How do contemporary Latin American governments confront the economic and political influence of transnational companies in their countries? Are there alternatives to the free market ideology that informs free trade agreements like NAFTA? Are there initiatives that might reshuffle Latin American power structures as we know them?

In this lecture Thomas Muhr analyses two (related) initiatives that seek to develop an alternative framework: the 'Bolivarian Revolution' in Venezuela and the ALBA initiative. Under Hugo Chávez' presidency, the 'Bolivarian Revolution' pursues a profound transformation of not only Venezuela's, but the Latin American/Caribbean regional as well as the global social and political landscape. Muhr gives a short overview over the proposals and strategies of the project and analyses the developments (both in Venezuela and Latin America) that form its background.

The 'Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America' (ALBA) was formally launched in December 2004 by the governments of Cuba and Venezuela, and has since then been joined by Bolivia, Nicaragua and Dominica. ALBA fosters the collaboration between Latin American countries under principles of solidarity, cooperation, and complementarity. Muhr introduces the pillars and proposals of ALBA and then turns to an analysis of the implementation of the regional integration strategy in Nicaragua.