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I have recently mentioned the excellent conference: The Measure of a Revolution: Cuba, 1959-2009, held May 7-9, 2009 at the lovely campus of Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario CANADA. The conference was jointly organized by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Havana University, Boston University and Queen?s University.

I was privileged to have delivered a paper at that conference, a preliminary version of which I have included below.

Larry Catá Backer 1
Augusto I. Molina 2

Abstract: ALBA (Alternativa Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América), the command economy alternative to the free trade model of globalization, is one of the greatest and least understood contributions of Cuba to the current conversation about globalization and economic harmonization. Originally conceived as a means for forging a unified front against the United States by Cuba and Venezuela, the organization now includes Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominica, and Bolivia. ALBA is grounded in the notion that globalization cannot be left to the private sector but must be overseen by the state in order to maximize the welfare of its citizens. The purpose of this paper is to carefully examine ALBA as both a system of free trade and as a nexus point for legal and political resistance to economic globalization and legal internationalism sponsored by developed states. The paper starts with an examination of ALBA?s ideology and institutionalization. It then examines ALBA as both trade organization and as political vehicle for confronting the power of developed states in the trade context within which it operates. ALBA remains embedded in a large web of trade arrangements among its member states that bind them in different ways under different arrangements. That context highlights differences, especially in relation to MERCOSUR and the abandoned FTAA. It also produces both cooperation and challenge. This is most acutely felt in ALBA?s relationships with CARICOM and in the rising network of bilateral investment treaties among regional states. Taken together, for the moment, at least, ALBA?s greatest contribution might well be its ideology. Its mere existence serves as a basis for challenging assumptions in the creation and implementation of methods of integration. It provides a base through which this distinctive ideological voice can be leveraged by its state parties in Hemispheric integration debates. It seeks to balance the tensions between post colonial nationalism, internationalism and state sector dominance by substituting for private markets and private actors, state actors and tightly controlled markets. It is no longer focused on eliminating borders for the production and management of private capital; instead it is focused on using borders as a site for the assertion of public authority to control all aspects of social, political, cultural, and economic activity. It is not focused so much on eliminating borders for the production and management of private capital as it is on using borders as a site for the assertion of public authority to control all aspects of social, political, cultural, and economic activity. Understood as an ideological joint venture among its participants, ALBA represents a space within which a consensus on alternatives to the existing preeminent economic model of globalization might be constructed. As such, it may represent one of Cuba?s greatest triumphs and also its greatest challenge to the normative tenets of the current framework of economic globalization. Those contextualized, ALBA serves as a nexus for six great points of tension and connection within both modern trade theory practice and the construction of state system frameworks in Latin America, tensions which are summarized in the conclusion.

CONTENTS:

I. Introduction

II. What ids ALBA?
A. History
1. Modern Bolivarism (From Castro to ALBA)
2. From Internationalism to ALBA.
B. Conceptual and Institutional Basis: Structure and Ideology of ALBA
1. The ideology of ALBA
2. Ideological Praxis
C. Institutionalizing and Implementing ALBA; Ideology in Action
1. The Institutional Organization of ALBA
2. Implementation?Economic Agenda
3. Implementation?Social Agenda

III. ALBA Within the Web of Trade and Investment Arrangements in Latin America.
A. Regional Trade Arrangements.
B. ALBA and Trade Networks in the Caribbean?the CARICOM Connection.
C. ALBA in a Region of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITS) and Partial Preference Trade Agreements.
D. So What Makes ALBA Different?
1. Differences in Theory.
2. Differences in Organizational Operaiton
3. Do the Differences Matter?

IV. Conclusion: Tensions and Connections

_____

I. INTRODUCTION.

ALBA (Alternativa Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América), the command economy alternative to the free trade model of globalization (Garcia 2003), is one of the greatest and least understood contributions of Cuba to the current conversation about globalization and economic harmonization. (Bossi 2004) Originally conceived as a means for forging a unified front against the United States by Cuba and Venezuela (Bossi 2004), ALBA has grown to include Nicaragua, Honduras (ALBA, Declaracion de Adhesion de la Republica de Honduras 2008), and Bolivia. (ALBA, Contribusion, y suscripcion de la Republica de Bolivia 2004). It has also grown to include a number of Caribbean states, including Dominica in 2008 (ALBA, Adhesion del gobierno de la Mancomunidad de Dominica 2008), and St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2009. (St. Vincent to Join ALBA 2009). It has the support of other states, including Ecuador (ALBA Firma de Convenios 2007; Castañeda 2006), and Haiti. (V Cumbre del ALBA 2007). ALBA is meant to provide an alternative to the conventional trade model of privatization and globalization that are assumed to be bad for people, especially for those who live in developing states. (Backer 2006).

ALBA is critically grounded on the idea that internationalization must be effected through states and public action rather than individuals and private markets. ALBA is not necessarily opposed to all private activity, just those activities that have become liberated from precise control by the state. ALBA is thus founded on the notion that traditional divisions between public and private sectors remains valuable and important, and that certain sectors, traditionally overseen by the state as agent for territorially based communities, are essential for the maximization of the welfare of people organized into states. (Bossi 2004). To this is added a fundamental distrust of private markets?markets that are not strictly controlled and managed by the state. (ALBA Fifth Extraordinary Summit 2009). In a sense ALBA is compelling for those who control the apparatus of states now overwhelmed by new sorts of governance power--private, multinational and governance based. Equally important, ALBA now serves as a means of aggregating and institutionalizing responses to and challenges of American power in the Western Hemisphere. 3 ALBA also institutionalizes opposition to the current framework of economic globalization and attempts to challenge the hegemony of the current framework for constituting trade among states (Backer 2006a)?grounded in private economic activity and a passive state regulatory role. This describes, in general terms, the so called "Washington consensus--a consensus between the IMF, the World Bank and the U.S. Treasury about the 'right' policies for developing countries" on which much current global trading frameworks are based. (Stiglitz 2003, 16). "According to the Washington Consensus, growth occurs through liberalization, 'freeing up' markets. Privatization, liberalization, and macrostability are supposed to create a climate to attract investment, including from abroad. This investment creates growth." (Id., at 67; Mussa 2000).

