CANBERRA— "ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance for Latin America) is the most rapidly growing regional development in the world today", Dr Tim Anderson, senior lecturer in political economy at the University of Sydney, told a forum at the Australian National University on August 12.
ALBA is a combination of "developmental, anti-imperial, independent (non-aligned), social protection and socialist traditions", he said. The lecture was organised by the Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies.
The first ALBA accord was signed between Cuba and Venezuela in December 2004. Now, it includes nine Latin American and Caribbean states.
Anderson said ALBA's response to the global economic crisis had been very different to that of the major capitalist nations. ALBA had emphasised food security, an independent energy policy, financial integration between member states and opposition to the failed neoliberal economic model.
[Tim Anderson will speak further on ALBA in a workshop at the August 29 Latin America Solidarity Conference in Melbourne. Visit www.solidarityconference2009.org for details.]