The world is entering a new energy era. This transition substantially increases demand for raw materials essential to renewable energy and new technologies, even as fossil fuel consumption persists. Within this transformation, Latin America plays a crucial role due to its abundant natural resources, which hold nearly one-third of the global reserves of copper, bauxite, silver, coal, and oil, as well as over a third of the strategically critical minerals necessary for sustainable industrial transitions. The region also remains a vital supplier of global staple foods. Historically dominated by extractivist development models, Latin America finds itself repositioned in the current geopolitical landscape. Initiatives like Europe’s “Green Deal” and “Global Gateway,” the US Inflation Reduction Act, and China’s Belt and Road Initiative reflect growing geopolitical interests. Trump’s renewed presidency is further reshaping US-Latin American relations, marked by rising tariffs and heightened geopolitical pressures.

However, new resource flows remain largely unequal, offering limited transfer of technology or knowledge to Latin America, thus restricting local development opportunities. The impact on regional regulations, investment, and diplomatic relations remains uncertain. Yet, visible shifts are evident, such as Brazil’s deepening ties with China, Argentina’s openness to the US, and Mexico’s and Bolivia’s evolving strategies for extracting critical raw materials. Simultaneously, indigenous and peasant communities actively resist the expansion of mining and energy projects, illustrating tensions around resource governance. Meanwhile, governments and corporations legitimize ongoing extraction through environmental certifications and sustainability clauses—a phenomenon termed green extractivism. Therefore, Latin America faces multiple challenges. The region must navigate a complex new geopolitical dynamic with the Global North, requiring it to provide essential resources for the global energy transition. At the same time, this situation presents a geopolitical window of opportunity for Latin America’s development. However, it remains unclear how the region can leverage this opportunity effectively through appropriate strategies and agency.

Our conference examines the circumstances under which structural transformations, reform strategies, and their agencies in Mexico and Latin America manifest. Specifically, we discuss the geopolitical and geoeconomic impacts, as well as the economic dimensions, in a comparative perspective with North Africa and the Maghreb. We discuss:

• Geopolitical shifts: What key geopolitical dynamics are currently shaping the region, and who are the potential winners and losers? Are there progressive Latin American and Mexican responses regarding regional integration or domestic structural changes?
• State strategies: How are Mexico and other Latin American countries adapting their economic, foreign, and development policies in response to these geopolitical challenges?
• Social and political actors: Which social movements, civil society actors, or economic groups drive these transformations, and who might resist or block them?
• State-business relations: How does the geopolitical reconfiguration influence state-business interactions, and in what ways do corporate interests impact, or even jeopardize, the region’s path toward an energy transition?