Economic Integration and Regional Trade Blocs

Latin America's postwar economic integration efforts began with the Latin American Free Trade Association (LAFTA), established by the 1960 Treaty of Montevideo among Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, which aimed at regional tariff reduction but achieved limited success and was replaced in 1980 by the more flexible Latin American Integration Association (ALADI, or LAIA), which continues to function as a framework treaty enabling bilateral and subregional trade agreements among its member states. The Andean Community (Comunidad Andina, CAN), founded in 1969 as the Andean Pact by Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru (Venezuela joined in 1973; Chile withdrew in 1976; Venezuela withdrew in 2006), pursued deeper integration among smaller Andean economies, including a short-lived customs union.