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ALBA | TCP

The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA in Spanish) is a project to counteract the US-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas. Born out of initial agreements forged between the governments of Venezuela and Cuba in December 2004, ALBA aims to promote regional integration of Latin America based on values and objectives opposed to imperialism. However, it continues to rely on some basic neoliberal tenets, such as a strong emphasis on exports. Concretely, it involves Cuba, Bolivia and Venezuela through cooperation pacts covering a wide range of areas such as energy, health and culture. Nicaragua officially joined in January 2007, followed by Dominica, Saint Vincent and Antigua in February 2007. In June 2009, Ecuador became a full member.

The People’s Trade Agreement (TCP in Spanish) is considered the trade arm of ALBA. It is a direct effort to defeat the bilateral free trade agreements that the US government has been pushing in Latin America. The TCP aims to promote trade in the region along principles of solidarity, cooperation and complementarity. It was launched in May 2006.

Together, ALBA and TCP form a popular axis of today’s push for "alternative" regional integration in Latin America with the direct backing of Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro and Evo Morales.

On 4-5 February 2012, the 11th ALBA-TCP summit was held in Caracas, Venezuela. It was decided at this meeting to create an ALBA-TCP Economic Space (ECOALBA) "as a shared-development, inter-dependent, sovereign and supportive economic zone aimed at consolidating and enlarging a new alternative model of economic relations that will strengthen and diversify the production apparatus and trade exchanges, as well as establishing the bases for the bilateral and multilateral instruments that the Parties may enter into on this matter, with a view to satisfying the physical and spiritual needs of our peoples."

last update: May 2012

Photo: Xavier Granja Cedeño - Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana. CC-BY-SA-2.0

Fóto: Xavier Granja Cedeño - Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Movilidad Humana. CC-BY-SA-2.0


Venezuela and Ecuador consolidate bilateral agreements, SUCRE currency system
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro met on Monday with the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patiño, to evaluate the progress of their country’s bilateral agreements. Among the ambitious goals set during the meeting was an increase in the use of the sucre, a regional currency being used in trade between the two countries.
Nicaragua and ALBA negotiate a People’s Trade Treaty
Nicaragua and the South American and Caribbean countries that are members of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA) are negotiating an integration treaty that covers economic, trade and political issues.
The Bolivarian FTA
The 10th Summit of ALBA concludes with an announcement that its members undertake to speed up the conclusion of a trade agreement.
10th ALBA summit starts in Ecuador
The 10th summit of the Bolivian Alliance for the Peoples of America - People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) began on Friday in the Andean city of Otavalo, Ecuador.
The Caracas Manifesto reaffirms the agreement to strengthen the sovereignty of the people
"The time has come for us to take on an Economic Plan that places greater emphasis on projects and transnational companies, the People’s Trade Treaty, the sucre and the Bank of Alba as the foundational pillars for a common economic area."
Venezuela and Nicaragua progress on food security, refinery, and public health
Venezuelan and Nicaraguan officials met in Managua on Wednesday to deepen bilateral economic ties with the goal of fostering import substitution, promoting Latin American integration, and creating an economic alternative to US-dominated free trade agreements.
Honduras: Protest against ALBA withdrawal
On January 7, hundreds of Hondurans risked violent repression by the police and military to protest outside the national parliament building against the coup regime’s decision to withdraw the country from the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA).
Honduran congress votes to leave ALBA
The Honduran Congress, which is dominated by supporters of self-styled "interim president" Roberto Micheletti, voted 123 to five late on Tuesday to end co-operation with Cuba and Venezuela under the the ALBA Peoples’ Trade Treaty.
ALBA will start using the Sucre
Sucre is a virtual “currency” which will be used in the Alba countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, San Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela.
Single currency a step closer for ALBA nations
The creation of a regional currency among Latin American countries drew closer over the weekend as Cuba agreed to pay for a shipment of Venezuelan rice in sucres – the new currency.