Regional Integration in Latin America: Dawn of an Alternative to Neoliberalism?1

¹ This article is based on a paper—“The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas: Dawn of an Alternative to Neoliberalism?”—presented to the 2006 conference of the Canadian Political Science Association, York University, Toronto. Nicola Short from York University, discussant for the CPSA panel, made many useful and insightful comments, some of which I have incorporated into this article. The ideas were first developed in discussions inside the Toronto-based Coalición Venezuela Estamos Contigo (Coalition “Venezuela We Are With You”). Thanks to Phil Cournoyer, John Riddell, Suzanne Weiss and others from the coalition for valuable input and information. Ian Angus (Socialist History Project), Abbie Bakan (Queen's University, Kingston), Sean W. Burges (Carleton University, Ottawa), Nadine Bussman (Fondación Canadiense para las Américas), Richard Fidler and Heike Schaumberg (University of Manchester) also provided useful comments. In particular, thanks to the very useful comments from the anonymous reviewers for New Political Science.

Abstract

At the turn of the century, it seemed inevitable that regional integration in Latin America would occur under the rubric of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and US hegemony. But 2005—the year the FTAA was to have been launched—has come and gone, and the whole FTAA project is in tatters. This article will examine two regional integration initiatives, which have emerged in its wake—the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). Both represent a challenge to US-led integration. However, the Venezuelan-centered ALBA is potentially a much more radical challenge to neoliberalism than the Brazilian-centered UNASUR.

Notes

¹ This article is based on a paper—“The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas: Dawn of an Alternative to Neoliberalism?”—presented to the 2006 conference of the Canadian Political Science Association, York University, Toronto. Nicola Short from York University, discussant for the CPSA panel, made many useful and insightful comments, some of which I have incorporated into this article. The ideas were first developed in discussions inside the Toronto-based Coalición Venezuela Estamos Contigo (Coalition “Venezuela We Are With You”). Thanks to Phil Cournoyer, John Riddell, Suzanne Weiss and others from the coalition for valuable input and information. Ian Angus (Socialist History Project), Abbie Bakan (Queen's University, Kingston), Sean W. Burges (Carleton University, Ottawa), Nadine Bussman (Fondación Canadiense para las Américas), Richard Fidler and Heike Schaumberg (University of Manchester) also provided useful comments. In particular, thanks to the very useful comments from the anonymous reviewers for New Political Science.

² David Harvey, Spaces of Global Capital: Towards a Theory of Uneven Geographical Development (New York: Verso, 2006), p. 12.

³ See Paul W. Drake, “The Hegemony of US Economic Doctrines in Latin America,” in Eric Hershberg and Fred Rosen (eds), Latin America After Neoliberalism (New York: The New Press, 2006), pp. 26–48.

⁴ Greg Buckman, Global Trade: Past Mistakes, Future Choices (New York: Zed Books, 2005), p. 76.

⁵ Charles Derber, People Before Profit: The New Globalization in an Age of Terror, Big Money, and Economic Crisis (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2002), pp. 124–125.

⁶ Office of NAFTA and Inter-American Affairs, “Free Trade Area of the Americas,” < http://www.mac.doc.gov/ftaa2005>.

⁷ “Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia to Seal Anti-US Trade Deal,” The Financial Express, May 1, 2006, < http://www.financialexpress-bd.com>.

⁸ “South America: Summit Process Stalls,” Weekly News Update on the Americas, December 10, 2006.

⁹ Quoted in Luis Suárez Salazar, “Cuba's Foreign Policy and the Promise of ALBA,” NACLA Report on the Americas 39:4 (2006), < http://www.nacla.org>.

¹⁰ ECLAC Information Services, “Fiscal Policy in Boom Times,” Press Release, January 25, 2007, < http://www.eclac.org>.

¹¹ Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin, “Finance and American Empire,” Socialist Register 2005, pp. 60–65, see this Volcker shock of 1979–1982 as the defining event in the neoliberal turn. Gérard Duménil and Dominique Lévy, Capital Resurgent: Roots of the Neoliberal Revolution (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004), pp. 1–3, 156–167, see it as one factor among many, but agree that it was central.

