Os Refugiados e o ‘Espírito’ de Cartagena na América Latina: Brasil e Equador

The Cartagena Declaration (1984) was created to address the forced migration crisis of U people fleeing non-democratic and dictatorial regimes in the Americas. While being innovative and having a humanitarian “spirit”, the Declaration includes the existence of a massive violation of human rights between the motives for recognition of refugee status, which goes beyond the classic motives of persecution presented on the 1951 Convention. Thus, the Declaration created a shared refugee definition in the region and influenced changes in the way countries acted towards migratory flows. Therefore, in order to contribute to the current debate on migratory movements, this paper conducts a comparative study and analyses refugee legislation and policies in Brazil and Ecuador from the standpoint of the guidelines brought by the regional instrument.