Economy

Political alliance
Cuba's Vice-President Carlos Lage said that the ALBA was possible thanks to Venezuela and the government of President Hugo Chávez. Such statement, apparently commonplace, is especially true for all the presidents in the hemisphere. As a matter of fact, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) is due, not only to a political initiative taken by the Venezuelan president, but also to the substantial resources provided by Venezuela to member states.

In those countries, while there is some ideological affinity with Hugo Chávez's socialist blueprint and is intended to offset the free trade agreements furthered by the United States, there is also a pragmatic behavior that, due to the immediate benefits, have attracted some countries with a liberal, democratic way of thinking and living. This is the case for Honduras and its president, Manuel Zelaya.

Not by chance, based on its ideological component, the integration project was born in Cuba, on December 2004, when Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro executed the extension of a bilateral Cooperation Agreement.

After Cuba, Bolivia was the first one to join the ALBA following the victory of Evo Morales, on April 2006, when the first anniversary of ALBA was celebrated in Havana. One year later, on April 2007, in Tintorero, western Lara state, on the occasion of the 5th ALBA Summit, Nicaragua and Haiti were admitted. On January 2008, during the 6th ALBA Summit, Dominica was the new member. And in August, on that same year, Honduras did it.

In the opinion of María Teresa Romero, an expert in international affairs, it is not an integration of countries, such as the way we know it in the hemisphere. It is rather an alliance intended to be an alternative to the Organization of American States (OAS), and runs counter, not only to the United States and liberal policies, but also to democratic nations in the hemisphere. In her view, it is a tool to spread Hugo Chávez's revolutionary blueprint. As a result, it is extremely political by nature and takes precedence over the economic issue, as stated by the president and set forth in the organization whereas.

For some additional dollars
Based on the numbers managed by the Economic Research Center (Cieca), from its organization through September 2008, Venezuela has allocated for the alliance member states USD 32.9 billion, or 23.51 percent of Venezuela tax income.

Cieca chair Franklin Rojas clarified that the numbers collected by the think-tank come from the official statements made by the government. For this reason, they could be or not executed. In addition, the outlays could be apportioned among several years. Sometimes, an announcement is made and nonetheless, the amount of the expense is not reported. In this case, the allocated money is not counted. Therefore, the total number is higher than the reported USD 32.9 billion.

Also, it should be noted that Venezuela is the only provider; its financial action radiates outwards to the six allied countries, to such an extent that, with few exceptions, such as small contributions to the Bank of ALBA, member states act only as recipients.

Other countries, such as Ecuador and Paraguay, have expressed willingness to join the ALBA in addition to some cases such as in Salvador, where the Farabundo Martí Front, a Chávez's ally, could win the election and enlarge in this way the number of countries in line with the Bolivarian project inside ALBA.

The recipients
The most benefited country with the Venezuelan aid has been Cuba, a cofounder of the organization, which suggested the alliance. It has received USD 18.7 billion since 2005. It is followed by Bolivia, USD 6.7 billion; Nicaragua USD, 5.5 billion; Bank of ALBA, USD 1.3 billion; Haiti, USD 440 million; Honduras, USD 130 million, and Dominica, USD 8 million.

It is worth mentioning that in some items, the amount of the investment is not defined. For instance, in the case of Cuba, nothing is said about how much will be spent to retrofit Cienfuegos refinery, lay a fiber-optic undersea cable of 1,552 kilometers or how much was the transportation of Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage to Bolivia onboard a Venezuelan airliner. However, a figure 25 percent higher than the reported expenditure for each country could be estimated.

Zelaya's case
The last one to join the alliance, Honduras, under the leadership of Manuel Zelaya, has been an emblematic case due to the ideological differences between the Honduras' president and Hugo Chávez. Zelaya is a businessman who engaged in politics as a member of the Honduras' Liberal Party. He won the presidential election under the umbrella of this party. In that capacity, he had fostered an economic partnership with the United States. However, ALBA was a salvation in the face of economic troubles, which are common in Central America and include, among others, fuel high prices.

On the contrary, Ecuador, which under Rafael Correa's administration has been indeed an ideological ally of President Chávez, has refused to enter ALBA. "The bilateral relationship has been most beneficial for Ecuador," reasoned Correa. Surely enough, Ecuador has received, from 2005 through September 2008, USD 1.58 billion on account of investment.

Paraguay is another country that is getting ready to join the ALBA. After ex priest Fernando Lugo won the presidential election, the relationship has escalated with serial visits by the Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs and President Chávez, anti-imperialist remarks and generous grants. Since 2005, Paraguay has received from Venezuela USD 1.43 billion on account of investment, according to the official notices.

Chávez has said that the most significant changes in the world are being made in Latin America.

folivares@eluniversal.com

Translated by Conchita Delgado

cdelgado@eluniversal.com

 

Francisco Olivares
EL UNIVERSAL