LATAM’s Most Influential Regional Organisations

In 2020 the postwar liberal consensus is being tested. Not since before World War II has the international community known a time when world leaders flirt with protectionism and isolationism so heavily. Multilateral, regional organisations cannot provide a ‘cure all’ to these challenges – indeed, among any organisation’s members can be those countries who are leading such a charge – but they do offer a strong community for nations committed to collective ideals and international co-operation. This is especially so in an era when longstanding and firmly established norms around free trade and Western security alliances are now being heavily scrutinised.

The Caribbean and wider Latin America has an abundance of regional organisations that promise the benefits of partnerships to those nations that join. But they are not all made equal, and many regional challenges inform their ability to be truly effective vehicles of regional engagement and exchange. Here are six of Latin America’s (LATAM’s) most powerful regional organisations, and the factors that underwrite their strength.

1. The Organization of American States (OAS)
   Active since 1948, the Organization seeks to advance four central goals among its member nations: democracy, human rights, security and development. It once had all 35 independent states of the Americas within its membership but recent years have seen Cuba and Venezuela experience ‘in and out’ statuses as members. This notwithstanding, the OAS remains, by total GDP of its collective membership, the largest organisation of its kind in the region, albeit by a small margin.
2. Forum for East Asia and Latin American Cooperation (FEALAC)
   For LATAM nations FEALAC is a key bridge to the global economy’s ‘engine room’ of Asia. Established in 1999, and today with 36 member countries from LATAM and Asia, this forum has rapidly grown in importance, commensurate with the Asian region’s scorching economic growth throughout the 2000s. With an emphasis on meetings at the level of foreign minister, senior officials and working-level officials, up to 2007 the group had notably implemented 411 national and regional projects among member countries.
3. The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)
   With 33 member states all hailing exclusively from LATAM, CELAC is a regional organisation with a particularly distinctive local identity. Its aim is for members to work in greater political, social and cultural integration, and this year has seen a new momentum following

Mexico’s ascent to the pro tempore presidency of the organisation, and its bold Work Plan for increasing closeness between member states. Moving forward, resistance to impacts of climate change and natural disasters is earmarked as a key priority.

4. Mercosur
The Mercosur group is one of immense potential looking forward, but recent years have been a disappointment as a number of LATAM nations (most notably Brazil and Argentina) have endured huge systemic shocks that have rocked their economies and savaged optimism about their near-term growth. But these crises cannot last forever and, provided the group can maintain cohesion amidst its current turbulence, its economic future remains promising.

5. The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA)
Founded by Cuba and Venezuela in 2004, ALBA has admitted to its ranks a number of Caribbean nations including Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis and Saint Lucia. This group lacks the economic oomph of others (regional giants like the United States and Brazil are not party to ALBA), and the meltdown of Venezuela has hugely diminished the voice of one of its biggest members. Nevertheless, this group is novel as it represents a resistance to US influence in the region, as well as having a concentration of states within the Caribbean and Central American area of LATAM. Although by many measures the group now lies somewhat dormant, it remains one to watch down the line, especially if Venezuela identifies a path to economic recovery.

6. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
The daily work of CARICOM surrounds growing regional integration, with the ultimate dream of a single market economy. Its members are all classified as developing nations. They share a common history of seeking to diversify their economies from reliance on mining and agriculture to service-driven economies, the strongest growth often occurring in the tourism and finance sectors. CARICOM operates independently but has much overlap with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the Association of Caribbean States (the latter holding 25 states in comparison to CARICOM’s 15).

7. A Shared Search for Real Progress
This collection of regional organisations shows the frameworks of institutions that maintain and help advance collective aims around diplomatic relations, trade and wider regional concerns. That so many of these institutions exist and continue to function effectively is an acheivement in its own right, as within the Caribbean alone there are over two dozen states, each with its own needs and aspirations within the international arena.

These groups provide a strong foundation for building regional collaboration but the ambition to build stronger ties among Caribbean states that could one day see the region function similar to the European Union, remains distant. This is not to undermine the work done so far. Rather, it affirms for those who hold to such a goal that this decade is not a time to rest on their laurels, but instead to drive greater liberalisation of trade and labour mobility that could turbocharge regional economies.