Alba

ALBA or ALBA–TCP, formally the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America ( ) or the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples' Trade Treaty ( ), is an intergovernmental organization based on the idea of political and economic integration of Latin American and Caribbean countries. Founded initially by Cuba and Venezuela in 2004¹, it is associated with socialist and social democratic governments wishing to consolidate regional economic integration based on a vision of social welfare, bartering and mutual economic aid. The ten member countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela. Suriname was admitted to ALBA as a guest country at a February 2012 summit.

ALBA or ALBA–TCP, formally the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America ( ) or the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples' Trade Treaty ( ), is an intergovernmental organization based on the idea of political and economic integration of Latin American and Caribbean countries. Founded initially by Cuba and Venezuela in 2004, it is associated with socialist and social democratic governments wishing to consolidate regional economic integration based on a vision of social welfare, bartering and mutual economic aid. The ten member countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela. Suriname was admitted to ALBA as a guest country at a February 2012 summit.

Virtual currency

In October 2009, ALBA leaders agreed at a summit in Bolivia to create a virtual currency, named the SUCRE. "The document is approved," said Bolivian President Evo Morales, the summit host. President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez announced "The sucre [is] an autonomous and sovereign monetary system that will be agreed upon today so that it can be implemented in 2010." As of 2015, the virtual currency is being used to compensate trade between Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and especially Ecuador and Venezuela.

Summits of heads of state and government

Membership

Other ALBA initiatives

PetroCaribe

Based on the earlier San José Accords (1980) and Caracas Energy Accords (2000) between Venezuela and a number of Caribbean states, Petrocaribe was founded in 2005¹ to facilitate oil trade under a concessionary financial agreement. The initiative has provided the Caribbean member states with important hydrocarbon resources, which many do not possess on their territories, in exchange for services and goods. In the case of Cuba, a nation largely deprived of oil since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Petrocaribe has provided oil in exchange for medical doctors.

TeleSUR

Launched in 2005, TeleSUR is a media network that provides news and current affairs broadcasts throughout the ALBA bloc. The network has an internet based television channel and is a cooperative effort between the governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

PETROSUR

PETROSUR is an inter-governmental energy alliance between Venezuelan PDVSA, Argentinean YPF, and Brazilian Petrobras nationalized oil companies. The goal of this initiative is to provide funding for social welfare programs within these nations.

Criticism

In July 2018, President Lenín Moreno of Ecuador distanced himself from ALBA, stating that the organization "has not worked for a while." In August 2018, Ecuador officially withdrew from ALBA. Karen Longaric, appointed as foreign minister by Jeanine Áñez's interim government, announced the formal departure of the country from ALBA in November 2019 over "interference" in Bolivia's political crisis. Bolivia remained in ALBA after the Áñez government was defeated in the 2020 Bolivian general election.

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373601847 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.