colonies, mission secularization, immigration policy—continue to shape territorial politics today. Key players - [Spain](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/spain) [Imperial architect of the northern New Spain frontier system](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/spain) - [Portugal](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/portugal) [Drove Luso-Brazilian expansion beyond the Tordesillas line](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/portugal) - [Mexico](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) [Lost and reconfigured its northern frontier in the 19th century](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) - [United States](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/united-states) [Annexed former Mexican territories and shaped the binational border](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/united-states) - [Argentina](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/argentina) [Consolidated Patagonia through military frontier campaigns](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/argentina) - [Chile](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/chile) [Incorporated Araucanía and northern territories via war and settlement](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/chile) 4 ### Indigenous Struggles and Territorial Transformations Indigenous peoples were never passive objects of frontier expansion; they were central actors who resisted, negotiated, and reshaped territorial orders. The Chichimeca War (1550–1590), the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the Comanche and Apache equestrian polities of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Mapuche resistance in Wallmapu, the Guaraní missions, and the Yaqui wars of Sonora all demonstrate the capacity of indigenous societies to impose costs on colonial and republican states and to extract treaties, trade privileges, and de facto autonomy. Nineteenth-century state-building, however, brought a sustained assault on indigenous territoriality. Liberal land reforms dismantled communal holdings, while military campaigns in Argentina, Chile, and northern Mexico aimed at the physical and political subjugation of frontier peoples. Survivors were confined to reservations, incorporated as peons, or pushed into urban migration, even as their lands were transferred to settlers, foreign companies, and the state. In recent decades, indigenous movements have reopened these territorial questions through constitutional reforms recognizing plurinationality (Bolivia, Ecuador), autonomy regimes (Nicaragua's Caribbean coast, Mexico's San Andrés Accords), and ongoing struggles such as the Mapuche conflict in Chile and Argentina or Zapatista autonomy in Chiapas. The historical frontier is thus very much a live political category. Key players - [Mexico](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) [Site of Chichimeca, Yaqui, Maya, and Zapatista territorial struggles](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) - [Chile](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/chile) [Central to the long Mapuche resistance and contemporary land conflicts](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/chile) - [Argentina](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/argentina) [Patagonian and Chaco indigenous dispossession and current reclamations](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/argentina) - [Bolivia](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/bolivia) [Plurinational state model reshaping indigenous territoriality](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/bolivia) - [Guatemala](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/guatemala) [Maya territorial politics after civil war and peace accords](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/guatemala) - [Ecuador](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/ecuador) [Constitutional recognition of indigenous nationalities and Amazonian frontiers](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/ecuador) 5 ### Contemporary Borders and Their Relationship with Global Capitalism Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean frontiers are increasingly defined by their integration into global capitalist circuits—of commodities, labor, finance, and illicit goods. The U.S.–Mexico border, restructured by NAFTA in 1994 and its successor USMCA, exemplifies the paradox of a frontier simultaneously thinned for capital and thickened for people, with maquiladora export platforms, intensified migration enforcement, and the externalization of U.S. border controls into Mexican and Central American territory. Elsewhere, agricultural and extractive frontiers advance into the Amazon, the Gran Chaco, and Mesoamerican forests, driven by soy, cattle, mining, and hydrocarbons, and entangled with infrastructure initiatives such as IIRSA and Chinese Belt and Road investments. These dynamics generate new conflicts over indigenous territories, environmental governance, and state sovereignty, while organized crime has constructed its own transnational frontier economies around drugs, migrants, and arms. Debates today center on how to interpret these processes: as a continuation of long-standing patterns of primary-export dependency and dispossession, or as qualitatively new configurations shaped by financialization, climate change, and geopolitical rivalry between the United States and China. Border regions remain privileged sites for observing how global capitalism is produced, contested, and lived. Key players - [Mexico](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) [Hosts the hemisphere's most intensive capital–labor border with the U.S.](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) - [United States](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/united-states) [Principal driver of trade, migration, and security regimes on regional borders](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/united-states) - [Brazil](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/brazil) [Amazonian and Chaco commodity frontiers central to global agribusiness](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/brazil) - [China](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/china) [Major financier and consumer reshaping extractive frontiers in the region](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/china) - [Colombia](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/colombia) [Borderlands shaped by coca economies, migration, and post-conflict transitions](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/colombia) - [Venezuela](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/venezuela) [Crisis-driven cross-border migration reconfiguring South American frontiers](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/venezuela) ## Resources News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for XII Coloquio sobre la conformación histórica de la frontera norte de México y otras fronteras en América Latina y el Caribe. Recent reporting to ground your prep [Yogi Adityanath Cabinet Expansion for 2027](https://modeldiplomat.com/story/yogi-adityanath-cabinet-expansion-targets-2027-assembly-race) [India-South Korea $50B Trade Expansion Plan](https://modeldiplomat.com/story/india-and-south-korea-aim-for-50-billion-trade-expansion) [Rory McIlroy Eyes Historic Third Masters Win](https://modeldiplomat.com/story/rory-mcilroy-aims-for-historic-third-consecutive-masters-win) [Trump White House Ballroom Construction Green](https://modeldiplomat.com/story/trump-white-house-ballroom-construction-approved-by-appeals-court) Lessons Bite-sized lessons to build the basics [Hidden Stakeholders](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/hidden-stakeholders) [Engagement Strategies](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/engagement-strategies) [Dynamic Analysis](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/dynamic-analysis) [Stakeholder Mapping Workshop](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/stakeholder-workshop) Courses Guided courses that go deeper on the topic [Advanced Negotiation](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/courses/advanced-negotiation) [Multilateral Negotiation](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/courses/multilateral-negotiation) [Policy Brief Writing](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/courses/policy-brief) [Conflict Resolution](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/courses/conflict-resolution) The states in play, with the data that shapes their stance [Mexico](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/mexico) [Peru](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/peru) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/peru) [Guatemala](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/guatemala) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/guatemala) [Bolivia](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/bolivia) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/bolivia) [Chile](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/chile) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/chile) [Brazil](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/brazil) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/brazil) [Argentina](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/argentina) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/argentina) [Cuba](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/cuba) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/cuba) [Colombia](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/colombia) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/colombia) [Spain](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/spain) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/spain) [Portugal](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/portugal) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/portugal) [United States](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/united-states) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/united-states) [Ecuador](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/ecuador) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/ecuador) [China](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/china) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/china) [Venezuela](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/venezuela) [Country dossier](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/venezuela) ## Frequently asked questions - - Free account Save conferences, research any topic with AI, build position papers, and keep your daily prep streak — free. 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