This article argues that the ECLAC proposal for changing production patterns with social equity should take account of the cultural features of the region's societies. It therefore examines the ECLAC proposal from. a cultural standpoint, with special attention to the links between citizenship, economic development and modernity (section II);. It then analyses the processes of internationalization of culture, the relation between cultural identity and citizenship, and the impact of the processes of internationalization of culture on the region (section III);. It goes on to examine one of the most persistent problems in the project for modernity in Latin America and the Caribbean -the dialectics of the negation of the other-, which has decisive effects on the relations between the elite and the masses and on the pattern of integration and exclusion followed by development dynamics in the region (section IV);. Next, it puts forward some reflections on the intercultural fabric running through the history and geography of the region, which is constantly renewed through the interaction and modification of the various cultures (section V);. Finally, it proposes some policy guidelines which incorporate the cultural dimension into the development agenda and make it possible to enhance the systemic nature of the proposal for changing production patterns with social equity (section VI);.