The following international associations have been either proposed or actually formed for the purpose of creating a Latin American trade/customs union:
Mercosur (Common Market of the South): Founded in 1991 between Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Paraguay.
[Founded in 1969 by Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Venezuela joined in 1973, Chile withdrew in 1976. Venezuela’s membership is up in the air at present:
[url=Union of South American Nations - Wikipedia]CSN (South American Community of Nations):](]CAN (Andean Community of Nations):[/url) A proposed merger of Mercosur with CAN, intended to produce something modeled on the European Union, with, eventually, a common currency. At present merger has progressed to the point that every Mercosur country is an associate member of CAN and vice-versa, except for Venezuela (see above).
ALADI (Latin American Integration Association): Formed by the 1980 Montevideo Treaty. Members are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas): Founded by Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Cuba as a leftist alternative to ALADI, which is perceived as too pro-neoliberal and pro-U.S.; and as an alternative to the FTAA (see below).
FTAA/ALCA (Free Trade Area of the Americas): A proposed “super-NAFTA,” envisioned to include the entire Western Hemisphere except for Cuba.
The divisions between these various efforts apparently turn on the closely connected issues of:
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Whether a Latin American trade union should (initially) include or exclude the U.S. Exclusion would not mean no U.S.-LA trade, but it would mean all Latin American union member nations would negotiate the terms of trade with U.S. as a bloc, as the EU does now.
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Whether the union’s trade policy should be “populist,” or neoliberal/free-market/globalist.
Issues for debate: -
Which side has the better vision for LA’s future?
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Which side’s vision will ultimately triumph? What international order will emerge in SA/LA?
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What about countries such as Nicaragua, which are trying to maintain favorable relations with the U.S. and with Venezuela, etc., at the same time? (See this recent article on Daniel Ortega’s inauguration as president of Nicaragua.) Will they ultimately be forced to choose one side or the other?
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Assuming the vision of a Latin American union separate from, and in opposition to, NAFTA triumphs, will Mexico ever be drawn away from the American sphere and into the Latin American?
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What about CARICOM (Caribbean Community and DR-CAFTA (Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement – where will they fit in? (DR-CAFTA already includes the U.S.; CARICOM does not, nor does it include Cuba).