¹² Harvey, op. cit., p. 23.

¹³ Jorge Blázquez-Lidoy, Javier Rodríguez, and Javier Santiso, Angel or Devil? China's Trade Impact on Latin American Emerging Markets, OECD Development Centre Working Paper No. 252, June 2006, pp. 26–27.

¹⁴ Otto J. Reich, “Latin America's Terrible Two,” National Review 57:6 (2005), pp. 35, 33. Reich was Bush's top advisor on Latin America during his first term in office, so his opinion should be taken seriously even though he also claims that Fidel Castro projects his influence in the region through “local kidnappings, drug trafficking, bank robberies, and other criminal activities.” Ibid., p. 32. Apparently, Reich has Castro confused with the CIA.

¹⁵ Bill Weinberg, “Colombia vs. Venezuela: Big Oil's Secret War?” World War 4 Report: Deconstructing the War on Terrorism, April 10, 2005, < http://www.ww4report.com>.

¹⁶ Erich Marquardt, “Economic Brief: Venezuela's Pipeline Deals,” World Prout Assembly, December 21, 2005, < http://www.worldproutassembly.org>.

¹⁷ “Chavez hails South American pipeline as a move toward greater regional cooperation,” Associated Press, January 19, 2006, < http://global.factiva.com>.

¹⁸ See “Economic Brief: Venezuela's Pipeline Deals” Power and Interest News Report, November 29, 2005, < http://www.pinr.com>.

¹⁹ “Petrobras's Gabrielli Expects $60 Oil, Future Glut,” Bloomberg, March 9, 2006, < http://www.bloomberg.com>.

²⁰ “Petrobras for Venezuela-Argentina Pipeline,” Shark: Searching for News, February 22, 2006, < http://www.shark.cc>.

²¹ Néstor Sánchez, “Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela Announce the Birth of PetroSur,” VHeadline.com: Venezuela's Electronic News, May 12, 2005, < http://www.vheadline.com>.

²² Humberto Márquez “South America: Mega-Pipeline Bashed as Unsafe, Unneeded,” Inter Press Service, February 23, 2006,  < https://global.factiva.com>.

²³ A regional agreement between the state-owned energy companies of Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador.

²⁴ Dr Alí Rodríguez Araque, “Words by Dr. Alí Rodríguez Araque, president of PDVSA,” October 1, 2004, < http://www.pdvsa.com>.

²⁵ Gwynne Dyer, “S. America Moves Toward Solidarity,” Winnipeg Free Press, December 9, 2004, p. A15.

²⁶ Stratfor, “Geopolitical Diary: The Obstacles to Latin America's UNASUR”, April 24, 2007,  < www.stratfor.org>.

²⁷ Information compiled from Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook, < http://www.cia.gov>.

²⁸ Tyler Bridges, “South American Leaders to Set Goal of EU-like Union,” The Seattle Times, December 8, 2004, p. D3.

²⁹ Julian Massaldi, “Buenos Aires Consensus: Lula and Kirchner's Agreement ‘Against Neoliberalism,’” ZNet, November 20, 2003, < http://www.znet.org>.

³⁰ Julian Massaldi, “Buenos Aires Consensus: Lula and Kirchner's Agreement ‘Against Neoliberalism,’” ZNet, November 20, 2003, < http://www.znet.org>

³¹ Salazar, op. cit.

³² Steven Mather, “Mercosur: Does It Have a Role in the Fulfillment of Simón Bolívar's Dream?” Venezuelanalysis.com, June 22, 2006, < http://www.venezuelanalysis.com>.

³³ Salazar, op. cit.

³⁵ Julio Turra, “Letter to the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Friás,” ILC International Newsletter 181, May 3, 2006.

³⁴ Cited in “Chávez Calls Mercosur Entry Historic,” Prensa Latina, May 24, 2006,  < http://www.plenglish.com>.

³⁶ Cited in Mather, op. cit.

³⁷ Cited in Mather, op. cit

³⁸ “Regional Summits Overshadowed by Bolivia's Internal Problems,” Latin American Weekly Report, December 12, 2006,  < https://global.factiva.com>.