There is little consensus on the nature and value of ALBA, even within the Western Hemispheric community of public and private actors. Some view ALBA as a great threat to the current economic order and the political order of states. Most prominent among these is the United States.

The gradual consolidation of democracy remained the dominant trend over the last year in Latin America, but a small group of radical populist governments continues to project a competing vision that appeals to many of the region?s poor. Indeed, the persistence of high levels of poverty and striking income inequalities will continue to create a potentially receptive audience for radical populism?s message, especially in the less developed areas of Latin America.
Inspired and supported by Venezuela and Cuba, leaders in Bolivia, Nicaragua, and?more tentatively?in Ecuador are pursuing agendas that undercut checks and balances on presidential power, seek lengthy presidential terms, weaken media and civil liberties, and emphasize economic nationalism at the expense of market-based approaches. Moreover, each of these governments, to varying degrees, has engaged in sharply anti-US rhetoric, aligned with Venezuela and Cuba. . . and advocated measures that directly clash with US initiatives. (United States Senate Armed Services Committee 2008).

Others view ALBA as little more than an ideologically curious variation on the large number of partial preference free trade agreements that have proliferated in Latin America since the 1980s under the Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración (ALADI) framework, described below at Section II. The representative of Venezuela to ALADI, in 2004, emphasized this view of ALADI as a forum within which distinct measures for integration could find a space for debate and incorporation. (ALADI, Incorporación al Comité de Representantes de la señora Embajadora María Lourdes Urbaneja Durant 2004).4 Still others have suggested that there is little, either institutionally or programmatically that distinguishes ALBA from the machinations of the nation states that comprise its various disconnected programs. (Girvan 2008). ALBA member states, of course, view the enterprise as the greatest innovation in hemispheric integration since the Soviet Revolution of 1917 by combining European Marxism, Latin American nationalist anti-colonialism and the vision of integration that has haunted Latin America since the 19th century wars of liberation. ?Ricardo Alarcón, president of Cuba?s national assembly, has called ALBA the best guarantee for the consolidation of an anti-imperialist front. Addressing an international forum in Caracas January 25, Alarcón asked, why waste time in looking for answers ?in the air,? since ALBA ?is the answer.?? (Johnson 2006; also Mattei 2005).

There is a little bit of truth in each of these views. The purpose of this paper is to carefully examine ALBA as both a system of free trade and as a nexus point for legal and political resistance to economic globalization and legal internationalism sponsored by developed states. Following this Introduction, an examination of ALBA is undertaken, focusing on its history, and its conceptual basis and institutionalization. The essay considers the importance of the evolution of Bolivarism in the globalist ideology of Fidel Castro and its contribution to the governing ideology of ALBA, and its strongly anti-capitalist foundations. It then considers the way in which this governing ideology is institutionalized within ALBA. From the organization of its institutions, the essay turns to implementation, considering the way in which ALBA worked so far, especially in its economic context. The paper then examines the work of ALBA to date, both as trade organization and as political vehicle for confronting the power of developed states, and especially that of the United States.

Part III of the essay then contextualizes ALBA within the dense network of trade and investment treaties that mark the realities of economic relations between Latin American states. The object is twofold, first to examine the extent that ALBA in form represents something new, and second to suggest the extent to which ALBA in fact provides something different in a field with many players. For that purpose, this section first contextualizes ALBA within conventional trade association organization and operation. That examination reveals organizational differences beyond the ideological differences that mark ALBA as distinct from conventional trade associations. However, ALBA?s difference, it heavy emphasis on intergovernmentalism and its avoidance of supra national organization, is only a more extreme form of the tendencies toward intergovernmentalism that mark conventional trade arrangements in Latin America. Yet differences do produce cooperation and challenge. This is most acutely felt in ALBA?s relationships with CARICOM,5 which is examined next. Lastly, ALBA is considered within the networks of bilateral trade agreements and partial preference trade agreements that mark the landscape of Latin American trade relations. (Infra Section I.C).

ALBA presents an ideological and functional alternative and challenge to transnational institutions built on the operating assumptions of economic globalization, and the developing convergence of public and private law. Originally it was viewed as interesting but benign. ?ALBA, a proposed alternative to the controversial U.S. sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), presents a socialist vision for regional commercial cooperation, although at this point its value is largely political, symbolic and somewhat short on economic specifics.? (Council on Hemispheric Affairs 2006). The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) or the Área de Libre Comercio de las Américas (ALCA) (discussed infra Section III.A) represents a long drawn out and still unsuccessful effort to create a hemisphere wide plan for economic integration in which barriers to trade and investment would be gradually eliminated. Negotiations were formally launched in 1998 and remain incomplete. (Free Trade Area of the Americas, About the FTAA; Free Trade Area of the Americas, Third Draft Agreement 2003).

Today, the institution of a number of programs targeted to aiding particularly poor states and regions has begun to have effects beyond the symbolic. (ALBA Seen as Avenue to Economic Aid for Small CARICOM States, 2009 ((arguing that the accession of Dominica, a CARICOM member, to ALBA as a means of gaining economic aid under conditions less rigorous than available from other sources, including the International Monetary Fund)). And its potential to provide a public sector variant on private sector globalization should not be underestimated. It is no longer focused on eliminating borders for the production and management of private capital; instead it is focused on using borders as a site for the assertion of public authority to control all aspects of social, political, cultural, and economic activity. Yet it is also deeply embedded in the great web of partial economic associations that characterize economic governance in Latin America. ALBA focuses on changing the terms of debate about trade, the role of states, and the place of private economic activity across borders. In this respect, certainly, ALBA may represent one of Cuba?s greatest triumphs and also its greatest challenge to the normative tenets of the current framework of economic globalization. But the framework within which ALBA can grow also sets the limits of its influence. It is not clear that within a deep system of webs of relationships, one variant?a decidedly socialist and state centered one?will change not merely the framework of discussion about trade but also the economic philosophy of more than a few states in Latin America.

