In recent years, the external sector of the state of Mato Grosso has shown impressive growth rates. The state’s exports per capita are three times higher than those of China. This phenomenon seems to be on the verge of overcoming one of the main obstacles to South American integration: the Atlantic-Pacific barrier. The hypothesis analysed in this issue of the FAL Bulletin is that certain ongoing exogenous and endogenous “tectonic changes” in five Brazilian states that have been intensifying for some time will finally make bioceanic corridors viable. The challenge is to form an interoceanic network connecting the different corridors with waterways and coastal shipping in the South American Pacific.