Abstract

GUTIERREZ ARGUEDAS, Alberto. The Privatization of National Electrical Systems in Central America: the Cases of Costa Rica and Panama. Revista Col. San Luis [online]. 2024, vol.14, n.25, e1605.  Epub Oct 21, 2025. ISSN 2007-8846.  https://doi.org/10.21696/rcsl142520241605.

This article aims to analyze the privatization of national electrical systems in Central America, emphasizing the cases of Costa Rica and Panama. From a theoretical point of view, the work is based on critical political economy and social studies of energy, which provide a framework to elucidate the neoliberalization of the electricity sector in the Central American context. From a methodological point of view, the work examines the privatization of national electrical systems in Costa Rica and Panama, using the comparative analysis approach. The research reveals that the privatization of national electrical systems was a phenomenon that affected the entire Central American region in the 1990s; however, at the same time, this process has not been homogeneous but has occured at different paces and depths according to the different national contexts. As a result of these privatizations, there is a proliferation of electricity generation projects from a neo-extractivistic logic, as well as a denationalization and transnationalization of electrical systems.

Keywords : electrical systems; privatizations; neoliberalization processes; Costa Rica; Panama.

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