With the economic and trade liberalisation policies of the late 20th century, the extraction of natural resources for export, known as extractivism, became the central axis of South American economies. This development model has a significant environmental impact and has generated imbalances in the South American productive structure that lead to chronically unfavourable terms of trade for the region. The different price dynamics of exports and imports trap South America in a vicious circle that leads to a progressive need to increase the volume of resources it extracts. Consequently, South America maintains a situation of ecologically unequal exchange that implies the absorption of an ever-increasing environmental impact from the rest of the world. All this calls into question the benefits of free trade, especially in ecological terms, as well as the compatibility between economic growth and the reduction of environmental impact.

随着 20 世纪后期的经济和贸易自由化政策，开采自然资源用于出口，即采掘主义，成为南美经济的中轴线。这种发展模式对环境产生重大影响，并导致南美生产结构失衡，导致该地区长期不利的贸易条件。出口和进口的不同价格动态使南美洲陷入恶性循环，导致人们逐渐需要增加其开采的资源量。因此，南美洲维持着生态不平等交换的局面，这意味着吸收来自世界其他地区不断增加的环境影响。所有这些都让人质疑自由贸易的好处，尤其是在生态方面，