Two Critical Passages on the Road to Mercosur

This article challenges two traditional interpretations of the genesis of Mercosur. First, the literature is evenly divided among those who trace back the beginning of the process to the military administrations of Brazil and Argentina, and those who entirely credit their newly democratic administrations. By contrast, this paper argues that integration was initially discussed in a situation of regime asymmetry, Argentina having already returned to democracy and Brazil being still in the final stage of transition. Second, the creation of the common market is generally associated with the 1988 Treaty of Integration signed by Presidents Alfonsín and Sarney of Argentina and Brazil, respectively, while Presidents Menem and Collor are deemed to have simply reduced the period for its implementation from ten to five years. By contrast, this article suggests that in 1988 the project of a common market was still just an aspiration and that in fact that treaty only established a free trade area, its actual progression into a common market being undertaken by the latter two leaders. The first argument tempers the democratic mysticism surrounding integration, the second suggests a partial rehabilitation of the now discredited neoliberal presidents.     

Fighting Organized Crime, with Particular Reference to Mafia Crimes in Italy

The special legal regulation of mafia crimes in Italy operatesat very different levels: at that of investigations, of criminalproceedings, of sentencing and of imprisonment. This legal regimeis based on a double track treatment, which generally speaking,is very harsh, but may turn especially lenient whenever a personopts out of a criminal group and decides to cooperate with theprosecution. In the daily fight against mafia crimes as wellas criminal offences perpetrated by other criminal organizationsor ‘associations’, the role of ‘cooperatingwitnesses’ has proven to be of pivotal importance. Anotheruseful prosecutorial tool developed by the Italian courts isthe notion of ‘external support to mafia associations’,although this now needs to be laid down in legislation. It is,in this writer's experience, the coordination of investigationsthat is critical to the prosecution and punishment of mafiacrimes, and to the dismantlement of mafia associations.     

Biopi®acy and Intellectual Property as the Basis for Biotechnological Development: The Case of Mexico

This article provides a geopolitical and geoeconomic analysis of the strategic foundation of biodiversity, as the basis for the development of technologies that are leading the technological revolution in the early 21^st century, specifically in relation to the advance of biotechnology. It explores the mechanisms promoted by Nation States and Multinationals involved in biobusiness in order to establish global processes of biotic plundering in highly biodiverse areas—biopiracy—as well as the forms of their appropriation—patenting genetic material and its related knowledge. This dynamic is analyzed at the world level and discussed with specific reference to Mexico.     

Identification from Chest X‐Rays: Reliability of Bone Density Patterns of the Humerus*

Abstract: A critical review of Kahana and Hiss’ study on identification from bone trabecular pattern and a test of their method conducted on the humerus are presented. Bone trabecular pattern was studied through the generation of a numerical file representing the gray scale. Using the correlation coefficient, several pairwise comparisons between numerical files were performed. The test gave nearly 30% of incorrect exclusions (the method did not recognize couples of radiographs belonging to the same subject) and 50% of misidentifications (the method recognized couples of radiographs belonging to different subjects, as belonging to the same subject); therefore, this research shows that at the present time, it is not possible to safely quantify identification through bone density patterns, of the proximal humerus taken from thoracic X‐rays. Thus, an “easy”—but dangerous—use of trabecular density patterns on this specific type of radiogram as an identification method should be currently avoided.