II. WHAT IS ALBA?

ALBA is an alternative approach to economic, social, cultural and political integration that aims to foster trade, development and unity among the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean on the basis of a set of principles distinct from those underlying conventional integration efforts. (Venezuela, Ministerio de Comunicación e Información de la Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela, Sobre el ALBA 2006). To the authors of ALBA, traditional agreements, such as the FTAA, have focused on the interests of transnational corporations and capital without taking into account the social and economic needs of the people of Latin America. For example, ?At a recent luncheon, outgoing Venezuelan Ambassador Christy Gonzalez stated that she believed the FTAA formula was oppressive for smaller economies, while ALBA or Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean was a more favourable initiative for countries in the region. ?ALBA represents the first attempt at regional integration based on solidarity, non-interference and complementing, instead of competing,? she said.? (FTAA v. ALBA 2009).

In contrast, ALBA focuses its emphasis on eliminating the social and economic disparities that exist among Latin American nations, by creating mechanisms that use cooperative advantage(s) that a nation may possess, as a tool to compensate existing disparities within other nations in the region. (Venezuela, Ministerio de Comunicación e Información de la Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela, Sobre el ALBA 2006). ?By employing more effective mechanisms to eradicate poverty, ALBA?as proposed by the Venezuelan government?provides a counterweight to the policies and goals of the FTAA. This alternative model also identifies the most crucial impediments to achieve a genuine regional integration that transcends the prerogatives of the transnational corporations.? (Amigos de Cuba n.d.). ALBA?s primary emphasis is to create a sub-regional bloc built on a number of strategic agreements grounded in the founding ideology of ALBA?socialist and public law oriented?for the betterment of the peoples in the members states and to serve as protection against other states or economic blocs. 6 The challenge is to provide a space for unified action that can help smaller states resist the conventional private enterprise oriented systems represented by conventional trade and integration agreements. 7

This Section first examines the history of ALBA in its regional and ideological context. It starts with the long efforts to find methods of integration in a climate in which nationalism is privileged. It then briefly describes the genesis of ALBA as an organizational reality form out of ideological opposition to market oriented globalization.

A. History

The history of ALBA is in essence a continuation of the history of integration in Latin America. This is a history of tensions and interventions. Integration pits the post colonial project of state building against the an internationalist project that aims to reduce the sovereign authority of states, both against each other and in their relations with private power. Integration can also serve as a proxy for strong state interventions under the cover of private markets internationalism and in this way also subvert the post colonial projects of national liberation. But it can also serve to liberate individuals from the oppression of cliques and ideologies that hijack the apparatus of states by posing supra national norms against narrow assertions of state power. This section will begin by exploring in greater detail the conflation of these tendencies, focusing on the role of Cuba generally and Fidel Castro specifically, in the construction of a novel form of sovereign internationalism, producing ALBA. It then briefly explores the efforts that ultimately produced ALBA itself.

1. Modern Bolivarism; From Conventional Integrationo to ALBA). The integration of Latin America and the Caribbean is not a novel idea. This goal, and the ideals guiding it, traces its roots to Simon Bolívar?s vision for the newly freed states that had fought for their independence from Spanish rule in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The expression of these ideas can be found in his ?Letter from Jamaica.? (Bolivar 1978 (1815)). The desire of ALBA, to integrate Latin America independent of colonial or neo-colonial powers, is an attempt to make Simon Bolívar?s dream of a united confederation of American states a reality. (Bossi 2005). This is a sentiment that was also echoed in the writings of Jose Martí. (Martí 1891). It is the antithesis and response to the Monroe Doctrine, and presents an age-old confrontation between the people of Latin American and imperialism. (Venezuela, Ministerio de Comunicación e Información de la Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela, Sobre el ALBA (??el ALBA responde a una vieja y permanente confrontacion entre los pueblos latinoamericanos caribeños y el imperialismo. Monroismo versus Bolivarianismo, tal vez sea la major manera de plantear los proyectos en pugna.?)). Bolivar?s vision was abandoned in the south but was cemented in the north and led to the strengthening and rise of the union of states that became the United States. (Correa 2005). ALBA, then, is meant to ally like-minded states committed to promoting their sense of the Bolivarian ideals.

Modern regional integration in Latin America is commonly traced to the period immediately after the Second World War and the work of the United Nations Commission for Latin America. (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin Americ 1950). By 1960 the work of integration produced the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA), which had as its objective the elimination of duties between states. (Treaty Establishing a Free Trade Area and Instituting the Latin American Free Trade Association, Feb. 18, 1960). Other efforts followed. The Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO), created in 1964, acknowledged from its inception the need for regional integration as indispensable for ensuring the freedom and development of Latin American nations. (Parlamentao Latinoamericano, El Parlamento Latinoamericano y la Comunidad Latinoamericana de Naciones 1999). This desire for integration was again manifested in 1987, when a new international treaty was signed by eighteen Latin American nations committed to achieving the goals laid out in the original PARLATINO founding document. (Parlamento Latinoamericano, Tratado de Institucionalización del Parlamento Latinoamericano 1987). Its object was the eventual Community of Latin American Nations (CLAN). (Parlamentao Latinoamericano, El Parlamento Latinoamericano y la Comunidad Latinoamericana de Naciones 1999). The PARLATINO has been restructured in its functions and political application, with the hopes of having it play a central role in aiding the creation of a strategy for regional integration. (Celli 1978).

With regional integration very much on the agendas of most Latin American states for much of their modern history, it is no surprise that a number of supra national institutions have been created to attempt to effect integration of one kind or another. But all of them are iterations of the standard model of regional trade association. (Frankel 1997, 1-17; Chase 2005) Chase suggests that private enterprises will seek to encourage trading blocs to maximize their economic interests, from gaining economies of scale to moving stages of production abroad, and consequently regional trading arrangements tend to promote liberalization rather than either state intervention or protectionism. (Chase 2005). There are various Latin American and Caribbean organizations that have sought to promote the solidarity and unity that ALBA wishes to achieve. ALBA, in this manner, can be seen as another mechanism through which the attempts can be solidified into an action plan actively taking steps to make the aspirations of unification a reality.

As noted, the idea of a unified Latin America is not novel. Nor is the institution of integration in Latin America linear. It is a thick process in which many smaller efforts at partial integration are considered parts of what will eventually produce an integrated economic area within Latin America. Complexity and multiplicity of arrangements and institutions, then, are the order of the day. But that complexity and thickness is also marked by a profound sameness. What distinguishes most partial integration efforts have been the details- ALBA attempts to add a very different flavor to the patchwork of arrangements that in the aggregate will define Latin American integration.

