THE ALBA ALLIANCE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW LATIN AMERICAN REGIONALISM

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/41945942
• Published date: 01 July 2011
• Date: 01 July 2011
• Pages: 145-156
• Author: Rosalba Linares

THE ALBA ALLIANCE AND THE CONSTRUCTION

OF A NEW LATIN AMERICAN REGIONALISM

Rosalba Linares

Universidad

de Los Andes

,

Venezuela

Abstract

Nearly

ten

years

have

passed

since

President

Chávez first

mentioned the idea

of

developing

a new alternative

regional

integration

policy,

away

from traditional

patterns

of international

trade,

in

response

to the Free

Trade

Area of the

Americas

(FTAA).

Since

then,

the

ALBA

proposal

has been

developed

from

an idea

to

reality

as

a

counter-hegemonic

strategy

of

regional integration

in the context

of

the

post-neoliberal

process,

constructing

a theoretical

framework

in

conjunction

with

practice.

Critics

argue

that the

ALBA is not a real

strategy

for

regional

integration;

on the

contrary,

it

is seen more

as a

simple

mechanism

of

cooperation

in

multiple

areas across countries.

Opponents

insist that it

will

only

last as

long

as

the Chávez

government

and

other

progressive

governments

of the

region

provide support

thereby

denying

the advance and

progress

of this

new socio-cultural

strategy,

which is based

on

solidarity

and

cooperation

rather

than economic

benefit.

In

fact,

the

ALBA

has

shown that

on

energy,

security,

financial,

cultural,

social

and

political

terms,

building

a more humane

regional exchange

in

order to

meet

people's

demands

and needs is

possible.

This article aims

to

discuss both the

ALBA

as

a new

type

of

regionalism

and how it can

coincide with other

sub-regional

schemes

such as

UNASUR.

Keywords:

ALBA, FTAA,

regional

integration,

counter-hegemonic

strategy,

regionalism

Introduction

The

ALBA alliance

has aroused

a

great

deal of interest

among

academics

outside of

Venezuela,

which

made it

possible

to

hold the

first conference on the

importance

of

the

ALBA and the future

of

regional

integration.

These researchers

from different

universities

around the

world are

dedicated

to

studying

the

proposal

of Venezuelan

President

Hugo

Chávez

with its

strong

social

and

humanitarian

aspects

and

its

basis

in

solidarity, cooperation,

complementarity

and mutual

assistance

amongst

the

poor

countries

in

the

region.

The

ALBA

is

a proposal

to build

a new model

of

regional

integration

with a new

pattern

of

production

and trade

relations

in

IJCS

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