³⁹ “South American Summits,” The Economist, December 9, 2004,  < http://www.economist.com>.

⁴⁰ Turra, op. cit.

⁴¹ Eduardo Gudynas, “The Paths of the South American Community of Nations,” Hemispheric Watch, April 21, 2005,  < http://americas.irc-online.org/am/730>.

⁴² Claudia Sanchez Bajo, “The European Union and Mercosur: A Case of Inter-regionalism,” Third World Quarterly, 20:5 (1999), pp. 931, 934.

⁴³ Phil Davison, “South America Takes First Step to a Union of Nations EU-style,” The Independent, December 4, 2004, p. 46.

⁴⁴ Yana Marull, “Chávez Plugs Latin American Integration at Presidential Summit,” Agence France-Press, September 1, 2000.

⁴⁵ Mauricio A. Font, “To Craft a New Era: The Intellectual Trajectory of Fernando Henrique Cardoso,” in Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Charting A New Course: The Politics of Globalization and Social Transformation, ed. Mauricio A. Font (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001), pp. 17–18.

⁴⁶ Emir Sader, “Taking Lula's Measure,” New Left Review 33 (May/June 2005), p. 60.

⁴⁷ Emir Sader, “Taking Lula's Measure,” New Left Review 33 (May/June 2005), pp. 69, 71.

⁴⁸ Emir Sader, “Taking Lula's Measure,” New Left Review 33 (May/June 2005), p. 76.

⁴⁹ Ruy Mauro Marini, “Brazilian ‘Interdependence’ and Imperialist Integration,” Monthly Review 17:7 (1965), p. 21. Marini's most influential article on the subject of subimperialism was “Brazilian Subimperialism,” Monthly Review 23:9 (1972), pp. 14–24.

⁵⁰ Daniel Zirker, “Brazilian Foreign Policy and Subimperialism During the Political Transition of the 1980s: A Review and Reapplication of Marini's Theory,” Latin American Perspectives 21:1 (1994), p. 128.

⁵¹ Maria Regina Soares de Lima and Mônica Hirst, “Brazil as an Intermediate State and Regional Power: Action, Choice and Responsibilities,” International Affairs 82:1 (2006), p. 21.

⁵² Sean W. Burges, “Bounded by the Reality of Trade: Practical Limits to a South American Region,” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 18:3 (2005), p. 451.

⁵³ Emir Sader, “What is Brazil Doing in Haiti?” ZNet, July 6, 2004, < http://www.zmag.org>.

⁵⁴ Burges, op.cit., p. 451.

⁵⁵ “Crisis Talks on Bolivia Gas Move,” BBC News, May 3, 2006, < http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk>.

⁵⁶ Hemispheric Social Alliance, “Civil Society Organizations on the Road to the Construction of the South American Community of Nations,” November 22, 2006, < http://www.commonfrontiers.ca/Bolivia/documents/HSA_declaration_Nov22_06.html>.

⁵⁷ “South America: Summit Process Stalls,” Weekly News Update on the Americas, December 10, 2006, < http://www.ww4report.com/node/2981>.

⁵⁸ Also referred to as the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean.

⁵⁹ Office of NAFTA and Inter-American Affairs, op. cit.

⁶⁰ Yuris Norido, Joel Garcia, and Maria De Las Nieves Gala, “Chávez Calls to Quicken the Pace of Unification and Liberation,” politicalaffairs.net, January–February 2006, < http://www.politicalaffairs.net>.

⁶¹ “Agreement between the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the President of the Council of State of Cuba, for the Application of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas,” Marxism-Leninism Today, December 14, 2004, < http://www.mltoday.com>.

⁶² “Agreement between the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the President of the Council of State of Cuba, for the Application of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas,” Marxism-Leninism Today, December 14, 2004, < http://www.mltoday.com>

⁶³ “Final Declaration from the First Cuba-Venezuela Meeting for the Application of the ALBA,” Anti-Imperialist News Service, < http://www.anti-imperialist.org/cuba-venezuela_5-7-05.htm>.