Part of the opposition to the traditional trade and investment agreements, like what would become the FTAA proposal of the 1990s, was grounded in a well developed world view that sought to synthesize strong elements of Soviet style Marxist-Leninist theory, post colonial theories, especially those coming out of African liberation movements, nineteenth century ethno nationalism, and 2th century socialist internationalism. Basic to these idea was the positing of the great oppositional forces of the state, as a representative of popular will, and transnational corporations, as representatives of private uncontrolled economic power inimical to the interests individuals, states and society. (Venezuela, Ministerio de Comunicación e Información de la Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela, Sobre el ALBA, at 5). To the promoters of ALBA, the neoliberal view of granting access to markets through the elimination of tariffs or regulation of commerce and foreign investment has predominantly served the interests of large and developed nations. (Venezuela, Ministerio de Comunicación e Información de la Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela, Sobre el ALBA, ?E[l] libre comercio entendido en estos terminus solo beneficia a los paises de mayor grado de industrializacion y desarollo.?). Numerous scientific studies can attest to the fact that the application of current globalization practices, such as the FTAA, have not and will not produce a desired level of development that can guarantee a greater quality of life and living for the people of developing nations. (Id. ?De hecho, abundan los estudios cientificos en los que se demuestra de manera irrefutable que la aplicacion de las pautas actuales de la globalizacion y sus expresiones hemisfericas o regionales ha dado al traste con las aspiraciones de un verdadero desarollo endogeno en cualquiera de los paises del continente.?).

Agreements like the FTAA would be beneficial to both sides if they brought similar bargaining power to the negotiations. However, when the bargaining power is one sided, as in the case of the FTAA, the negotiations fail to consider the disparity and in some instances even impose a double standard. This is particularly true when it comes to state assistance in the area of agriculture. (Id., at 9-11). In addition to trying to correct the disparities and unfair practices, the governing principles of ALBA place the focus of fighting poverty and social exclusion above those of expanded free trade and commerce. (Id., at 20-21). This is an important step in the greater goal ALBA has of integrating and uniting the people and nations of Latin America. (Id., at 21). To achieve this goal, the root causes preventing this integration must be addressed, they include: a) poverty that affects a majority of the population; b) huge inequalities and asymmetries that exist between the countries; c) unequal exchange and conditions that exists in international relations; d) the burden of an unpayable debt and; e) the imposition of structural adjustment policies by the IMF and WB or the rigid rules imposed by the WTO which erode the social and political bases of support. (Id.).

The burden of an unpayable debt and the imposition of structural policies upon sovereign states as a contributing factor to the poverty that affects Latin America and third world countries in general are not novel. Fidel Castro also publicly denounced these same concepts during his address to the United Nations General assembly in 1979. (Castro 1979). In the speech, Castro laid out critical points that now form central guiding principles in the formation of ALBA. As a precursor to ALBA, Castro cited a need to change the current system of international relations, which he labeled as being plagued with inequality, injustice and oppression. 8 In addition Castro called for mutual respect for the sovereignty of nations, as well as their right to end any form of foreign occupation and their right to decide what their social, political and economic orientation should be. 9 In Castro?s view, peaceful coexistence can only be achieved if this principle of respect for the rights of others is respected. Id.).

Furthermore, only by eliminating the constant threat posed by international financial institutions through economic or financial impositions, or the controlling of their natural resources by foreign companies, will the people truly be able to call themselves independent, sovereign and free. 10 The concepts that Castro made reference to, with regards to the meddling of foreign powers in the domestic affairs of third world countries in general, and Latin American nations in particular, have found a new impetus within the ideological foundations of ALBA.

Castro reiterated similar concerns about the strangling effects the foreign debt has on small, impoverished countries in his address to the IV Congress of the Latin American Journalists? Federation. (Castro 1985). Castro called for all third-world countries to stand united in calling for an end to the continued demand that the debt be repaid, and for a reordering of the international economic world order to counter what he deems a world filled with avarice, egoism and insatiable desires. (Id.). Castro went on to call for the economic integration of Latin American countries as a necessary step for the development of the region, citing that even England, the birthplace of industrialization, found it necessary to become part of the European Common Market in order to continue its development. (Id.).

Castro, as a precursor to ALBA, believes that Latin American unity can only occur through the education and participation of the masses in the process. (Id.). Castro also attempts to draw parallels between the economic struggles of Latin American and the need to create a more peaceful new world order. (Castro 1985). He emphasizes how the interest generated from the loans of third-world countries, money that could be used to feed, medicate or shelter their people, is instead paid to, and used by, developed nations to invest in weapons and military build-ups. (Id.). Furthermore, the unequal international economic order continues to add to the debt total and, rather than do something to curtail it, international finance organizations and private banks increase their interest rates while decreasing the loan payment periods. (Castro 1985). These actions result in a coercive system that allows these organizations to continue obtaining economic and political advantages at the expense of Latin American nations. (Id.).

2. From Internationalism to ALBA. The idea for ALBA first appeared in 2001 proposals advanced by Hugo Chavez in response to the F.T.A.A. (ALBA, Conceptualizacion de proyecto y empresa grannacional en el marco del ALBA 2008). It was developed in a series of speeches, and dialogues among Cuba and Venezuela. (Id.). The idea was to reconstruct and reapply the ideals represented by Bolivar, as understood by the leaders of Cuba and Venezuela. (Bossi 2005). The original signatory nations, Cuba and Venezuela, also symbolically represent the home nations of José Martí and Simon Bolivar respectively. The ideas and calls for unity in achieving reformation advanced by Castro were given new impetus after the election of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. During an address given in Venezuela to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Cuban revolution, Castro again mentioned the need for Latin Americans to work together to achieve cooperation, integration and unity in order to survive in a world where regional and sub-regional blocs have become the norm. (Castro 1999). Castro also points to the disastrous consequences that have resulted when the neo-liberal policies of the IMF are applied to any country, calling their help a ?kiss from the devil.? (Id., at 23). For Castro, it is not globalization per se that is the problem, but rather the ideology that is the current driving force behind it. (Id., at 24). Under the current system, countries with varying degrees of development and needs are all treated with the same fix-all formulas that serve to benefit the wealthy and powerful such as the IMF and WTO. (Id., at 25).

