Opening Remarks and General Overview of the Current Scientific Scenario of Latin American Vitiviniculture: A Critical View

Latin American vitiviniculture has a wide range of difficulties that include big gaps related to scientific, social, political, economic, and productive aspects. Edaphotopoclimatic and geological diversity and water availability, together with the historical and social aspects in which the Latin American vitiviniculture activity takes place, favors the production of grapes, juices, raisins, musts, wines, and distillates with unique and distinctive characters for the world. This chapter compiles an overview of the vitiviniculture performed in diverse regions of Latin America, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and other countries, covering scientific and technical topics of global importance. This report evidenced that the scientific journals related to vine and wine sciences from the Anglo-Saxon European countries encourage a high degree of discrimination related to the origin of their editorial board members, promoting structural racism in the sector. Anglo-Saxon European journals cover specific areas of Food Science and Horticulture known to solve technical problems, which makes it difficult for authors from less developed countries. The only Latino American journal (Revista Iberoamericana de Viticultura, Agroindustria y Ruralidad) of the sector covers areas mostly related to Cultural Sciences, History, and Archeology, promoting a higher diversity in the science access of subjects related to vitiviniculture. On the other hand, some current research carried out to face the negative effects of global warming and improve sustainability in the viticulture of first-tier countries has already been carried out for decades in Latin America with a wide range of productive goals. Therefore, it is imperative to democratize access to science and scientific publication by research performed in countries where their states invest less in science as well as reduce technocracy and the neoliberal imprint on scientific research.