⁶⁴ Venezuelan Bank of External Commerce (Bancoex), “What is the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean?” Venezuelaanalysis.com, February 5, 2004, < http://www.venezuelanalysis.com>.

⁶⁵ Venezuelan Bank of External Commerce (Bancoex), “What is the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean?” Venezuelaanalysis.com, February 5, 2004, < http://www.venezuelanalysis.com>

⁶⁶ Teresa Arreaza, “ALBA: Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean,” ZNet, February 13, 2005, < http://www.zmag.org>.

⁶⁷ Cited in Jim Cohen, “Under the Sign of Bolivar: The World Social Forum of Caracas (2006),” ZNet, February 9, 2006, < http://www.zmag.org>.

⁶⁸ “Caribbean/Venezuela: Petrocaribe's Mixed Blessings,” Economist Intelligence Unit, November 28, 2005,  < http://www.eiu.com>.

⁶⁹ “Caribbean/Venezuela: Petrocaribe's Mixed Blessings,” Economist Intelligence Unit, November 28, 2005,  < http://www.eiu.com>.

⁷⁰ “Latin America: Region's Squabbling Oil Powers Vie for Influence,” Economist Intelligence Unit, December 16, 2005,  < http://www.eiu.com>.

⁷¹ Alessandro Parma, “Venezuela's Chávez and Bolivia's Morales Sign 8 Agreements,” Venezuelanalysis.com, January 25, 2006, < http://www.venezuelanalysis.com>.

⁷² “Argentina/Venezuela: Brotherly Love?” Economist Intelligence Unit, October 17, 2005,  < http://www.eiu.com>.

⁷³ Pedro Monreal, “Cuban Development in the Bolivarian Matrix, NACLA Report on the Americas, 39:4 (2006), < http://www.nacla.org>.

⁷⁴ Walden Bello and Marylou Malig, “Commentary: A Shot in the Arm for Global Civil Society,” Transnational Institute, February 4, 2006.

⁷⁷ Sheila D. Collins, “Breaking the Mold? Venezuela's Defiance of the Neoliberal Agenda,” New Political Science 27:3 (2005), p. 393.

⁷⁵ Peter Hakim, “Is Washington Losing Latin America?” Foreign Affairs 85:1 (2006), p. 44.

⁷⁶ Stephen Lendman, “Venezuela's Bolivarian Movement – Its Promise and Perils,” Countercurrents.org, February 18, 2006, < http://www.countercurrents.org>.

⁷⁸ Néstor Sánchez, “Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela Announce the Birth of PetroSur,” VHeadline.com: Venezuela's Electronic News, May 12, 2005, < http://www.vheadline.com>.

⁷⁹ Susan George, “A Short History of Neoliberalism,” delivered at the Conference on Economic Sovereignty in a Globalising World, March 24, 1999, available online at: < http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/econ/histneol.htm>.

⁸⁰ Duménil and Lévy, op. cit., p. 204.

⁸¹ Rebeca Toledo, “Packed Event Builds Stronger Ties with Venezuela,” Workers World, February 23, 2005, < http://www.workers.org/2005/world/venezuela-0303/index.html>.

⁸² Christian Parenti, “Venezuela's Revolution and the Oil Company Inside,” NACLA Report on the Americas 39:4 (2006), < http://www.nacla.org>.

⁸³ Araque, op. cit.

⁸⁴ Weinberg, op. cit.

⁸⁵ Natialie Obiko Pearson, “Venezuela Takes Control of Total Oil Field,” Associated Press, April 3, 2006,  < http://global.factiva.com>.

⁸⁶ “Plans to Integrate Brazil to South America Don't Take Indigenous Peoples into Account,” Brazzil Magazine, January 1, 2006, < http://www.brazzilmag.com>.

⁸⁷ Humberto Márquez, “World Social Forum: Indigenous Demonstrators Protest Coal Mining,” Inter Press Service News Agency, April 4, 2006, < http://www.ipsnews.net>.

⁸⁸ “South American Political Pipeline Opens for Natural Gas Network”, Associated Press, January 19, 2006,  < http://global.factiva.com>.