Thus, according to Castro, the need for Latin America to join forces in creating a regional entity, with a shared culture and language, is indispensable in order to prevent their division through mechanisms such as the FTAA. (Id., at 33-34). Latin American nations need to unite in order to have enough strength to prevent the loss of their independence and annexation by the U.S. (Id., at 34). Citing statistics provided by the Central Bank of Venezuela, Castro used examples to demonstrate how the economic output and outlook of Venezuela continued to decline despite being the nation with the most natural resources in America. (Id., at 38-40). However, Castro sees a resurgence of hope and opportunity, not only in Venezuela, but in Latin Americans and other people around the world, that the world will move forward towards a globalization for all; there are no alternatives and no way around it. (Id., at 40-41). What was to become ALBA emerged from the notion that something different was needed from the trade associations and trade structuring that had been created before, both as an oppositional force to market based globalization and as a site for aggregating state opposition to the United States. ALBA, in this sense, was to serve as a concrete step toward the elaboration of a public and public economics regime. It was to elaborate a socialist vision of globalization as a successor to the now no longer fashionable socialist internationalism of the fist half of the 20th Century. (Backer 2006a).

The first concrete steps taken to create ALBA as an instrument to achieve the dreams of Bolivar and Marti, as interpreted and refashioned by Caribbean leaders in the late 20th century, occurred after Hugo Chavez?s success in the 2004 Venezuelan referendum. (ALBA, Acuerdo entre el presidente de la Republica Bolivarina de Venezuela y el presidente del consejo de estado de Cuba 2004). After initial meetings ALBA emerged from out of a bilateral agreement between Cuba and Venezuela, entered into December 14, 2004. (Id.). This agreement was to structure the relation between the two states on principles of solidarity and the exchange of goods and services, at the state to state level, in a manner mutually beneficial to the parties. 11 This produced a formal agreement was executed at a ceremony held on December 14, 2004 at Havana, Cuba. (Id.). The original agreement called for solidarity among the nations as well as for the exchange of goods and services in a manner that maximizes the economic and social benefits to each nation. (Id., art. 2). The agreement also called on the parties to develop a strategic plan under which the most beneficial and complimentary production base can be established taking into account existing industrial advantages, the preservation of resources, increase in employment positions, and access to markets. (Id., art. 3). The document committed the parties to make a concerted effort to eliminate illiteracy in third world nations (Id., art. 5), investments that are mutually beneficial (id., art. 6), and the establishment of a reciprocal credit system. (Id., art. 7). The parties also commit to establish joint cultural exchanges that take into account the respective differences between the people of each nation. (Id., art. 10). Of note are articles 11 and 12, in which consideration is given to the asymmetrical social, economic, juridical and political positions of each nation and how, given these asymmetries, steps were to be taken to ensure that integration and mutual cooperation can indeed be achieved. (Id., arts. 11, 12).

The application of the initial steps toward program implementation were described. Cuba, for its part agreed to eliminate all tariffs with respect to Venezuelan goods; to not tax any investments made by the Venezuelan government within Cuba; to grant all Venezuelan marine and air vessels the same treatment as if they were Cuban vessels; to offer 2,000 scholarships for Venezuelan students to study science related careers in Cuba; to offer the services of over 15,000 medical professionals to carry out health related missions within Venezuela; and an educational exchange program. (Id., art. 12 & propuestos). Venezuela, for its part, agreed to exchange technological information in the area of energy production; offered as many scholarships as are needed to Cuban students in the area of energy production; to also agreed not to tax any investments made by the Cuban government within Venezuela; to help finance infrastructure projects within Cuba; to grant all Cuban marine and air vessels the same treatment as if they were Venezuelan vessels; and puts all Venezuelan vessels and infrastructure equipment at the service of Cuba to assist in the social and economic development of Cuba. (Id.).

The first report of the steps toward implementation was described in the Spring of 2005. (ALBA, Declaracion final de la primera reunion Cuba-Venezuela para la aplicacion de la Alternativa Bolivariana para las Americas, 2005). A variety of additional bilateral accords and joint endeavors were concluded and the ideological basis of the organization confirmed. (Id.). The joint declaration made part of that report reiterated the nature of the organization in terms of social and political goals through economic policy:

?coincidimos plenamente en que el ALBA no se hará realidad con criterios mercantilistas ni intereses egoístas de ganancia empresarial o beneficio nacional en perjuicio de otros pueblos. Solo una amplia visión latinoamericanista, que reconozca la imposibilidad de que nuestros países se desarrollen y sean verdaderamente independientes de forma aislada, será capaz de lograr lo que Bolívar llamó "... ver formar en América la más grande nación del mundo, menos por su extensión y riqueza que por su libertad y gloria", y que Martí concibiera como la "América Nuestra", para diferenciarla de la otra América, expansionista y de apetitos imperiales.? (Id.; citing Joint Declaration).

These have been followed by a large number of agreements, declarations and actions that have been meant to develop the conceptual framework of ALBA, and to construct a number of projects that are supposed to apply those principles in specific sectors and among a variety of shifting groups of ALBA members. And the organization has grown. The addition of these Members changed the agreement in a number of ways but did not affect the fundamental character of the association. By 2009, an ALBA report listed fifteen projects that were toinvolve the political commission of ALBA states. (ALBA, Acta De La Viii Reunión De La Comisión Política Del ALBA ? TCP 2008).

B. Conceptual and Institutional basis: Structure and Ideology of ALBA

At the heart of ALBA is its ideology. ALBA?s framework provides the greatest mark of its distinction from other efforts at integration. And indeed, ideology is the critical first product of this form of integration. Integration requires harmonization of an ideological base for actiopn. That was made clear recently by Raul Castro when he noted:

Los países del ALBA tenemos el privilegio de contar con un modesto esquema integrador, construido sobre bases y principios de igualdad, cuya naturaleza niega las prácticas que originaron esta crisis. Nuestras naciones no tienen la capacidad, por sí solas, de transformar estructuralmente el orden económico internacional, pero sí el poder de sentar nuevas bases y construir sus propias relaciones económicas. (Raúl Castro 2009).

