International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

There are two systems societies in constant activity in Latin America: one is the Argentine Association for General Systems Theory and Cybernetics (also known as GESI (Group for the Study of Integrated Systems) active since 1976. The other is the Instituto Andino de Sistemas in Perú, created in the 1980'(see the corresponding entries)

There are however other informal groups, which produce original work. In Argentina Prof. Enrique HERRSCHER created in 2001 the Center for Systemic Action and Thinking (CAPSIS in spanish abbreviation), in collaboration with ACKOFF's Interact Institute. CAPSIS organizes research, teaching, events, and cooperates with various systems associations. Herrscher and collaborators published a book in spanish: "Pensamiento Sistémico" in 2003. (see bibliography)

At the Universidad de los Andes, in Merida, Venezuela, Prof. H. LOPEZ GARAY and R. FUENMAYOR elaborated what they call Interpretive Systemology.

Another group is at the Technological Institute of Monterrey, Mexico, where Prof. R. CARDENAS forwarded Generic Design after her collaboration with Prof. John WARFIELD.

In Sao Paulo University, Brazil, another team, under the leadership of Prof. Dante MARTINELLI, developed a School of Management in systemic terms.

And even if they worked for many years in North America and Europe, it should not be ignored that Humberto MATURANA and Francisco VARELA were as Chileans, the founders of the so-called Santiago Theory.(being Santiago de Chile, the name of the Chilean capital)

Other scholars in Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela have also produced interesting work.

It is even quite possible that some Latin American scholars in the field are still unknown to this editor, considering the quite imperfectly developed scientific communications in this huge and geographically very fractured continent, and some lack of practical operativeness of the Asociación Latinoamericana de Sistemas (ALAS), because of very scant funding.