Nation Branding as a Modern Expression of Colonialism in Latin America: A Focus on Chile, Colombia, and Peru

Abstract

Since the 2000s, several Latin American governments have launched nation branding campaigns to internationally promote the exports, foreign direct investment, and tourism offerings of their countries. This study examines how these projects have attempted to appeal to both internal and external audiences by capturing specific moments in the history of these countries’ political, social, and economic development, in a context of heightened neoliberalism in the region between the 1990s and 2010s. Drawing from in-depth interviews with 21 professionals involved with nation branding campaigns on behalf of Chile, Colombia, and Peru, this study recognizes nation branding as a reflection of modern colonialism in Latin America, through the lens of the literature on the coloniality of power and the duality between modernity and coloniality. This finding contributes to the cultural approach to nation branding, recognizing that brands act as vessels for the cultural meaning of ideas that are bound to time.