The section starts with a consideration of that ideology in order to extract its underlying substance. It then considers the bases on which it has sought to distinguish itself ideologically from the growth models that gave rise to the United States and European Union, for example. The section concludes by examining the way that ideological distinctions are realized in organizational differences from standard free trade arrangements.

1. The ideology of ALBA. ALBA is built on the idea of the inherent potential for Latin America development independent of the United States and Europe, a development which has thus far failed to materialize. (Bossi 2005; Punto 3). Latin America is a region rich in natural resources, biodiversity, land and culture, and a history that predates the European invasion and conquest. (Id.). Although prior attempts at unity have been unsuccessful, globalization presents a new opportunity for Latin America to join forces in dealing with the challenges and demands associated with this phenomenon. (Correa 2005; ?[E]l dilema actual: como afrontar la Globalizacion, es un proceso quizas mas complejo, menos inasible pero igualmente determinante para el futuro del pueblo Latinoamericano.?). The power and advantages of integration, and the resulting economies of scale, which are best observed in the creation and result of the unification of the U.S., serve as an example how economic prosperity is best achieved. (Id. at 7-8. ?Las ventajas evidentes de la integracion las observamos en el desarrollo de los Estados Unidos?Este caso nos indica que las economias de escala y la masa critica de una entidad integrada como fueron las colonias norteamericanas, son factores determinantes para el progreso economico.?). Therefore, in the eyes of the founders and members, it has become a necessity to develop integrated regional trade blocs in order to be better positioned to deal with transnational powers that would otherwise swallow small and isolated countries. (Id. at 8. ?La integracion en bloques regionales, surge asi como una respuesta apropiada a la globalizacion indiscriminada. Ella puede cohesionar sificiente entidad economica y politica para enfrentar las fuerzas transnacionales que arrollarian a cualquiera de nuestros paises en forma aislada.?).
The development of ALBA, however, is and shall be different from that of the U.S., because the founding members do not seek to follow the same path of warfare, genocide and pillaging that the U.S. took to achieve unity. (Bossi 2005; Punto 2: ?De nada nos sirven los ejemplos de la Union Europea, ni mucho menos la forma en que Estados Unidos alcanzo su unidad, a costa de rapiña, genocidio indigena e invasions. La Union Europea tampoco, porque esa union se establece de manera defensiva, bajo los parametros del capitalismo y solo para acumular fuerza en su competencia con Estados Unidos y Japon. La Union Europea.?). The founders of ALBA also do not wish to follow the European Union (EU) model, because in the eyes of ALBA, the unity of the EU was built under capitalistic parameters of amassing strength, and as a defense mechanism to counter and compete versus the strong economies of the U.S. and Japan. (Id.). ALBA instead hopes to build an integration model that is unique and responsive to the needs, hopes, and aspirations of Latin American countries and their people. (Id. ?Es por eso que los americanos de Sur tendremos que inventar?nuestra propia obra, para cubrir nuestras necesidades y representar nuestros intereses.?).
ALBA is grounded on an opposition to capitalism as an economic and political ideology. (ABA, Fifth Extraordinary Summit of the ALBA Final Declaration 2009). ALBA member states have taken the position that ?Capitalism is exhausting mankind and the planet. The crisis we are experiencing is a global, systemic and structural crisis which cannot be considered just one more cyclic crisis. Those who believe that a fiscal injection and regulatory measures alone will resolve the crisis are mistaken.? (Id.). ALBA member states also believe that ?Capitalism has caused an ecological crisis, by subordinating the conditions necessary to support life in the planet to the demands of markets and profitability.? (Id.). Consequently, ALBA bases its actions on four anti-capitalistic values: complementary action (based on the strengths that each country may possess); mutual cooperation; solidarity; and respect for the national sovereignty of each country. (Bossi 2005; Punto 4). These actions stand in stark opposition to the ?transnational imperialist and capitalist strategy? that, under the guise of the market, aims to impose the rights of capital above the social, political, cultural and human rights that states have achieved for their citizens through centuries of struggle. 12 Hence the participation and incorporation of the masses in building the framework for integration is vital to the success of ALBA. (Bossi 2005; Punto 5). However, the task is enormous because Latin American unity is not deemed enough, the process of creating a new non-capitalist world-order, in which people and nations can peacefully co-exist with one another, nature and the environment, must also be something the people struggle to achieve. (Bossi 2005; Punto 6. ?Y esa unidad de Nuestra America tampoco sera suficiente si no logramos un nuevo orden mundial, no capitalista, que alcance la armonia entre las naciones, la convivencia pacifica entre los seres humanos y una nueva relacion con el ambiente y la naturaleza.?).
ALBA?s first step in achieving the new process of integration embodied in its ideals is to break the capitalist logic of lucrative gains, competition and of viewing the economy as chrematistic. (Bossi 2005; Punto 7). Other steps have taken form through massive programs in literacy, education, health care and vaccinations, labor unions, workshops and other measures that educate and mobilize the masses into becoming informed participants in the democratic process. (Id.). In this context, ALBA then becomes a political tool as well. (Id., Punto 8). If ALBA is successfully carried to fruition, it would embody a reaction to the FTAA (Correa 2005 at 4), and also serve the dual function of preventing the divide et impera of Latin American nations that has traditionally been achieved with the use of bilateral free trade agreements. (Id., at 13).
Opposition to the FTAA was a primary reason for attempting to create an alternative system of commercial trade embodied in the ALBA agreements. (Corrwa 2005, at 4). However, the movement has transformed into a rallying flag and hope for a common and prosperous future for Latin America that is possible through the betterment of the social, political, economic, environmental and cultural areas of the region. (Id.: ?El ALBA?se ha transformado en una bandera latinoamericana, una bandera de esperanza que despierta emocion sobre un futuro possible y orgullo de participar en su construccion.?). ALBA thus marks a strategic shift in the actions of Latin American and Caribbean people because it encompasses a proposal created by these nations while simultaneously serving as a protest against the imposing of agreements by external powers. It is an offensive act rather than a defensive response that rests on three major pillars of action (Bossi 2005; Punto 9): education to inform others about the necessity for ALBA; expanding the distribution of informational material among the masses about the benefits of ALBA; and mobilizing and organizing concrete steps that will foster the integration of Latin American people. (Id.: ?Debemos dar el salto de la etapa de la protesta, a la etapa de las propuestas. La resistencia es necesaria, pero es hora ya de pasar a la ofensiva.?).
As noted in the founding document for ALBA, both Castro and Chavez were motivated what they saw as foundation events that set the course of Latin America. One was the Peruvian triumphs in Ayacucho in 1824 that effectively ended Spanish power in Latin America. Another was the address given by Simon Bolivar to the Panamanian Anfictionic Congress in 1824 (Bolivar 1824), calling for the creation of a HispanoAmerican country under which all Latin American nations would unite. This goal reiterated over a hundred years later by Augusto Cesar Sandino, a Nicaraguan national, who again called for a united Latin America in his Plan to realize Bolivar?s ultimate dream, and used it as a rallying cry in leading the movement to remove the U.S. Marine occupation of Nicaragua. (Sandino 1929). His writings also serve as a basis for the establishment of ALBA. (Bossi 2005; Punto 1). Concrete steps to attempt to achieve these sentiments were created in the agreement reached between Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia on how to implement ALBA and the Treaty of Commerce of the People between these nations. (ALBA, Acuerdo para la aplicacion de la Alternativa Bolivariana para los pueblos de nuestra America y el tratado de comercio de los pueblos 2006).

