February 13th 2008, by Shawn Hattingh
Latin America was the first place where the US imposed the most
callous economic system ever seen: neo-liberal capitalism. Starting in
Chile in 1973, the US used its power, along with its control over the
IMF and the World Bank, to force governments across Latin America to
adopt neo-liberal economic policies. This has seen Latin American
countries embrace trade liberalization, financial liberalization,
privatization, and labor market flexibility. Of course, US
multinationals benefited from this. They have snapped up ex-state
owned assets throughout Latin America at bargain basement prices. With
the reduction of tariffs and the advent of "free" trade, US
multinationals have also flooded Latin America with cheap exports.
This has seen US multinationals making massive profits. The people of
Latin America have paid for this. Since the advent of neo-liberalism,
inequality in Latin America has grown, and millions of people have lost
their jobs along with their access to healthcare and education.1
Recently,
however, a wind of change has been blowing across Latin America.
Starting with anti-IMF riots in Caracas in 1989, and the rise of the
Zapatistas in the early 1990s, people in Latin America have started
resisting neo-liberalism and US domination. Within the last few years,
a number of progressive leaders -- for example, Chavez in Venezuela,
Morales in Bolivia, and Correa in Ecuador -- have come to power on the
back of this resistance. For these governments, breaking with
neo-liberalism has been a priority.2
Perhaps the most important initiative for that has been the creation of
the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). Indeed, ALBA is
aimed at striking a major blow against US hegemony, the IMF, the World
Bank, "free" trade, and neo-liberalism in general.
ALBA as an Alternative to "Free" Trade
Since
the late 1990s, the US has been trying to secure a regional "free"
trade agreement with Latin American countries, known as the Free Trade
Area for the Americas (FTAA). In 2001, under the Chavez government's
leadership, a number of Latin American states, trade unions, and social
movements successfully banded together to block the FTAA. With this,
the US state and its corporate allies' hopes were smashed. However,
the Chavez government was not satisfied with blocking the FTAA -- it
wanted to create a viable regional alternative to "free" trade. Under
Venezuela's leadership, ALBA was born in late 2004.
Initially,
ALBA consisted of only two member states: Venezuela and Cuba. When the
benefits of ALBA became evident, however, other states joined. At
present, there are four full member states of ALBA: Bolivia, Cuba,
Nicaragua, and Venezuela. There are four observer states in ALBA --
Ecuador, Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, and St. Kitts3 -- who will become full members in the near future.4
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