ABSTRACT

This chapter traces the formation and evolution of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América – ALBA). Officially launched in December 2004 by Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela and Fidel Castro, President of Cuba, it emerged as an explicit alternative to the hemispheric Free Trade Area of the Americas. The chapter finds that despite its initial promise, poor implementation has robbed the agreement of much of its potential effectiveness. Where ALBA once made important and innovative contributions to regional political economy, its present political posturing suggests a future of increasing irrelevance.