Figure V.3 shows that South America is a net exporter of materials —mainly biomass, minerals and fossil fuels— and that the deficit in its physical trade (inflow of materials through imports minus outflow through exports) has increased in the new millennium. Failure to harness the technological and productive externalities associated with the exploitation of the region's natural resources has resulted in concentration of the associated benefits in just a few areas and in a poorly diversified production fabric (Garcia Alonso, 2017). These are rooted in structural factors, such as high levels of poverty, inequality, the absence of the State in vast areas, historical discrimination against indigenous peoples and other social groups, the lack of core services and resistance to changes in the status quo (Ramos.