2. Ideological Praxis: The Four Anti-Capitalist Values of ALBA: The general conceptual basis of ALBA outlined above is more specifically elaborated in the development of (1) the four anti-capitalist values of ALBA, (2) the three pillars of ALBA, and (iii) the goals of ALBA. ALBA articulates four so-called anti-capitalist values around which ALBA interventions are built. These include: (1) complementary action based on the strengths that each country may possess; (2) mutual cooperation; (3) solidarity among the member nations; and (4) respect for the national sovereignty of each country. (Bossi 2005; Punto 4). It is not clear whether these are anti-capitalist or anti colonialist values, and more particularly whether the solidarity and action suggested is meant to be reactive?that is deployed against the policies and interests of the United States. Indeed, except for the oppositional stance within which ALBA is situated, it would be difficult to suggest that these values are not as amenable to capitalist systems.

The difference comes in the form of application of these values?targeting not markets and private activities, but mass social movement programs and state action. These are articulated through the development of a theory of stages of development to which ALBA states are committed: (1) Education to inform others about the necessity for an ALBA; (2) Expanding the distribution of informational material among the masses about the benefits of ALBA and; (3) To mobilize and organize concrete steps that will foster the integration of Latin American people. (Bossi 2005; Punto 9). These were elaborated through the announcement of twelve goals to be achieved in the serve of ALBA values and to foster progress through the stages of ALBA socio-political development. 13 The goals are both programmatic and ideological. They are grounded both in the value of political expression and the construction of a framework for implementation of specific activities to be undertaken by the Member States through the ALBA framework. It is not clear, though, that the goals, singly or in the aggregate, are of greater value for their ideological power or their effect on the ground.

In addition to these goals, ALBA also has four major objectives that seek to weave values and implementation. The first is to promote the integration and development of Latin America through cooperation, solidarity and unity in an effort to place the interests of the people above those of transnational capital. (ALBA, ¿Que es ALBA?, n.d.). The second aims to promote integration agreements that develop the industrial and social infrastructures of a nation, and the region, with the goal of eliminating poverty, social exclusion and to assure better living conditions for all the inhabitants of Latin American nations. (Id.). The third is to counter Neo-Liberal policies, particularly the attempt by the U.S. to create a Free Trade of the Americas, that traditionally benefit developed nations at the expense of developing nations. (Bossi 2005). The fourth is to use complementary action based on the strengths that each country may possess, mutual cooperation, solidarity and respect for the national sovereignty of each country. (Id.).

Together these values, objectives and goals present a unified ideological position. It serves as a basis for approaching all issues of transnational arrangements. It privileges the state against private actors. It suggests a tighter control of individuals and their arrangements by the state, and also suggests that those interests must be subordinated to the needs of the state (as understood by those in control of the apparatus of state governance). Private markets are incidental to the development of large sectors of state control. Because neither politics nor economics can be left to the private sector, and because the private sector might well serve as proxy for the interests of those states from where those private activities originate, then state to state arrangements must be the basis of any movement of people, capital, goods or services. Lastly, the ideological position combines a long tradition of anti colonialism, nationalism with at-Americanism to produce an ideological system in which states are essential to combat the direct and indirect interventions of the United States (and to a lesser extent the old European colonial powers) in the development of adhering states. For many states in Latin America this is an intoxicating mix. It serves to legitimate stronger state control over a private sector that had been relying on the development of global markets to liberate itself from local barriers to development. It shifts power to direct markets from the private to the public sector. It provides an avenue for transferring blame to a demonized ?other? against which state activity is directed. It provides a basis for the maintenance of control through the form of democratic mass movements by linking state action to the maintenance of the masses, and by so doing, marginalizing the relationship between the masses and other institutional or civil society elements.

Most importantly, this ideology preserves to states control over the nature and extent of actual arrangements with entities beyond its borders. Packaged in this form, the ideology of ALBA has become its most critically successful product. It is to the institutional manifestation of the ALBA ideology and its implementation is turned to next.

C. Institutionalizing and Implementing ALBA; Ideology in Action.

1. The Institutional Organization of ALBA, The Extent of Its Regulatory Authority, and Its Relationship to the Member States. ALBA is comprised of seven Commissions each dealing with a separate area (Political, Social, Economic, Investment and Finance, Energy, Environment and Youth). The Commissions report to the Council of ALBA Ministers and Council of ALBA Social Movements, who in turn must report to the Council of ALBA Presidents. (ALBA, Organizational structure of ALBA, n.d.). The Commissions are headed by the national Ministers of the respective areas of each of the member nations and together form the Council of ALBA Ministers. The Council of ALBA Presidents is made up of the respective presidents of each ALBA member nation. (Id.). Because ALBA seeks to respect the national sovereignty of member nations, by nature the interaction among member states take the form of agreements that must be accepted by the national legislative bodies of the member nations. (Id.). There are calls, however, for the creation of an ALBA Constitution, with supranational authority to coordinate and delegate ALBA policies that can better achieve the social and political integration of Latin American nations. (Acuña Mendoza 2007).

