Latin American Alternative Integration Studies

The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-Peoples' Trade Treaty(ALBA-TCP) is an integration platform for the countries of Latin America and theCaribbean, which is initiated by Cuba, the unique socialist country in the WesternHemisphere, and Venezuela, one of the advocators of the21st century socialism inLatin America. As an alternative to the US-led Free Trade Area of the Americas(ALCA) program, ALBA-TCP intends to be a political, economic, and social alliancein defense of the independence, self-determination, solidarity, justice, cooperation andintegral development for the region. With emphasis on alternative and welfare, it isthe first and the only regional integration initiative to safeguard the interests of themasses prior to the capital and focus on combating poverty and social exclusion. It hascontributed enormously to the regional solidarity and endogenous development withestablishments of ALBA Bank, South Bank, SUCRE, Petroamérica, GrannationalProject and Enterprise, South TV, etc. This paper is to examine the history, principles,strategies, institution, achievement, challenges, perspectives, and experiences ofALBA-TCP in context of neoliberal Globalization and dependency in the ThirdWorld.The emergence and development of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples ofOur America-Peoples' Trade Treaty has deep historical roots, motives and necessity,instead of an incidence of Latin American authoritarian leadership. Economicglobalization and regional integration is an inevitable outcome of the capitalist worldeconomy evolution in a certain stage. The process of integration in peripheralcapitalist areas has been enslaved to the interest game between the ruling class of thenation-states, regional oligarchs and multinational corporations, which can not take onthe challenges of globalization and seek alternatives to the dependency. Accumulatingfrom Social movements, left-wing political parties, left-wing regimes and otherfactors of socialism in peripheral capitalism, ALBA-TCP could be considered as asolidarity front comprised of left-wing sovereign countries, which is intended to beinstitutionalized, revolutionary and innovative.It could be suggested that ALBA-TCP provides developing countries preciousexperiences and inspirations in the fields of international participations, South-Southcooperation, building a new international political and economic order, etc.ALBA-TCP is of great significance for the downturn of international communistmovement. Constructing an alternative model of regional integration with socialist values in the era of Globalization will be a feasible path for developing countries toresist neo-colonialism, to strive for solidarity and development. In short, ALBA is ahistorical choice of Latin American advanced forces, which illustrates that "anotherworld is possible".