ALBA, then, is organized more as a space through which mutual cooperation on the basis of ALBA principles can be effected, rather than a more conventionally constituted international organization. It has been criticized as such. ?When ALBA was conceived, it was not a Treaty organisation and its principles resided in economic cooperation arrangements which appeared to benefit countries that joined it with Venezuela being the principal donor. As Professor Norman Girvan argued in a May 2008 paper, "ALBA does not take the form of an international or intergovernmental organisation, treaty or integration scheme in the normal sense.? (Sanders 2009).

Yet, this institutional organization reflects the objectives of the organization. The first is to promote the integration and development of Latin America through cooperation, solidarity and unity in an effort to place the interests of the people above those of transnational capital. (ALBA, ¿Que es ALBA?, n.d.). The second is to promote integration agreements that develop the industrial and social infrastructures of a nation, and the region, with the goal of eliminating poverty, social exclusion and to assure better living conditions for all the inhabitants of Latin American nations. (Id.). The third is to counter Neo-Liberal policies, particularly the attempt by the U.S. to create a Free Trade of the Americas, that traditionally benefit developed nations at the expense of developing nations. (Bossi 2005). And the last is to use complementary action based on the strengths that each country may possess, mutual cooperation, solidarity and respect for the national sovereignty of each country as the guiding values in making Simon Bolivar's dream of a united confederation of Latin American states a reality. (Bossi 2005). Each of these objectives thus carries with it an institutional component that is reflected in the institutions of the ALBA and their relationships to the Member States of the organization. The result is substantially less autonomy for the institution at the supra-national level, and more control at the member state level. The supra national element of ALBA serves more as a pass through and reflection of Member State consensus than as the locus of an autonomous aggregate power reflecting a ceding of sovereignty up to the supra-national level. It emphasizes the central position of the state in the construction of internationalist frameworks. This state centering integration project critically affects the implementation of the system, a subject which we consider next.

2. Implementation?Economic Agenda. Conception, ideology and organization can only take a supra national organization so far. The real value of an organization beyond its ideological purpose, is measured by its implementation. ALBA is a young organization. Still, it has begun to elaborate a series of programs to provide a basis for understanding how the Member States intend to translate ideology and concept to reality on the ground. The principal effect of ALBA has been an increase in state to state trade, especially among the ALBA founders. Indeed, the volume of commercial trade between Venezuela and Cuba went from $973 million (U.S.) in 2001 to $2.4 billion (U.S.) in 2005. (Lomas Morales 2006).

ALBA?s most important efforts have centered on the establishment of PETROCARIBE, an energy cooperation agreement proposed by Venezuela to Caribbean nations which aims to resolve the asymmetries that said nations have in accessing energy resources. ?PetroCaribe es un Acuerdo de Cooperación Energética propuesto por el Gobierno Bolivariano de Venezuela, con el fin de resolver las asimetrías en el acceso a los recursos energéticos, por la vía de un nuevo esquema de intercambio favorable, equitativo y justo entre los países de la región caribeña, la mayoría de ellos sin control estatal del suministro de estos recursos.? (ALBA, PetroCaribe, Energía para la union, n.d.). It aims to create a new order that is more equitable and just. (Id.). Its objective is to contribute to the transformation of Latin American and Caribbean societies into more just, cultured, participatory and solid minded by removing social inequalities, promoting an improved quality of life through the effective participation of the people in the determination of the affairs of their respective states. (Id.). Signatory nations include: Cuba, Venezuela, Antigua and Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucía, Suriname, Saint Kitts and Neves, Haití, and Nicaragua. (Id.). The program has produced a number of trade agreements that represent state to state barter relations centered on the provision of Venezuelan petroleum.

The most interesting development has been the efforts to build the Banco de ALBA. (ALBA, Acta fundacional del Banco del ALBA, 2008). Its founders hope that it will serve as the blueprint for the future financial system through which ALBA?s social, cooperative, and grandnnational projects are to be funded. (ALBA, Declaracion politica de la VI Cumbre de la Alternativa Bolivariana para los pueblos de nuestra America , 2008). The primary purpose of the Banco de ALBA is to provide the economic and financial credit needs of ALBA member countries in financing and completing the thirty-two Grandnational Projects agreed to during the fifth ALBA Summit. (ALBA, Grandnational Projects agreed to during the V ALBA Summit, 2007). The Banco de ALBA, like ALBA itself, is founded on the principles of solidarity and mutual cooperation, and extends those ideals into the banking sector. (ALBA, Memorandum de Entendimineto, 2007). The host country for the bank as well as the operating aspects related to its functioning are currently under negotiation by the four ALBA member states. The framework for the bank?s operation was discussed and approved during a meeting of the Banco de ALBA Commission held on July 30, 2007. To date the details of the arrangement have not been made public. In the area of finance, however, Banco del Sur has emerged as another project that, although not within the framework of ALBA, is also being promoted in an effort to create a wholly South American source of funding and economic solidarity. (Cardona, n.d.). Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela are founding members of the banking entity. (ALBA, En breve, Banco del Sur, n.d.). It is also likely that Brazil will join. (Id.). In addition, MERCOSUR members have agreed to participate in the creation of the bank.( ALBA Press Release, May 25). To date Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela have agreed to work together in establishing the framework under which this entity will operate. (Id.).

In addition to serving as the financial center for ALBA, the members have also began talks to create a national currency of the south, to be known as the sucre. (ALBA, ALBA Impulsa lanzamiento del sucre como nueva moneda del sur 2009). The object is to aid efforts at integration in a way that avoids the incidental and perceived detrimental effects of national economies bound by connections to the U.S. dollar. 14 This has been taken seriously by other regional organization, including ALADI. (?The global economic and financial crisis is Wednesday on the table at the 15th Meeting of the Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI). . . . The Council of Ministers will analyze the characteristics and scopes of the Payment System on Local Currencies (SML) of the MERCOSUR and the Unitary System of Regional Compensation (SUCRE), that ALBA member countries plan to activate.? (ALADI Talks Global Economic Crisis 2009). The bank hopes to deliver better financing options for completing the Grandnational Projects b

Full post as published by Law at the End of the Day on May 13, 2009 (boomark / email).

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